February 2016 - ISSUE 2
Youth have the opportunity to
transform the resiliency and preparedness of their local communities and
beyond. Freshmen or sophomores who have engaged in individual and community
preparedness, or have experienced a disaster motivating them to take action,
are encouraged to apply to serve on the FEMA Youth Preparedness Council.
Formed in 2012, council members
are selected to serve two-year terms on the basis of their dedication to public
service and engagement in advocacy for youth preparedness. Adults working with
youth and/or community preparedness are encouraged to share the application with youth who might be interested in applying.
Applications consist of a
completed form, two letters of recommendation, and academic records. For more
information, or to submit an application, visit the Youth Preparedness Council website.
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Various
populations throughout the Nation are disproportionately impacted during an
emergency. On February 4, from 3–4 p.m. (EST), the
FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division will host a webinar focused
on engaging the public on disaster preparedness and resilience efforts serving
youth.
Guest speakers will include:
- Bruce
Lockwood, Acting Captain, Emergency Management Division, East Hartford Fire
Department, CT; Former Commissioner, National Commission on Children and
Disasters
- Sarah
Thompson, Save the Children
- Hilary
Palotay, American Red Cross
-
Captain
Rob Tosatto, Medical Reserve Corps & Jane Shovlin, AZHOSA
Connect using the Adobe Connect Registration Web Link. Be sure to test your Adobe Connect connection prior to the meetings. The webinar will offer closed captioning.
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Join the FEMA
Individual and Community Preparedness Division on February 11, from 2–3 p.m. (EST), to learn about the newly updated Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP)—a classroom-based curriculum that teaches fourth and fifth-graders about preparing for emergencies.
Guest speakers will include:
- Louise Gorham, Health Imperatives
-
Tod Pritchard, Wisconsin Emergency Management
- Robert Scata, Connecticut
Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Connect using the Adobe Connect Registration Web Link. Be sure to test your Adobe Connect connection prior to the meetings. The webinar will offer closed captioning.
Child Care Aware® of America’s Symposium 2016 will be
held April 4-6 in Washington, D.C. and will address the latest topics in
research, policy, and practices of interest to the child care and early
education communities. An emergency preparedness session featuring special
guest speakers will explore new preparedness resources,
tools, and policies that emerged in 2015. The session will also discuss
numerous man-made and natural disasters that impacted communities throughout
the United States last year.
For more information about all of the sessions,
or to register, visit http://usa.childcareaware.org/symposium2016.
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The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
is calling for young people to submit a creative 60-second video showing how
they help others stay safe and resilient.
Submissions can gain national
recognition and win cash prizes. To widen the initiative’s impact, participants
are encouraged to share their videos on social media with the hashtag #WatchMePrep. Visit My Preparedness Story Video Challenge for more information.
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In an effort to protect young campers from the potential emotional and developmental consequences of disasters, Save the Children partnered with the Foundation for Sustainable Parks and Recreation to help communities plan for children’s unique needs in an emergency. This work was on display as the cover article of last month’s Parks and Recreation Magazine. In Howard County, MD, the partnership is going strong. The Department of Recreation & Parks and Save the Children collaborated to train leaders from the healthcare, school, child care, and emergency management sectors how to serve children best during an emergency.
According to Sarah Thompson, Associate Director of Community Preparedness for Save the Children, “Parks and recreation programs are critical for helping children cope with crises. They provide children with a sense of stability, comfort and, most importantly, the opportunity to play and just be a kid again. All of this requires care providers to be creative, flexible, and adaptable.”
In addition to leading training sessions, Save the Children partnered with the Foundation for Sustainable Parks and Recreation to equip parks and recreation departments with “Protecting Children in Disasters: A Guide for Parks and Recreation,” the “Prep Rally Camp Leader Guide,” and additional Prep Rally resources. Visit America’s PrepareAthon! to find out more about how Save the Children is teaching youngsters the ABCs of Disaster Safety in any environment.
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In collaboration with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and hosted by the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research, The Raytheon Company developed the free NOAA
Weather-Ready Nation™ application, designed to teach youth in two
age groups, 10–12 and 13+, about various weather threats like floods, heat,
hurricanes, lightning, rip currents, tornadoes, tsunamis, and winter storms.
Depending on their age and state, users complete customized hazard scenarios
and then receive certificates from the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors
program, established by NOAA to help citizens better understand how to respond
to weather-related disasters. |
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) allow
government officials to send geographically-targeted, text-like emergency
alerts to all subscribers with WEA-capable devices for imminent
threats to safety in their area.
WEA includes three types of
alerts: President or designee issued; imminent threats to
safety or life, including severe man-made or natural disasters; and AMBER Alerts
about an abducted child.
Consumers do not have to
sign up for WEA because several wireless providers, including T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon,
voluntarily participate in the system. Prepaid mobile devices may also be
WEA-capable. Participating carriers may allow subscribers to block all but
Presidential alerts.
Since 2012, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
directly attributes WEA with saving the lives of 20 children by providing
instant information to assist in their safe recovery. FEMA encourages people to
pay attention to these alerts, as they could save lives.
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Youth Service America partnered
with the Corporation for National and Community Service and Save the Children
to release We Stand
Strong: A Disaster Preparedness Toolkit, a resource for planning a Prep Rally or other
preparedness project. A Prep Rally is an event for children grades K–5 that covers
the basics of disaster preparedness, including things like recognizing risks,
planning ahead, and gathering supplies.
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Megan Stutzman, Region X representative on FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council, served on the planning committee for an active shooter drill at
Central
High School in Independence, OR. Since last year, Stutzman has served as an instructor for both teen and adult Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT) classes in Polk County, and she was instrumental in bringing those two CERT
groups—along with two other CERT groups from neighboring counties—together for
the drill, which took place on November 24, 2015.
The drill saw
participation from approximately 120 people across five agencies, and it
empowered Stutzman to motivate her peers to volunteer with local police, fire,
and CERT groups.
Prior to the drill, Stutzman recruited and
coached nearly 40 teachers and students to role play as victims so the drill
would be realistic. Responding to the mock shooting, Stutzman and her team members helped paramedics relocate those victims from hallways to safe rooms,
barricade rooms against the threat, and complete triage functions in the
school’s library.
Several local agencies actively
participated in the drill, and several other statewide agencies, like the
Oregon FBI Office and the Oregon State Fire Marshall’s Office, observed and
evaluated local agencies’ performance. The drill provided important
opportunities for collaboration and reflection for all involved.
For more information about the Youth
Preparedness Council, visit www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness-council.
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Email: FEMA-Youth-Preparedness@fema.dhs.gov
Online: www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness
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