This guide was developed to assist institutions of higher education in creating and updating emergency plans that are responsive to active shooter situations, as well as natural disasters. This resource was jointly developed by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services so that campus communities can align their emergency planning practices with those at the national, state, and local levels.

This guide provides information about drought as it affects the health of the U.S. public. Behavioral health-related information is discussed in various sections of this document, particularly beginning on page 27.

Part of SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) series, this manual provides best-practice guidelines for practitioners offering mental health and substance use disorder treatment services to individuals experiencing homelessness. It defines types of intervention and prevention, stages of recovery, and forms of treatment through discussion and vignettes, as well as a literature review.

Educators and school personnel can use this guide to determine how well their school is prepared to respond to the immediate and long-term psychological effects of a crisis or disaster on students, their families, and staff. It offers many practical suggestions for developing procedures and plans for mitigation, prevention, preparation, response, and recovery.

This guide provides information to help schools respond effectively to a range of school crises and disasters that affect school communities. The links provided offer strategies to potentially prevent violent school-based tragedies, identify students who may be at greatest risk of violent behavior, and address the emergent needs of students during times of crisis.

This guide provides an overview of acute stress disorder in children, a less severe and briefer condition than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Like PTSD, acute stress disorder may be triggered by a natural or human-caused disaster.

This guide provides First Responders agencies with the steps to follow to ensure good health for their workforce. The authors offer an overview of occupational health and safety, review comprehensive occupational health and safety programs, discuss assessing current efforts, and present challenges and provide recommendations for overcoming them.

This guide provides recommendations for local governments and agencies to help them create disaster preparedness and response programs that account for the needs of people with disabilities, which will bring these programs into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This guide highlights the need for gender-sensitive approaches and provides information on gender issues in disaster management. The document describes the approaches of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies when integrating gender into the disaster management cycle and strengthening accountability for gender impact. The guide also includes international case studies.

Designed for a range of types of disaster responders, this pocket guide describes the cycle of stress in the body and highlights signs of stress. It also presents tips for managers to prevent and manage stress for themselves and their workers during disaster response, as well as offering simple, practical stress management techniques for responders.

Developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network with the National Center for PTSD, Psychological First Aid (PFA) is, according to this guide, “an evidence-informed modular approach to help children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism.” The guide describes how to use PFA after a disaster and includes worksheets responders can use for tracking interactions with survivors.

This guide highlights the need for establishing inclusive and safe emergency shelters for all individuals experiencing homelessness by providing information on the Equal Access Rule. It includes recommendations for introducing language that is inclusive of people who are transgender, developing inclusive policies, and establishing codes of conduct for staff and residents.

Companion animals are often essential for individuals experiencing homelessness to reduce stress and enhance resilience. This resource provides best practice guidance for treating this bond as a family unit when providing individuals experiencing homelessness with services, shelter, and support during disasters.

This guide offers staff at service provider organizations best practices and tools for building engagement with individuals experiencing homelessness and successfully involving them in services and programs. It describes principles and roles of outreach, highlights possible challenges, and offers strategies for effective outreach.

This manual presents an adaptation of Psychological First Aid for professionals working with individuals and families experiencing homelessness. It includes information on trauma and strategies for shelter staff members to gather information, address immediate needs, and connect families with social supports. The manual includes worksheets and examples to refer to when offering services.

This manual presents an adaptation of Psychological First Aid for professionals working with youth experiencing homelessness. It explores childhood trauma and offers strategies for establishing engagement, offering practical assistance, and creating a safe space. The manual includes worksheets and examples to refer to when offering services.

Developed for emergency shelter staff members, this manual provides worksheets and checklists for agencies to develop a disaster plan that best serves youth experiencing homelessness. The activities encourage staff to consider various topics such as community demographics, record maintenance, evacuation plans, and staff preparedness.

Individuals experiencing homelessness often experience traumas that cause them to be especially vulnerable during disasters. This manual defines trauma and highlights the need for a trauma-informed approach when providing services and support to communities that have survived trauma.

This guide for public officials presents the basic components of effective communication during a crisis. Topics covered include guidance for communicating complex, scientific, or technical information; working with mainstream and social media; and presenting information to the public.

This document presents overarching guidelines for disaster risk communication, followed by key disaster behavioral health messages officials can use in communicating with the public. Also included are fact sheets that can be used in support of key messages and adapted by disaster behavioral health programs as part of their own communication plans.

This manual describes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) program, an evidence-based framework incorporating best practices for those who are responsible for communications during a disaster or other emergency. The manual introduces CERC; describes the psychological effects of crises; and offers guidance in developing, implementing, and evaluating crisis communication plans.

This guide was developed for policymakers and others responsible for handling communication about a public health emergency, as well as professionals involved in development of risk communication plans. It includes recommendations on integrating emergency risk communication into health and emergency response systems and building trust with emergency-affected populations. The guide is also available in several languages other than English.

This resource was developed to provide guidance to local and national governments on how to effectively communicate with communities in the recovery phase after a disaster or other crisis. It explains principles for effective communication and provides templates to help governments develop communications plans.

Mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the National Emergency Communications Plan was developed to help the nation improve how it communicates during disasters and other emergencies. It establishes goals and objectives with success indicators for the United States and recommends that these objectives be incorporated into federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local plans.

This resource includes a bulleted summary of principles and techniques for effective media communication in a disaster or other emergency. Tips are provided on topics such as accepting the media as a legitimate partner, planning for media interactions, and speaking clearly and with compassion.