Emergency Prepardness

December 19, 2009

The two natural or human generated disasters I am going to talk about are winter severe weather and terrorism. For these two disaster scenarios the way we react will be different because of how different they are. One is a natural disaster and the other is human made.
The severe winter weather can come upon you very quickly and you should be prepared as much as possible. With severe weather some of the things you should do in advance are make sure you have a kit of basic supplies together both for your home and car. The things you need are: a supply of water, food, flashlights, radio and batteries, first aid supplies, medications just to name a few. For your car you should have similar items but you also need to make sure your car is weather ready and that means having all your fluids checked and in general making sure it is in good running order. For your school setting when a storm comes up during the day and you end up on a lock down situation, you will need to have all the files and be able to call parents to let them know what you are doing to keep their children safe until they can arrive safely. You should have many of the same items you would have at home at your school and they should be item that have a longer shelve life (granola bars and similar).
To be prepared you should also make sure you have phones that will work during a storm and plenty of blankets and clothes for the children in case power goes out before parents arrive, you should also have first aid supplies, and any documentation you may need to professionally care for your children. In order to keep the children safe we would need to make sure the building is kept in good repair, and make sure that none of the utilities are damaged during the storm. The families could be involved by helping with supplies, we could have a phone tree with the parents, and parents that live in the same neighborhood could work together to care for each other’s children in emergencies.
I live in the Washington, D.C. area and so the terrorism threat is still fresh in our minds even though it’s been eight years. I had worked at the child care center located at the Pentagon, so I am familiar with some of the families that were affected by the attack in 2001. As we all know terrorism is not something you can really foresee, but now that it has happened at home we are more diligent about being prepared and some of the things a school or center can do to get ready are: again have the resources on premises to sustain the children and staff of a period of time in case of a lock-down. In order to assess the risks for your school you should be aware of your surroundings and the people that are in and around the area. If you notice someone new that just seems to be lost or wandering, then you should stay alert and make sure others are aware and maybe lock doors if this is not something you already do( this will prevent a stranger from wandering in). All schools or centers should have posted the Homeland Security Advisory System so everyone knows what the threat level is at all times, (ARC, 2002).
For a center or school the risk of terrorism can be great because the people that harm others are looking for a way to make the biggest statement and by hurting children they know they will get everyone’s attention. Each center/school should have a disaster kit that will contain the school records with family contact information, food, water and medications for children that require them. The home should also have any essential items needed for each member of the family, important papers, mediations needed, extra cloths, blankets or similar and your basic items such as food, and water.
In preparing for any disaster you and your staff should have practice drills so you know what your job is in an emergency. While working in an elementary school we had the occasion to be on lock-down and we also had to practice our shelter in place routine at least twice per year so we were not confused if we needed to use it. Our lock-down came as a result of a very bad thunderstorm that took out power lines and made it so no one was able to drive anywhere. We had to bring out our lanterns and we just kept the children entertained until it subsided enough that the school system released the children to the buses and parents.
The school I worked at when the terrorist attack happened was not in session yet, but we were there to conference with the parents and we had to stay until we could safely get home. The things a school can do to prepare in advance for this is have a plan for emergencies, make sure all staff know their job in the emergency, practice your plan, keep supplies on site at all times, and have a copy of all children’s files with the supplies so you do not have to gather when you will not really have time. Make sure you have a radio with batteries and cell phones for communication. If staff stays diligent about their job and their surroundings then maybe we can prevent something bad from happening again or at the least be more prepared to respond.




References:
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education (4th Ed.). Belmont, CA; Wadsworth.
Terrorism: Preparing for the unexpected, American Red Cross www.redcross.org
Winter Severe Storms: www.redcross.org
Winter Severe Storms: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/winter
Day Care Facilities Emergency Planning Guide: The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency- www.PEMA.state.pa.us