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One of the areas being developed by the National Center for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER) involves higher education. The Higher Education Project has three major goals: (1) develop national standards, policies and a conceptual framework for disaster preparedness education and training, (2) develop suitable curricula, practical tools and tested methodologies for disaster preparedness education and training, and (3) develop opportunities for cooperative learning, networking and leadership with the field of preparedness for natural and manmade crises. The PACER Higher Education Project is pursuing five tasks to accomplish these goals: (a) developing an initial set of competencies to guide curricula planning, (b) managing the PACER Scholars Program to match those interested in careers in disaster preparedness with PACER scholars conducting related research, (c) developing an inventory of existing higher education courses and programs related to disaster preparedness and crisis management, (d) developing an introductory awareness course aimed at first year college students, and (e) elaborate higher education curricula in a number of areas based on the competencies and inventory of existing courses and programs.

The Pacer Higher Education Project involves multiple universities – Johns Hopkins University, Florida State University, Jacksonville State University, Florida Atlantic University, Loma Linda University and Morgan State University – and an interdisciplinary team of scholars with expertise in instructional design, emergency preparedness, crisis management, emergency medicine and public health. The project team expects to have a prototype of the online awareness course available for review and initial trials by the end of 2008.

Managing preparedness and response successfully, requires leaders to gain new skills. Leaders must be trained to meet new expectations imposed by the threat of terror. Traditional leadership training focuses on process and policy or those things that advance the goals of the organization. Transforming leaders to deal with the extraordinary circumstances imposed by the threat of catastrophic high consequence events can be accomplished through effective and highly innovative training tools. The partner organizations in PACER have extensive experience and capability in leadership training and development, particularly in preparing for and responding to crises and catastrophic events. The specific aim of this project will be to harness this expertise and experience in order to develop a working prototype of a fully immersive training module specifically developed for key decision-makers.

Disaster and emergency planning is an activity that should be integrated into the fabric of organizations so that emergency plans are created and regularly reviewed, rehearsed, practiced, evaluated, and revised. Ultimately, this process is to reduce risk associated with natural and technological disasters. Although Americans at any given time are at risk from disasters, some groups are more vulnerable than others. Social vulnerability, the connection between socio-demographics and the inability to deal with a hazard’s effects, is intricately tied to the resources one can access. Often, vulnerability to a disaster is heightened by demographic trends. Increased levels of social vulnerability are more likely to affect those with physical or mental disabilities, impoverished people, and people who do not speak English. These groups do not experience disasters in the same manner as the general population. Therefore, they are more likely to suffer injury, loss of property, and life during a disaster and less likely to recover after one.

Many terms are employed to describe groups that are vulnerable during a disaster. Definitions of these terms are often inconsistent and vary considerably depending on the type of disaster or catastrophic event, service provided, or role of service providers during an event. One approach to this problem is to define vulnerable populations among emergency service providers according to their mission. Not all individuals have special needs in all types of emergencies and for all emergency activities. Consequently, developing a framework for defining vulnerable, underserved, and special populations within the context of disaster related services is imperative if we are to achieve a new level of public awareness and readiness.

This framework must be developed by examining multiple domains along the disaster service continuum consisting of preparedness, response, and recovery activities. We propose to employ an expanded typology of these domains to include categories such as risk perception, preparedness behavior, warning communication and response, physical impacts, psychological impacts, emergency response, recovery, and reconstruction. Defining the characteristics of vulnerable, underserved or special populations within each of these categories will provide a more precise assessment of preparedness needs for these groups and the critical disaster domains that follow.

A great deal needs to be known about the involvement of school teachers as potential disseminators of critical information on high consequence catastrophic event preparedness and response. Teachers could be conduits in reaching a critical sector of our population as we aim to infuse the culture of homeland security into the nation’s collective psyche. In addition, we need to better understand the role teachers play in informal networks within small communities, specifically those that are underserved and disenfranchised.

Aptly informed teachers can be a critical resource before, during and after a catastrophic high consequence event. Before an event, teachers can be the conduits to preparing our young to understand potential hazards and how best to react in the event of one. During an event, teachers can be critical in protecting and thus mitigating loss of life and property. Most importantly, teachers can be invaluable as communities attempt to heal and rebuild after a catastrophic event.