An evaluation of a college campus emergency preparedness intervention

Introduction: Given the range of emergencies that beset postsecondary institutions, university administrators must take a multimodal approach to prepare campus stakeholders for safety threats. One such strategy is emergency preparedness communication. Methods: In the present investigation, we tested the efficacy of a professionally produced video that uses the federally endorsed slogan, Run-Hide-Fight(r). Undergraduate students participated in a quasi-experiment with a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest control group design. Results: Using the theory of planned behavior as our guiding framework, we found that video exposure increased attitudes, perceived norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, as well as knowledge of recommended behavioral responses. Favorable attitudes and injunctive norms positively predicted intentions at the initial and delayed posttests. Importantly, the video's effects on most of the outcomes endured two weeks after video exposure. Conclusions: A brief emergency preparedness video using the Run-Hide-Fight(r) theme can have immediate and lingering effects on psychosocial predictors of appropriate emergency response behaviors. Practical Applications: Administrators at higher education institutions should consider showing emergency preparedness messages to increase the likelihood that stakeholders will take appropriate action in case of a campus threat. In particular, these messages should aim to promote favorable attitudes toward appropriate response behaviors and instill beliefs that appropriate responses ought to be performed.