SEPTEMBER 2015 - ISSUE 9
We don’t usually play favorites,
but September is a month that’s especially important here at FEMA. With the
weather cooling down and school back in session, the fall season represents a
“fresh start” of sorts. What’s more, September is National Preparedness Month.
This year’s theme is “Don’t Wait.
Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.” September also features the America’s
PrepareAthon! National PrepareAthon Day on September 30. This month’s issue has more on National
PrepareAthon Day as well some great new preparedness resources. Find a full
list of articles in the September issue of the
Children and Disasters Newsletter below:
National
PrepareAthon Day is September 30—the grand finale to the month-long National
Preparedness Month. There are many ways you can participate in this nationwide event—both
large and small! To give you an idea of how others have taken part, FEMA Youth
Preparedness Council Member Austin Witt shared what he did as part of the Spring
2015 America’s PrepareAthon! Here is his story:
What do you do when a
tornado is imminently threatening your home, or worse off, while you’re driving
home from work? How can one determine the safest place to be when danger is
only a few minutes away? In my rural hometown of Mahaska County, Iowa, one
might think there’s no reason to answer these questions because ‘nothing like
that has ever happened before,’ but that is so far from the truth. We’ve had
our share of disaster declarations, and because of this, I decided to make a
presentation for my local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) covering the
topic of severe weather and more specifically, tornados.
In conjunction with
America’s PrepareAthon! on April 30, I presented our team with a technical
discussion about the science behind a tornado and safety tips that could be
implemented in a variety of situations to help keep people safe when the
unthinkable happens. Seeing as many members of the CERT team are trained
weather spotters, I decided to use real life situations, both outside and
within our community, as well as pictures and videos, to identify the dangers
within a storm and how these members can relay life-saving information to
emergency officials and the National Weather Service when the situation
warrants it.
Of course when
planning your own event for America’s PrepareAthon! you don’t need to go
completely over the top. You can participate in simple things like discussing
emergency plans with your neighbor, making or updating emergency kits for your
loved ones, or conducting an emergency drill at work/home. Anything that helps
you and those around you to be better prepared is truly beneficial, no matter how
simple the task.
We hope Austin’s story will inspire all of you to plan your
own preparedness activities for September 30. If you need additional ideas,
below are 10 ways you can participate! Make sure you visit the America’s PrepareAthon!
website to register your activity or search for activities in your area,
and don’t forget to follow all the action on PrepareAthon's Twitter feed.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
is on a mission to amplify the PrepareAthon
message. In support of National Preparedness Month and America’s PrepareAthon!,
the CDC has created a Thunderclap
to help this year’s “Don’t Wait.
Communicate” message reach as many people as possible. This year’s theme is
all about creating community and meeting neighbors. Many of us don’t take the
time to engage with those who live nearby. However, in an emergency, neighbors
are usually the first on the scene and can provide critical help until first
responders arrive.
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Building a
safe and resilient community requires preparedness efforts at every level.
Start small by introducing yourself to your neighbors, ask them about their
preparedness plans, and build that relationship. Then we hope all of you will
join the movement and sign up to have Thunderclap automatically post one
message on your social media account on September
30 at 12:00PM Eastern Time. Help spread the message and encourage others to
foster connections in their own communities!
Here’s
how you can participate:
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Visit
the CDC’s
Thunderclap page.
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Select
Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or all three!
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Authorize
Thunderclap to use your account (To post the message, and to count your
followers so they can measure the reach of the campaign).
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Encourage
your friends and followers to do the same.
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Watch
the message spread on September 30!
Disaster can take
many forms. It can strike anywhere, at any time. Inspired by the events that
transpired during and after Superstorm Sandy, Enterprise Green Communities, in partnership with the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and many other supporters, developed the Ready to Respond: Disaster Staffing
Toolkit. Based on the Incident Command System (ICS), a planning framework used by first
responders, the Toolkit can help affordable housing organizations develop
comprehensive disaster staffing plans to protect buildings, residents, and business
operations.
