Helping community leaders prepare and plan for mass violence

ICF Podcast

This podcast series was recorded in April 2022. ICF has been providing immediate assistance to communities after a mass violence incident (MVI) for over 30 years. In this podcast we share guidance and advice on how communities can create a plan to respond to MVIs and identify and develop strategies to address the short- and long-term needs of the people they serve.

Editor’s Note: The following content deals with the sensitive topic of mass violence. Some listeners may find it distressing.

We invite you to listen to the first episode in a new series talking about sensitive topics that affect us all to some degree—large-scale violence and domestic terror. Mass violence incidents that occur in our communities in places such as schools, churches and other locations have both immediate and long-term impacts on victims, their families, and the immediate community. These incidents often shake our sense of safety to the core and reverberate across communities near, far, and the world at large. Joining this conversation with senior manager in the Office for Victims of Crime, Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) Diane Alexander are victim support services experts Victoria Shelton (OVC TTAC) and Tara Hughes, director of Improving Community Preparedness to Assist Victims of Mass Violence and Domestic Terrorism (ICP TTA). Together, they discuss the critical importance of preparing and pro-actively planning for best ways to support victims and communities when incidents of mass violence occur. Communities can’t assume that these type of acts will never happen in their town or city; they must prepare for when they will.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• How are mass violence and domestic terrorism defined?
• What are some of the negative ramifications of not preparing for a incident of mass violence in your community?
• How mass violence response planning is different from planning for other “big things”
• The three things that affect a mass violence response plan
• Robust victim assistance and first-responder care services and psychological first-aid measures

Additional Mass Violence Resources

Community planning

• OVC TTAC Mass Violence
• ICP TTA
• Victim Services Exercise Guide & Scenario Templates
• ASPR TRACIE
• Mass Violence Resources
• Disaster Behavioral Health Resources

Personal and Family Planning Resources

• Ready.gov
• Be Red Cross Ready
• Medical Reserve Corps - Core competencies for leaders and volunteers
• Behavioral health PPE pre-deployment checklist for responders
• Mini Modules to Relieve Stress For Healthcare Workers Responding to COVID-19
• SAMHSA DTAC resources for responders