In order for a community to be truly prepared to respond to any type of emergency, it must develop effective emergency planning. Emergency Planning guides readers through the steps of developing these plans, offering a number of strategies that will help ensure success. It delves into the patterns of human disaster behavior, social psychology, and communication as well as the basics of generic protective actions, planning concepts, implementation, and action.
Ronald W. Perry joined Arizona State University in 1983 as Professor of Public Affairs. He has studied natural and technological hazards and terrorism since 1971. His principal interests are incident management systems, citizen warning behavior, public education and community preparedness. He has published more than a dozen books and many journal articles. Perry currently serves on the Steering Committees of the Phoenix Urban Areas Strategic Initiative and the Phoenix Metropolitan Medical Response System. He also serves on the Arizona Council for Earthquake Safety and on the Fire Chiefs’ Advisory Committees for the Arizona Cities of Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe. He holds the Award for Excellence in Emergency Management from the Arizona Emergency Services Association and the Pearce Memorial Award for Contributions to Hazardous Incident Response from the Phoenix Fire Department. He also holds both the Award for Outstanding Environmental Achievement by a Team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a Certificate of Recognition from Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government.
Michael K. Lindell is the former Director of the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University and has 30 years of experience in the field of emergency management, conducting research on community adjustment to floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and releases of radiological and toxic materials. He worked for many years as an emergency preparedness contractor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has provided technical assistance on radiological emergency preparedness for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Department of Energy, and nuclear utilities. In addition, he has trained as a Hazardous Materials Specialist at the Michigan Hazardous Materials Training Center and worked on hazardous materials emergency preparedness with state emergency response commissions, local emergency planning committees, and chemical companies. In the past few years, Lindell directed HRRC staff performing hurricane hazard analysis and evacuation planning for the entire Texas Gulf coast. He has made over 120 presentations before scientific societies and short courses for emergency planners, and he has been an invited participant in workshops on risk communication and emergency management in this country and abroad. Lindell has also written extensively on emergency management and is the author of over 120 technical reports and journal articles, as well as five books.
Clear, everyday language and clean format. Students can read each chapter without being intimidated by difficult language or overwhelmed by sidebars, textboxes, and other fillers that interrupt the flow of the writing.
Modular format. Instructors can reorder textbook content to suit the needs of a particular class. The text proceeds logically from the basics to more challenging material, and chapters are further organized into sections that are self-contained for maximum teaching and learning flexibility.
Pre-test. This pre-reading assessment tool in multiple-choice format introduces chapter material and the learning outcomes. By focusing students’ attention on what they do not know, the self-test provides a benchmark against which they can measure their own progress.
What You’ll Learn in this Chapterand After Studying this Chapter. These bulleted lists tell students what they will be learning in this chapter and why it is significant. “What You’ll Learn…” lists focus on subject matter that will be taught. Each bullet in the list corresponds to a chapter section. “After Studying This Chapter…” lists emphasize capabilities and skills students will learn.
Goals and Outcomes. These lists identify specific learner capabilities that will result from reading the chapter. They set students up to synthesize and evaluate the chapter material, and relate it to the real world.
“For Example” Boxes. Found within each section, these boxes tie section content to real-world organizations, scenarios, and applications.
Figures and tables. Line art and photos have been carefully chosen to be truly instructional rather than filler. Tables distill and present information in a way that is easy to identify, access, and understand, enhancing the focus of the text on essential ideas without distracting or overwhelming the reader.
Self-Check. Related to the “What You’ll Learn” bullets and found at the end of each section, this battery of short answer questions emphasizes student understanding of concepts and mastery of section content. Each Self-Check question set includes a link to a section of the pre-test for further review and practice.
Key Terms and Glossary. To help students develop a professional vocabulary, key terms are bolded in the introduction, summary and when they first appear in the chapter. A complete list of key terms with brief definitions appears at the end of each chapter and again in a glossary at the end of the book. Knowledge of key terms is assessed by all assessment tools (see below).
Summary. Each chapter concludes with a summary paragraph that reviews the major concepts in the chapter and links back to the “What You’ll Learn” list.
Evaluation and Assessment Tools
Summary Questions. These help students summarize the chapter’s main points by asking a series of multiple choice and true/false questions that emphasize student understanding of concepts and mastery of chapter content.
Review Questions. In short answer format, these questions review the major points in each chapter, prompting analysis while reinforcing and confirming student understanding of concepts, and encouraging mastery of chapter content.
Applying this Chapter Questions. This feature is used to drive home key ideas by asking students to synthesize and apply chapter concepts to new, real-life situations and scenarios.
You Try It! Questions. Designed to extend students’ thinking, these questions are ideal for discussion or writing assignments. Using an open-ended format and sometimes based on Web sources, they encourage students to draw conclusions using chapter material applied to real-world situations, which fosters both mastery and independent learning.
Post-test. After students have completed the chapter they have the ability to take a post test. It includes all of the questions in the pre-test, so that students can see how their learning has progressed and improved.
