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Additional Emergency Information for...
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Information for Parents: EAP and Safety
The health and safety of our students is EAP’s top priority.
EAP has established procedures and quality support services that provide participants, faculty, and staff, who are abroad with an effective and efficient 24-hour a day emergency support system. A critical component in a safe and health stay abroad is EAP’s partnership with students, faculty, and staff in sharing the responsibility of risk management during their stay abroad.
Key components of EAP’s safety precautions
include:
- Student Preparation. All students receive health and safety information, both general and specific to their destination, prior to departure and after arrival during on-site orientation. .
- Comprehensive and detailed emergency protocols tested and in place.
- On-site Support. Through the EAP Study Center abroad, EAP students are supported by a combination of trained UC Study Center Directors, host institution Liaison Officers and staff, and/or locally-based EAP staff. Staff provide program-specific health and safety orientations when students arrive abroad, and are an ongoing source of information and assistance to students. They monitor events – local, national, and international – which may affect EAP students and are in continual contact with EAP staff in Santa Barbara. EAP Study Centers receive regular updates from the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate regarding U.S. citizen safety through the consular warden network.
- 24/7 Support from the EAP Regional Team in Santa Barbara working with the EAP Study Abroad Security and Health Analyst responsible for safety, security and health affairs. EAP regional teams and UC Study Center staff work together during an emergency abroad involving EAP students, faculty or staff.
- Experience. EAP has been sending UC students abroad for over 40 years. UCEAP staff in the U.S. and abroad have extensive professional and hands-on experience dealing with health and safety issues.
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What parents can do to help their son or daughter
prepare for study abroad
- Make sure both you and your son or daughter have thoroughly
reviewed the pre-departure
health and safety information provided by EAP.
- Discuss safety and health precautions with your son or daughter
before departure and after he or she arrives. Make sure that he/she
understands the importance of keeping current contact information for
his/her Study Center and local emergency services with them at all times.
They will receive this information during their EAP orientation abroad.
- Emphasize to your son or daughter how important it is that
he/she maintains regular communication with his/her local, on-site EAP
Study Center while abroad. The Study Center is the most immediate source
of assistance to students in both routine and urgent matters. Prior
to traveling during breaks or weekends, students should always inform
the EAP Study Center of their plans, and seek advice and information
regarding safety precautions for their destinations.
- Encourage your daughter or son to regularly review the
U.S. Department of State information for the study location and
for any destinations he/she plans to visit during program breaks or
weekends, as well as general Department of State advice for U.S. citizens
and students abroad.
- While abroad, students often create unnecessary anxiety at home when
they do not communicate with their parents or other important
contacts. Before departure, impress upon your daughter or
son the importance of maintaining regular contact with you. Establish
together the means by which you will communicate (telephone, e-mail,
etc.) and how often. Discuss alternate contacts for your son or
daughter when he/she cannot reach you. Decide on a workable plan that
outlines when and how your student will contact you to confirm
safe arrival in the host country, keep you informed
of independent travel plans during their term abroad, etc.
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Insurance and medical assistance
- All EAP students are automatically enrolled in the required EAP medical
insurance. This policy includes medical
evacuation insurance, which provides assistance and coverage in
cases where a student is injured or ill to the extent that he/she must
be transported to another location (either abroad or in the U.S.) for
treatment and/or recovery. This insurance provides students with access
to a worldwide 24-hour emergency assistance telephone number, through
which they can get information and referrals in cases of medical emergency,
theft of documents, etc.
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Confidentiality
- Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA), students who are over 18, or attend a school beyond the
high school level, have a legal right to privacy of their educational
records. FERPA allows for an exception during health or safety emergencies,
when EAP can communicate immediately with any individuals the student
has listed as emergency contacts on EAP application materials. However,
be aware that in non-emergency circumstances, EAP is generally prohibited
from sharing student information with parents or others, unless the
student has given us explicit permission to do so.
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