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The PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research
The PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research

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The PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research

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The PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research

at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was established in 2010 with the aim to conduct cutting-edge multidisciplinary research in a broad spectrum of emergency and disaster management areas. Our mission is to contribute to knowledge and practice in order to enhance integrated and effective emergency response systems, develop evidence based doctrines, and improve the health and wellbeing of populations affected by adversities.
Prepared@bgu.ac.il

Center Director:

Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel

School of Public Health​

Faculty of Health Sciences

  • Ongoing academic activities are based on multicultural, multi-sector and multidisciplinary knowledge, communication and collaboration.  The Center promotes research, teaching and training in the fields of disaster and emergency preparedness and response, community resiliency, risk communication, and serves as a knowledge and consultation hub, both locally and internationally.
  • Assessing Community Resilience The PREPARED Center was home to the development of the Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measure (CCRAM), a standard tool that has been translated to more than 15 languages, published in peer reviewed journals and is utilized widely around the globe to assess community resilience. Ongoing measurements using the CCRAM can facilitate sensitive monitoring of community wellbeing and the effectiveness of interventions.
  • Personal Resilience to Disasters Measuring and enhancing personal resilience in the face of disasters and ongoing threats is yet another focal point. We deal with the assessment of PTSD, the secondary traumatization of emergency responders, stress and anxiety in people exposed to ongoing threat, and more.
  • The effects of Ongoing threat lead to another new tool as current diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) do not include symptoms resulting from exposure to continuous or ongoing traumatic stress. In order to fully capture stress symptoms associated with exposure to threats that extend over months or years, we enumerated the symptoms that are distinct from existing PTSD diagnostic criteria and developed the Continuous Traumatic Stress Response Scale (CTSR). This tool is now being used broadly across Israel among evacuees.
  • Fantastic Reality Ability MEasurement (FRAME) Fantastic reality ability (FRA) is defined as the capacity to use imagination in response to stress or trauma; it has been identified as an important concept in trauma-focused therapy. We developed a 21-item scale, that forms four-factors: Coping, Control, Transcendence, and Playfulness, where each contributes significantly to the measurement of a higher-order FRA latent construct.
  • Populations with disabilites and special needs in emergency situations are also at the core of our research. Deaf populations, people with autism, the use of GIS for accessing special needs populations after a mass disaster.
  • Professional evidence-based data and recommendations for leaders & policy makers responsible for developing and implementing emergency management plans. Our research team includes people with vast academic and practical experience in the behavioral aspects of disaster stricken populations or those under ongoing security threat. We have the experience and tools to lead large projects involving populations and systems in crisis situations and have developed indicators that reflect the situation as well as the effectiveness of training and intervention.
  • October 7, 2023 will change Israel forever. Current studies include an exploration of the Israeli traumatic exposure experience and PTSD symptoms during the war, an assessment of mental health approaches to treat children with psychological trauma, a study of the role of municipal authorities in managing displaced communities and their recovery following a disaster, and more studies are springing and upcoming, largely based on our financial resources.
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Curious? Have thoughts or ideas for new research?

Contact us at Prepared@bgu.ac.il.

We are looking for bright, out-of-the-box thinkers to join our team. Masters & PhD candidates welcome!