Preparing for Disaster: A Way of Developing Community Relationships

Although disaster preparedness and mock disasters are common, the unique results that occur from the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a mock disaster are seldom mentioned. A school of nursing within a small, private university located in eastern Kentucky formed new partnerships with the community as a result of completing a practice drill. The drill served to form a working relationship between the university and the community, which had often viewed the university as isolated. A description of the mock disaster and benefits are presented.