Behavior-based Emergency Preparedness and Response (BEPR)
Knowledge of human behavior, in all phases of emergency management, is critical in the development of effective emergency policies, plans, exercises, and training programs. For many years, business continuity planners worked under a simple assumption: When a disaster strikes, people will follow plans and procedures. Psychologists and other behavioral scientists have found that this idea fails to consider the often-surprising behavior of people during emergencies. Behavior-based Emergency Preparedness and Response (BEPR) is an evidence-informed approach to integrating human factors into all facets of the organization’s disaster and emergency management program. XBRM’s consultants are some of the nation’s foremost experts in disaster-related behavior across the continuum of emergency management. Let our team help yours make the accurate behavioral assumptions necessary to develop realistic and effective emergency polices, plans, exercises, and programs.
Psychological First Aid Responder™ (PFAR)
The National Academy of Science and National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder have identified Psychological First Aid as the “intervention of choice” in managing the immediate emotional consequences of a disaster, emergency or violent event. PFA is a discrete skill set interned to be used by whoever is first to respond to a crisis. Just as medical first aid is not reserved just for doctors, nurses and EMT’s, psychological first aid skills are not just for mental health professionals. PFA is an essential addition to the toolkit of any crisis responder as a way to reduce anxiety, fear and the emotional aftershock of a tragic or threatening event.
