Health & Safety

All CET staff, both in the United States and overseas, undergo staff training on how to prevent and handle emergencies when first hired. We also hold several sessions related to student health and safety and risk management at RD Gras, our annual conference for all CET staff.

Based on their knowledge of each program’s region, environment, and history of past incidents, Program Managers assess risk, providing guidance about the kinds of events that pose the highest risk to students or program operation. They utilize US Department of State guidance and maintain person-to-person contact with staff at the US Embassy in each program site. CET leadership also receives daily risk alerts and updates from Global Rescue, and when needed, can engage Global Rescue in customized risk assessments.

At each site, overseas staff perform an annual audit of general health and safety measures in order to ensure that basic safety preventive measures (such as fire exits, first aid kids, emergency alert plan, etc.) are up-to-date and ready for use.

At each site, overseas staff compile a brief, site-specific Emergency Evacuation Plan (EEP). The purpose of this plan is not to determine exact steps for every kind of eventuality, but to think through the potential resources, operations and communication chain should a group evacuation be warranted. The EEP addresses both general risks and any specific risks associated with the region.

CET has country-specific Safety Guidelines that apprise students of safety precautions and local laws particular to their region, and provide them instructions for responding to an emergency situation. Overseas staff review the Safety Guidelines at each orientation, and ensure that all students sign them.

Each site also provides students lists of hospitals and health centers in their city. The list contains medical facilities approved by GeoBlue, our insurance provider.

All students receive an Emergency Contact Card at orientation. These cards contain the “911” equivalent in the host country, emergency contact information for on-site staff, the address of the CET center (in the host language and in English), the address of nearby CET-recommended medical centers, and contact information for the US Embassy.

Overseas staff also run an emergency alert drill with all students within the first two weeks of the term. The idea of the emergency alert drill is to ensure that students respond promptly to emergency instructions or confirmation of their whereabouts.