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620 N. Main Street, Suite 306, Blacksburg VA 24060 | www.peacework.org
Risk Management Protocol 2015-‐2016 Policy Peacework is a program of the Peacework Development Fund, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization that builds and manages partnerships in international development involving institutions of higher education and corporations. It is our policy that Peacework will provide whatever support services are required to ensure that students, faculty, and others involved in global programs have the safest and most secure international project possible and that a crisis or emergency, in so much as is possible, will be quickly, appropriately, and judiciously responded to, managed, and documented. One of the priority issues regarding international programs is risk management. Risks that one would assume to be normal in the course of society are complicated by the growing complexities of political, ethnic, cultural settings, the seemingly random nature of acts of violence, and conflicts around the world. Although it is impossible to completely eliminate vulnerabilities, the likelihood of any physical, emotional, and medical harm is greatly minimized by thorough planning, preparation, precautions, and oversight. Therefore, Peacework will provide a full range of range of services to avoid risks, evaluate contingencies, and manage emergencies. All risk and emergency management tasks are carried out in full collaboration with the sponsoring organization. The same avoidance and management tasks are coordinated with our partners abroad. The hosts as first responders are prepared to handle contingencies and emergencies in their respective countries. The basic protocol for handling a crisis or emergency is provided below. For clarification, we have adopted the following definitions. A risk is the possibility of exposure to a harmful situation that may seriously affect a participant’s health, safety, and security. The avoidance of risk requires thorough preparation, precaution, and planning for contingencies. An emergency is an occasion in which physical injury, psychotic episode, incapacitating illness, or death is imminent or has occurred and there is the possibility of intervention. An emergency may be sustained in the normal course of daily activities, self-‐inflicted, or caused by civil unrest, social confrontation, or natural disaster that threatens one’s safety. An emergency requires immediate action. A threat is an anticipated situation or condition that requires urgent and appropriate avoidance. A threat requires decisive action to avoid an emergency. Principles Every aspect of our program planning is designed to protect the participant from harm and to avoid potential risks. Those involved with planning and hosting participants have as a paramount goal the security of every individual. Therefore Peacework and our partners will have information about available resources such as nearby hospitals and emergency evacuation information. Peacework will also establish lines of communication for all placements so that everyone who is involved with the program knows precisely what to do in different situations. It is the responsibility of (A) the participant and (B) the designated leader of the delegation to know this information and to have it handy in the event of an emergency. Planning and Preparation Every participant in a program managed or sponsored by Peacework receives orientation materials that include the latest health and medical information from the Center for Disease Control, a candid
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