A behavior-response wheel for training and field use by civil defense officers at emergency sites

Abstract

There has been a growth of awareness in many countries of the world in the last decade or so that mental health must be integrated into emergency preparedness if long-term and often severe emotional sequelae are to be mitigated. This paper reflects an assumption that these considerations need to be an integral part of the immediate response to emergency situations. The paper describes the development of an instrument used in training uniformed personnel to fulfill this unfamiliar and uncomfortable role. Nineteen behaviors and three modes of recommended response to them were formulated in an attractively designed wheel for training civil defense officers. In the course of applying the new instrument it appeared that the wheel may also have a research value in detecting diverse preferences for the suggested response modes.