Study Abroad Program Leader Guide

Examples of incidents or emergencies

For our purposes, an emergency is any circumstance that poses a genuine risk to, or has already disturbed, the safety and well-being of program participants. Emergencies may include incidents that are "newsworthy" and reach U.S. news agencies, causing alarm to parents or colleagues.

Emergencies can include, though are not confined to, the following:

• physical assault
• disappearance, hostage-taking, or kidnapping of a student
• robbery
• sexual assault or rape
• serious illness, physical or emotional
• threat of, or attempted, suicide
• significant accident and/or injury
• hospitalization for any reason or length of time
• terrorist threat or attack
• local political, natural, or man-made crisis/disaster in the vicinity of student accommodations or classrooms that could affect the students' safety or well-being
• arrest or questioning by the police or other security forces
• any legal action (lawsuit, deposition, trial, etc.) involving a student
• death of a student

Pre-departure loss of a passport or documents is not considered an emergency. OSA will assist students or leaders to the best of our ability, but response may be limited to business hours.

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