Professionals who search the Medline database for publications in the areas of ‘‘trauma/disaster’’ and ‘‘school interventions’’ encounter disappointing results: only a few articles match the requested terms. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, however, have produced reports on several initiatives that assess the postevent responses of school-age children as a primary step toward allocation of resources and future interventions [1,2]. The situation before September 11 reflects the limited awareness in the field of mental health disaster  treatment regarding important resources that may be enlisted for the psychological relief of children and the whole community. It also may reflect the limited degree to which the school system is open to mental health professionals and initiatives that originate outside of the system.

a-Psychology Research Unit, Tel-Aviv Community Mental Health Center, 9 Hatzvi Street, Tel-Aviv, Israel 67197
b-School Intervention Programs, Donald J. Cohen and Irving B. Harris Center for Trauma and Disaster Intervention, The Association for Children at Risk, 9 Hatzvi Street, Tel-Aviv, Israel 67197
c-Department of Psychiatry and Philosophy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of the Humanities, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
d-Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
e-Department of Psychiatry, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine and Hospital, Altunizade, Istanbul, 81190 Turkey