Emergency Preparedness

Learning Objectives Let’s take a few moments to go over the objectives for this course. By the time you have completed this course, you will be able to: • Identify…

Pre-Test Please complete the course pre-test before continuing with the course.  Failure to complete the course pre-test will prevent you from completing the course, earning your course completion certificate, and…

Everyday Hazards You will need to access the Handout 1: Everyday Hazards worksheet. After reading the directions on Handout 1: Everyday Hazards worksheet, take a few moments to think about…

Who Can Help Identify Hazards An important and effective way to be aware of hazards is by including the whole community in the identification process. The following community groups and…

Coordination with Community Partners Coordinating with emergency management officials, first responders, and community partners (including schools, community centers and nearby businesses) is vital for the safety of your child care…

Hanging On So Tight Community partners can help you prepare for a possible emergency and can provide assistance and support after an emergency occurs. Watch the video clip, “Hanging On…

Fires Fire is the most common of all business disasters. • More than 4,000 Americans die and more than 20,000 are injured by fire each year. • Fires can spread…

General Safety General safety includes childproofing. For sites with young children, follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of taking a “child’s-eye view” survey. This involves going from room to…

Utility Outages Utility outages and blackouts can occur anywhere, to anyone, at any time. For prolonged utility outages of more than two hours, the main concerns—beyond the safety of children…

Crime/Missing, Lost or Abducted Children Crime is a problem in many environments. To keep the children in your care safe, follow these general crime prevention rules (Grace & Shores, 2010):…

Severe Weather Severe weather can happen anywhere and at any time. To be better prepared, it is important to know the types of severe weather risks in your area. You…

Excessive Heat In recent years, excessive heat has caused more deaths than all other weather-related events. A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessive heat, often combined with humidity.…

Tornadoes Tornadoes are the most violent of storms with winds that usually exceed 100 mph and can devastate a neighborhood in seconds. A thunderstorm is the first step in the…

Flooding Flooding is the most common disaster in the United States. Floods can be caused by extended periods of heavy rain, tropical storms and hurricanes, warming after a heavy snow,…

Thunderstorms Every thunderstorm produces lightning and, on average, lightning kills 300 people and injures 80 people each year in the United States (NOAA and NSSL, 2017). Lightning is unpredictable; it…

Winter Storms (Blizzards/Ice) The National Weather Service (2017) calls winter storms “deceptive killers” because of the number of deaths indirectly related to the storms, including traffic accidents, fire, and hypothermia.…

Illness Outbreaks Sometimes illness requires a child or staff member to be excluded from care to prevent the spread of infection. When children get sick, it is important that your…

Geological Events You may be in area where geological events are also a concern. The two geological events that Oklahoman caregivers need to be aware of are earthquakes and landslides.…

Reducing the Risks Now that you are familiar with the hazards and risks you need to be aware of as early childhood provider, let’s focus on ways to reduce the…

Best Practices for Emergency Planning in Child Care Programs Save the Children and Child Care Aware identified the need to create best practices for emergency preparedness for child care facilities…

Making a Written Plan “Best Practice One” is to put your emergency plan in writing. Point out to participants that this best practice will help their program meet licensing standard…

Summary of Essential Information The essential information needed in your child care facility’s emergency plan should include (Child Care Licensing Requirements, 2016): • Location, capacity, and hours of operation of…

Site Diagrams You will need to create site diagrams for your emergency plan. Site diagrams are diagrams of the facility’s building(s) and property. They include plans for each floor of…

Evacuation Locations In an evacuation, you may only need to relocate the children and adults to a safe outside area on the property. However, an emergency plan should include identified…

Shelter Locations Your facility needs several locations to take shelter in for different possible emergencies. In severe winds/tornadoes they would need to take shelter in a room with: • Reinforced…

Maintaining Current Health and Safety Information for On Children and Staff “Best Practice Two” is to maintain crucial information. This best practice will help programs meet licensing standard 340:110-3-279 (e)(1)…

Child Identification Badges Identification badges will be vital if you have to evacuate children and staff to an off-site evacuation location such as a community shelter because children could become…

Ready-to-Go File In an emergency, you will need crucial information to provide appropriate care for children or employees with medical conditions, to contact first response agencies, and to contact parents/guardians.…

Developing and Implementing Family Communication/Reunification Plans and Back-Up Plans “Best Practice Three” is to communicate with parents/guardians. This best practice will help child care programs meet the licensing standard 340:110-3-279…

Identifying Emergency Team and Procedures for Evacuation, Sheltering and Lock Down “Best Practice Four” is to identify the emergency team and a plan to evacuate, take shelter-in-place, or lock down…

Emergency Warning System Every child care facility needs an Emergency Warning System. If the program is in a house or other type of small building, a loud bell, whistle, bullhorn…

Assembling Emergency Equipment and Supplies “Best Practices Five” is to assemble emergency equipment and supplies. This best practice will help child care programs meet standard 340:110-3-279.(d)(1-5) First aid kits and…

Basic Emergency Equipment Every child care facility should have the following pieces of basic emergency equipment and materials (Child Care Aware, 2017): • Disaster Supplies Kit. • First Aid Kit.…

First Aid Kits Each first aid kit should contain these items (Child Care Licensing Requirements, 2016): • Non-medicated adhesive strips, • Sterile gauze pads, • Rolled flexible or stretch gauze,…

Disaster Supplies Kits Each disaster supplies kit should contain these items (Child Care Aware, 2017): • First aid kit, • Bottled water, • Baby food, • Other nonperishable foods •…

Evacuation Vehicles In the case of an off-site evacuation, providers should load children into vehicles and drive them to the designated safe area. If the child care program is large,…

Practicing Your Plan “Best Practice Six” is to practice emergency procedures. This best practice will help child care programs meet licensing standard 340:110-3-279 (g) Drills and reviews. These requirements are…

Including Children and Adults with All Levels of Abilities in Plans “Best Practice Seven” is to include children and adults with all levels of abilities in the emergency plan. Child…

Protecting Program Information and Assets “Best Practice Eight” is to protect program data and finances so the child care program can reopen after an emergency. Providers may have to repair…

Wrapping Up Let’s review the objectives we have covered throughout this course: • Identify hazards and risks at their child care site. • Create a written plan that addresses the…

References Child Care Aware. www.chilcareaware.org. Federal Emergency Management Agency. www.fema.gov. Grace, C., and Shores, E.F. (2010). After the crisis: Using storybooks to help children cope. Silver Spring, MD: Gryphon House.…

Post-Test Please complete the course post-test before continuing with the course.  Failure to complete the course post-test will prevent you from completing the course, earning your course completion certificate, and…

This is the final lesson of this course. Follow these steps to complete this course and receive your certificate: Make sure that you have completed all of the lessons in this…