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Integrated Response to the Dynamic Threat of School Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

David W. Callaway*
Affiliation:
The Operational Medicine Institute Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ted C. Westmoreland
Affiliation:
The Asymmetric Combat Institute, Taylors, South Carolina, USA
Alejandro A. Baez
Affiliation:
The Operational Medicine Institute Hospital General Plaza de la Salud/Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Sean A. McKay
Affiliation:
The Asymmetric Combat Institute, Taylors, South Carolina, USA
Ali S. Raja
Affiliation:
The Operational Medicine Institute Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
*
The Operational Medicine Institute, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1 Deaconess Rd, West CC-2, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA, E-mail: dcallawa@gmail.com

Abstract

A terrorist attack on US schools no longer can be considered a Black Swan event. Mounting evidence suggests that extremist organizations actively are targeting US schools. Equally disturbing are data suggesting that schools, universities, and communities are unprepared for large-scale violence. The Operational Medicine Institute Conference on an Integrated Response to the Modern Urban Terrorist Threat revealed significant variations in the perceived threats and critical response gaps among emergency medical providers, law enforcement personnel, politicians, and security specialists. The participants recommended several steps to address these gaps in preparedness, training, responses, and recovery.

Type
Original Research
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2010

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