Click on the
image above to watch an overview of the toolkit, then download the entire Ready to Respond:
Disaster Staffing Toolkit and
get started getting your organization prepared!
You also may want
to check back to the Enterprise Green Communities website at the end of
October, when they will be debuting Multifamily Resilience Strategies. This
resource will identify retrofit strategies to make multifamily properties more
resilient. Visit the Ready to Respond Tools for Resilience
webpage to learn more!
Children have unique vulnerabilities and capabilities when
it comes to disasters. In an effort to mitigate these vulnerabilities and
enhance these capabilities, youth preparedness programs should leverage the
growing body of research about child psychology and disaster resilience.
FEMA recently posted the From Tots to Teens: Emerging Research and Practices to Address the
Unique Needs of Young Disaster Survivors webinar and associated resources.
This 90-minute webinar covers emerging trends in research on the coping
behaviors of children affected by disasters and their practical applications
when planning for or working with children. The webinar features three expert
speakers who discuss youth preparedness, response and recovery, and resilience
science:
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Ann Masten, PhD, Regents Professor,
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
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Lori Peek, PhD, Associate Professor and
Co-Director, Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis (CDRA), Colorado State
University
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Jessy Burton, MSW, Associate Director,
Psychosocial Programs, Save the Children US
The webinar also covers the FEMA Youth Preparedness TA
Center and the tools and resources available for those developing or
implementing local youth preparedness programs.
Be sure to visit the From
Tots to Teens webinar page, where you can access the webinar
recording, transcript,
and slides.
Hurricane Katrina led to 5,000 reports of missing
children. A decade later, do your children and their care providers know who to
contact in case of an emergency, when cellphones may be unreliable? Make sure
you have a plan to Stay Connected
with your family.
To make planning easier, Save
The Children has a great new resource that allows parents to create an Emergency Contact Card
online. This card will let your child and his or her caregivers know whom to
contact in the chaotic aftermath of a calamity. It even allows you to identify
a non-local point of contact, so someone outside the affected area can step in
if you are unreachable, and captures information about the child’s allergies
and medication needs.
Head to http://www.savethechildren.org/Connect
to fill out the Emergency Contact Card form, then be sure to print it out and
put it somewhere the child and caregiver can easily access it!
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By now, most kids have
returned to the classroom. While your little ones are off learning their ABCs, you
can take steps to ensure they (and you!) are ready for a disaster. ABC serves
as an easy mnemonic, and is featured in
the CDC’s new ABC Checklist: Easy
as ABC: Steps to Protect Your Child During Emergencies In The School Day. This resource guides parents through
essential questions about getting prepared, and makes it easy for you to document
and save your responses. The graphic
at left summarizes the three important safety steps.
We encourage all of you to
not only complete a plan for yourself and your children, but also to share this
resource on your social media channels!
We also encourage you to join the preparedness discussion on
Twitter. Keep an eye on @NCBDDD, @CDCEmergency, and @CDCgov with hashtags
including #ReadyCDC, #firstday, and #backtoschool.
Visit the CDC’s Caring for Children in
a Disaster website for more information and additional resources, and be
sure to check out the Parents and
Parents-to-be page and the Schools and
Childcare Centers page for more subject-specific materials.
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FEMA Corps—a unit
of 1,600 service members within AmeriCorps dedicated solely to disaster preparedness,
response, and recovery—is currently accepting applications for Corps members to
begin serving in February 2016.
FEMA Corps members serve full-time for a 10-month term
with an option to extend for a second year. Members serve in teams of eight to
12 and are assigned to projects throughout the region served by their campus.
Members are based at one of five regional campuses and travel to complete
service projects throughout those regions.
To be considered for FEMA Corps, you must first apply to AmeriCorps
NCCC. The program is open to all U.S. citizens between 18 and 24 years old.
The application deadline is October 1, 2015, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
You can learn more about how the program benefits communities
and individuals affected by disasters, emergency response organizations, and taxpayers
by visiting the FEMA Corps
website.
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Email: FEMA-Youth-Preparedness@fema.dhs.gov
Online at http://www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness
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