The protective action decision model: theoretical modifications and additional evidence.

The Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) is a multistage model that is based on findings from research on people's responses to environmental hazards and disasters. The PADM integrates the processing of information derived from social and environmental cues with messages that social sources transmit through communication channels to those at risk. The PADM identifies three critical predecision processes (reception, attention, and comprehension of warnings or exposure, attention, and interpretation of environmental/social cues)--that precede all further processing. The revised model identifies three core perceptions--threat perceptions, protective action perceptions, and stakeholder perceptions--that form the basis for decisions about how to respond to an imminent or long-term threat. The outcome of the protective action decision-making process, together with situational facilitators and impediments, produces a behavioral response. In addition to describing the revised model and the research on which it is based, this article describes three applications (development of risk communication programs, evacuation modeling, and adoption of long-term hazard adjustments) and identifies some of the research needed to address unresolved issues.

Hospital planning for weapons of mass destruction incidents.

As terrorist attacks increase in fre-quency, hospital disaster plans need to be scrutinized to ensure that they take into account issues unique to weapons of mass destruction. This paper reports a review of the literature addressing hospital experiences with such incidents and the planning lessons thus learned. Construction of hos-pital disaster plans is examined as an ongoing process guided by the disaster planning committee. A review is completed of six special elements of weapons of mass destruction incidents that should be addressed in hospital disaster plans. The paper closes with a dis-cussion of the importance of train-ing and exercises in maintaining and improving the disaster plan.

Preparedness for emergency response: guidelines for the emergency planning process.

Especially since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments worldwide have invested considerable resources in the writing of terrorism emergency response plans. Particularly in the United States, the federal government has created new homeland security organisations and urged state and local governments to draw up plans. This emphasis on the written plan tends to draw attention away from the process of planning itself and the original objective of achieving community emergency preparedness. This paper reviews the concepts of community preparedness and emergency planning, and their relationships with training, exercises and the written plan. A series of 10 planning process guidelines are presented that draw upon the preparedness literature for natural and technological disasters, and can be applied to any environmental threat.

The structure and function of community emergency operations centers

Addresses the structure and function of the community emergency operations centre (EOC).There is some confusion among public officials regarding the role and function of the EOC. In part this emerges because many EOCs at different levels operate in conjunction with any given disaster. There is also a tendency to define the functions of the community EOC narrowly. Such definitions typically understate the importance of such activities as damage assessment and public information, and consequently leave the responsibility for these and related critical functions somewhat ambiguos. Seeks to achieve an explict definition of the range and content od disaster responsibilities associated with the community EOC and thereby to clarify and contribute more to effective community-wide disaster response (AU)

Emergency management strategies for communicating hazard information

The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of communicating information to the public about environmental risks to increase the likelihood that citizens will adopt protective measures. To accomplish this objective, three issues in public education will be examined. First, an attempt is made to understand how emergency management agencies can be come identified as credible sources of information within the community. Second, attention is given to establishing and maintaining viable communication channels through which local emergency management personnel can reach the public. The closing section of the paper discusses strategies for increasing citizen receptivity to officially designated protective measures