Learn about the common warning signs and risk factors for emotional distress that children, adults, and first responders often experience.
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It is common to feel stress symptoms before or after a crisis. Natural and human-caused disasters can have a devastating impact on people’s lives because they sometimes cause physical injury, damage to property, or the loss of a home or place of employment. Anyone who sees or experiences this can be affected in some way. Most stress symptoms are temporary and will resolve on their own in a fairly short amount of time. However, for some people, particularly children and teens, these symptoms may last for weeks or even months and may influence their relationships with families and friends.
Common warning signs of emotional distress include:
For those who have lived through a natural or human-caused disaster, the anniversary of the event may renew feelings of fear, anxiety, and sadness. Certain sounds, such as sirens, can also trigger emotional distress. These and other environmental sensations can take people right back to the disaster or cause them to fear that it’s about to happen again.
Disasters have the potential to cause emotional distress. Some people are more at risk than others:
Children are often the most vulnerable of those impacted during and after a disaster. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a growing body of research has established that children as young as infancy may be affected by events that threaten their safety or the safety of their parents or caregivers.
Disasters are unfamiliar events that are not easily understood by children, who can find them emotionally confusing and frightening. During the time of turmoil, they may be left with a person unfamiliar to them and provided with limited information. Some warning signs of distress in children ages 6 to 11 include:
For teens, the impact of disasters varies depending on how much of a disruption the disaster causes their family or community. Teens ages 12 to 18 are likely to have physical complaints when under stress or be less interested in schoolwork, chores, or other responsibilities.
Although some teens may compete vigorously for attention from parents and teachers after a disaster, they also may:
Children and teens most at risk for emotional distress include those who:
Most young people simply need additional time to experience their world as a secure place again and receive some emotional support to recover from their distress. The reactions of children and teens to a disaster are strongly influenced by how parents, relatives, teachers, and caregivers respond to the event. They often turn to these individuals for comfort and help. Teachers and other mentors play an especially important role after a disaster or other crisis by reinforcing normal routines to the extent possible, especially if new routines have to be established.
Access SAMHSA publications on helping youth cope with disaster-related emotional distress:
Learn about coping tips for dealing with natural and human-caused disasters.
Adults impacted by disaster are faced with the difficult challenge of balancing roles as first responders, survivors, and caregivers. They are often overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of responsibility and immediate task of the crisis response and recovery at hand. They must also take the time to address their own physical and emotional needs as well as those of their family members and community.
Warnings signs of stress in adults may include:
Adults most at risk of experiencing severe emotional stress and post-traumatic stress disorder include those with a history of:
Adults most at risk for emotional stress include:
As with children and teens, adults also need time to get back into their normal routine. It is important that people try to accept whatever reactions they have related to the disaster. Take every day one-at-a-time and focus on taking care of your own disaster-related needs and those of your family.
Read SAMHSA’s Tips for Survivors of a Disaster or Other Traumatic Event: Managing Stress – 2007 for additional information. Learn about coping tips for dealing with natural and human-caused disasters.
First responders and recovery workers include:
First responders and recovery workers are not only physically and emotionally tested during an emergency, but they also may have loved ones in the area for whom they are concerned. They also are often the last to seek help for work-related stress.
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Warnings signs of stress in responders and recovery workers may include:
First responders and recovery workers most at risk for emotional distress include those who have experienced:
For first responders, being prepared for the job and strengthening stress management skills before a disaster assignment is the best protection from stress. Responder stress can be diminished by practicing for the disaster role, developing a personal toolkit of stress management skills, and preparing themselves and loved ones for a disaster.
Get information in SAMHSA publications on helping first responders and recovery workers:
Learn about coping tips for dealing with natural and human-caused disasters.
Disasters can be extremely disruptive to individual families and community routines, leading to stress and inviting all types of violent behavior, including intimate partner violence or family violence. Women and girls can be particularly at risk. Following a disaster, resources for reporting violent crimes may be temporarily suspended or unavailable. For women and girls who have experienced intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or family violence, this can further heighten their sense of isolation and vulnerability.
Before, during, and after a disaster, what may seem like fighting between intimate partners or family members may actually be a symptom of a larger pattern of abuse. Further, during the response and recovery phase after a disaster, the risk for violence against women and girls becomes greater. These disaster survivors may become displaced from their homes and moved to shelters or temporary housing, where they encounter overcrowded, co-ed living conditions and a lack of security, among other things.
If you or someone you care about is or may be experiencing intimate partner, sexual, or family abuse or violence, call the Disaster Distress Helpline. Other resources are also available:
For More Information: https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
Contact Information: Kevin Sylvester at Kevin.Sylvester@dot.gov
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Roadway signs in the United States increasingly use symbols rather than words to convey their message. Symbols provide instant communication with roadway users, overcome language barriers, and are becoming standard for traffic control devices throughout the world. Familiarity with symbols on traffic signs is important for every road user in order to maintain the safety and efficiency of our transportation facilities.
The color of roadway signs is an important indicator of the information they contain. The use of red on signs is limited to stop, yield, and prohibition signs. A white background indicates a regulatory sign; yellow conveys a general warning message; green shows permitted traffic movements or directional guidance; fluorescent yellow/green indicates pedestrian crossings and school zones; orange is used for warning and guidance in roadway work zones; coral is used for incident management signs;** blue indicates road user services, tourist information, and evacuation routes; and brown is for guidance to sites of public recreation or cultural interest.
Sign shape can also alert roadway users to the type of information displayed on a sign. Traffic regulations are conveyed in signs that are rectangular with the longer direction vertical or square. Additional regulatory signs are octagons for stop and inverted triangles for yield. Diamond-shaped signs signify warnings. Rectangular signs with the longer direction horizontal provide guidance information. Pentagons indicate school zones. A circular sign warns of a railroad crossing.
The illustration below shows how the shape and color of a sign indicate the nature of the message.
Test your Sign IQ by taking the interactive shape and color quiz available on the web at https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov. On the navigation bar under Knowledge, select Sign Shape/Color.
Standards for the sign design and application of the signs shown here as well as for other traffic control devices are contained in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Dimension drawings for signs can be found in the Standard Highway Signs book. Both of these books are available in electronic format online at https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov. This web site also contains information on standard lettering used on highway signs and pavement markings and on highway sign color specifications.
Hard copies of the MUTCD can be purchased from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (http://www.aashto.org); the Institute of Transportation Engineers (http://www.ite.org); the American Traffic Safety Services Association (http://www.atssa.com); and the US Government Printing Office (http://www.gpo.gov). The Standard Highway Signs book can be purchase from the US Government Printing Office and the American Traffic Safety Services Association through the web sites listed above.
Prepared in 2002 by the
US Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Transportation Operations
FHWA-OP-02-084
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