ABSTRACT
Schools require specific, specialized protocols to safeguard students in the event of disasters. While the need for protocols to address physical safety has been recognized for some time, only recently has it been acknowledged that an effective school crisis response must also account for psychological trauma (Laraque et al., 2004; Silove, Steel, & Psychol, 2006). As with medical first aid for physical injuries, immediate psychological first aid helps to mitigate the severity of psychological injuries (Hu, Yang, Liu, & Liu, 2010). This chapter will discuss how the PREPaRE model of school crisis prevention and intervention (Brock et al., 2009) can be used to address the psychological injuries generated by disasters. It begins by defining what the term “disaster” means, and then provides a brief overview of the PREPaRE model. Finally, it provides a detailed discussion of how this model can be used to prepare for and respond to disasters.
