CHILDREN AND DISASTERS NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2013 - ISSUE 6 September is the 10th annual National Preparedness Month! This year’s theme is “You Can Be The Hero.” In this issue of the Children and Disasters Newsletter, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shares information on what organizations across the country are doing to observe National Preparedness Month and offers a wealth of resources you can use to “be the hero” during September and beyond. Continue reading to learn more! NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS COMMUNITY LAUNCHES NEW GROUP The National Preparedness Community is an online community that allows individuals to discuss emergency preparedness best practices and share how they are working to better prepare their communities. The community is inviting members to join the newly launched Educators, Parents, and Advocates group, which is uniquely focused on topics related to preparing youth. This group enables members to: • Access preparedness resources specifically designed for educators, parents, and advocates. • Share and compare preparedness plans with other leaders in youth and school preparedness. • Download the 2013 National Preparedness Toolkit. • Promote their National Preparedness Month event on the calendar. • Connect and build relationships with emergency management personnel and other community members. You can get started in three easy steps: • Join the Community ¬ Registration only takes a minute. Once you register, you will be able to receive updates on Community activity via email. • Introduce Yourself ¬ Take a few moments to share with the Community who you are and what your area of focus is. • Start a Discussion ¬ Create a discussion thread about a new guide your office created, an upcoming webinar you want members to attend, or how you are helping the public become better prepared. To learn more about FEMA’s youth preparedness efforts, please visit: ready.gov/youth-preparedness. NEW PREPAREDNESS RESOURCES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has released the new publication Children and Youth Task Force in Disasters: Guidelines for Development. This guide introduces Whole Community partners to Children and Youth Task Forces in Disasters and includes recommendations for states, Tribes, territories, and local communities interested in launching their own Children and Youth Task Forces. It also outlines the support that ACF can provide. It was developed using vital lessons learned in meeting the needs of children and youth in recent disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Isaac, and the Joplin tornado. In addition, the guide provides guidance to help emergency management, human services, and public health professionals implement an effective approach to supporting children’s needs in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. This month, the ACF has also published a back to school blog post that includes helpful tips for families to be prepared when their children are in school or daycare. The blog post also includes links to some new tools and resources. FEMA RESPONDS TO FLOODS IN COLORADO FEMA staff are in Colorado supporting state and local officials in response to the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that began on September 11, 2013. President Obama issued a major disaster declaration for a number of counties affected by the storms. This declaration provides federal assistance to individuals for temporary housing and home repairs, and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. It also offers additional programs to help individuals and business owners in their recovery. The President’s major disaster declaration also makes federal funding available to state and eligible local governments and certain non-profit organizations to support emergency work in Boulder County to save lives, protect property, and remove debris. FEMA proactively staged commodities close to the hardest hit areas and areas potentially affected by the severe weather and flooding. As of September 15, 2013, more than 65,000 liters of water, 50,000 meals, and other supplies have been delivered to Incident Support Bases established by FEMA. These resources are being provided to the state as needed and requested. For continuing updates on FEMA’s role in Colorado, visit the disaster page on fema.gov or follow our @femaregion8 account on Twitter. AMERICA’S PREPAREATHON! LAUNCHES On September 5, 2013, the National Academy of Sciences hosted the unveiling of America’s PrepareAthon! (AP!). Hundreds of participants took part in the unveiling of this community-based initiative to increase emergency preparedness and resilience. To kick things off, participants engaged in a digital dialogue as experts debunked preparedness myths during a 30-minute TweetChat. Search #PrepareAthon on Twitter to see the conversation. At the event, participants also practiced the earthquake response technique “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” AP! was developed based on research in FEMA’s Preparedness in America: Research Insights to Increase Individual, Organizational, and Community Action. That research can inform efforts to improve collaborative planning, outreach, education, and training intended to engage all Americans so that they become active participants in creating communities and a Nation resilient to disasters. According to Timothy Manning, Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness, “Policy without research is a gamble.” Several organizations showed their support of the campaign by serving as national partners, including: American Red Cross, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, Corporation for National & Community Service, International Association of Emergency Managers, Resilient Communities for America, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and Target. Stay up–to-date with all things AP! at fema.gov/americas-prepareathon. FEMA CONTINUES PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN On September 10th, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Deputy Administrator Richard Serino, Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery Joseph Nimmich, and other FEMA staff met with senior leaders from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to discuss the partnership that has been built between FEMA and NCMEC, and tools that have been created to facilitate the expeditious reunification of children and their parents or legal guardians separated as a result of disaster. FEMA began building a partnership with the NCMEC in 2006 as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and in response to the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA). Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the NCMEC worked to resolve 5,192 cases of displaced children. Approximately seven months later, the last of the 5,192 children displaced in the aftermath of these storms was successfully reunited with her family. In an effort to ensure that children are never separated from their families for such a long period of time again, FEMA and the NCMEC developed and recently launched the Unaccompanied Minors Registry (UMR). The UMR is administered by the NCMEC and supports the ability to collect, store, report, and act on information related to children missing or lost as a result of a disaster. The UMR is our Nation’s first national repository established to collect such data, and is available during all disasters to gather and share information with local law enforcement and assist in the reunification of children and their parents or legal guardians separated as a result of disaster. Click here to learn more about the UMR. Source: FEMA Individual Assistance Division WEBINAR: PROTECTING CHILDREN AT HIGHEST RISK FOR INFLUENZA COMPLICATIONS The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are offering a webinar that focuses on influenza prevention and control strategies for children at highest risk for complications from the virus. Although primarily for clinicians, the information is applicable to all child health advocates interested in protecting children at highest risk for influenza complications. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at 2:00 pm Eastern/ 1:00 pm Central. Presenters include: • Georgina Peacock, MD, MPH, FAAP, Medical Officer- CDC National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities • Seema Jain, MD, Medical Epidemiologist- CDC Influenza Division • Henry H. Bernstein, DO, MHCM, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics- Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine • Renee M. Turchi, MD, MPH, FAAP, Associate Professor of Pediatrics- Drexel University College of Medicine Click here for more information and to register for the webinar. PREVENTING CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN DISASTER EMERGENCY SHELTERS In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the National Resource Center for Child Protective Services used funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Children’s Bureau to create a series of materials to prevent child abuse and neglect in mass care shelters. Designed to train emergency shelter staff and volunteers, the curriculum includes a trainer’s guide, participant handbook, PowerPoint presentation, and posters. DISASTER TRAINING VIDEO ONLINE LIBRARY The Disaster Resistant Communities Group provides a host of disaster planning and preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation services to local government agencies and departments as well as community and faith-based organizations. As such, the group offers a free video library comprising nearly 400 just-in-time disaster training videos. The videos are organized into four categories: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. New videos are added on a daily basis. NEW READY.GOV FACEBOOK PAGE Looking for more ideas on how you can get involved with National Preparedness Month? Ready.gov has launched a new Facebook page to celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Preparedness Month. The page offers a number of great resources including videos, training opportunities, and infographics that focus on community preparedness. AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS NEWSLETTER In observance of National Preparedness Month, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) focused the fall issue of its quarterly newsletter on children and disasters. The newsletter includes a list of suggested steps AAP members can take to recognize National Preparedness Month and a list of education and training resources related to assisting children in disasters. The AAP even has a website dedicated to National Preparedness Month. FREE PREPAREDNESS TRAINING MATERIALS FOR YOUTH Printed materials for IS-909 Community Preparedness: Implementing Simple Activities for Everyone are available for free in the FEMA Warehouse. This training course will prepare you to implement a program for promoting individual and community preparedness through simple and engaging activities. Additionally, the accompanying 16 Preparedness Activities for Communities Everywhere can help educate individuals about steps they can take to prepare for all types of hazards. These materials are free, available online and in print, and designed for anyone—including youth—to use in coordination with your local emergency preparedness partners or local preparedness programs. You can find additional information about the tools on the Whole Community Preparedness website. FEMA provides direct technical assistance to individuals and organizations interested in starting education and training programs in their local communities. Contact the dedicated support team for direct technical assistance about implementing these activities, at [email protected]. Anyone interested in ordering materials can email [email protected] or call 1 (800) 480-2520. You can also access them electronically on the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) website. ________________________________________ September is National Preparedness Month. Pledge to Prepare by joining the National Preparedness Community now! Empower yourself and help coordinate preparedness activities for your family, neighbors and co-workers and those with whom you may study or worship.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 21:03:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015