The Importance Of Natural Disasters In Elementary Schools

Tragic events that cause damage to property and life may destroy the social, cultural and economic life of a community. Communities must be engaged in the various phases from prevention to recovery to build disaster resilient communities. In order to do this, there must be a disaster preparedness plan in place that involves multiple people in various roles.

Major natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods often precipitate sudden emergencies, which have significant impact on all domains of life for affected populations. Children are a particularly vulnerable group to the effects of natural disasters, with unique physical, developmental, and psychosocial characteristics that place them at high risk for adverse outcomes (Murray, 2011). Some of the consequences for children after natural disasters include physical insecurity, poor living conditions and displacement, and disruption to community life. Numerous children may also be left orphaned after the loss of one or both parents. The aftermath of natural disasters place children at risk for adverse physical but

In California, there are school programs that will help prepare the children for the disaster. Not just that, the program are placed to help them gain knowledge on the mechanism of natural disaster, to be specific an earthquake disaster. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service (Cal OES) (2008), developed a program that

From firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) to the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST), all emergency response teams need to be ready to act at the first sign of an earthquake. Firefighters, police, and EMT’s are required to immediately go out into the streets and help the citizens remain safe. NEST was created to help keep nuclear damage at a minimum during disasters. Currently, the firefighters and police force in California are not required to take a course in how to react after an earthquake (Emergency Medical Services Authority), but I believe that this should be a requirement in the state of California. NEST training should also become more rigorous and include more practice runs. Tsunamis and soil liquefaction are just a couple of the unpredictable disasters that could occur after an earthquake. While the normal population is not expected to be able to tell the signs of a coming disaster or know how to act quickly in order to stay safe, I believe that safety responders should be taught in order to help keep the people of California safe from

In the years after the 9/11 tragedy, the United States continues to face risks from all forms of major disasters, from potentially dangerous terrorist attacks to catastrophic acts of nature. Professionals in the fields of emergency management and homeland security have responsibilities for ensuring that all levels of government, urban areas and communities, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and individual citizens are prepared to deal with such hazards though actions that reduce risks to lives and property. Regrettably, the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's ability to deal with disasters is unnecessarily challenged by the absence of a common understanding on how these fields are related in the workforce and educational

While the elementary school provided a short description of their emergency procedures, it stated that more information could be found in the Crisis Management Plan (also included in the Staff Handbook). What’s strange is that although a crisis management plan has been created, fire drills were not better described nor mentioned all; not even the sound signal to look for. In the event of a fire, younger students usually need more attention to care and calm down. Therefore, it would have been helpful to cover fire procedures more thoroughly. In the high school handbook, the

As the contemporaneous society becomes a less safe place due to events such as natural calamities or man made disasters (e.g. shootings), the schools must adapt and become better able to manage crises situations. And recognizing this need, the state regulators provide their financial and counseling support for the implementation of more adequate emergency management plans.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinates the federal government's position in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, which now including acts of terror. FEMA leads and supports the nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation. A key component of community preparedness and participation is the citizen. The CERT program strives to familiarize citizens with the facts about what to expect following a major disaster in their community and to deliver the message about their responsibility for mitigation and preparedness. CERT educates individuals

The ultimate goal for this program is to increase shared knowledge. Each child that attends The Pillowcase Project class represents a ‘share’, the more ‘shares’ the more information is taught allowing the information to disseminate throughout the community. The goal for the Metropolitan Atlanta Red Cross Chapter is to teach the preparedness curriculum to 1500 students within the neighboring counties we by the next fiscal year. This program addresses the public health issue of individuals, families, and communities being ill-prepared for an emergency, be it due to a man-made or natural disaster. This program was designed to target

“We teach them a little bit about a hazard, whether it is a hurricane or a tsunami. We teach them the signs behind the hazard, how to prepare and what to do in case of a hazard. We also teach them a little bit about fire safety and coping skills – how to handle the stressful situation of an emergency,” Preparedness Manager Disaster Services with the Hawaii State Chapter Carole Kaapu said.

According to Developing Emergency Operations (2016), there are five areas of preparedness that an emergency operations plan should encompass. The first, prevention, is having the capabilities necessary to avoid, deter, or stop a crime from occurring in the school. The second, protection, is having the resources to secure a school from an act of violence. The third, mitigation, is the ability to eliminate or reduce the impact that a crime would have if it occurred. Response is the fourth area, which is the ability to stabilize the situation once an emergency has occurred. Finally, a good plan must consider recovery methods, which means providing resources to those affected by the

In attempt to provide background on the impacts of past natural disasters, condensed case studies of two major natural disasters are summarized, outlining the damage – both financial and physical. The aftermath of any natural disaster highlights the weaker areas of emergency management and as a result, the federal government has made significant efforts to strengthen those areas through preparedness and mitigation measures. Additionally, emphasis on mitigation and preparedness has increased following the vast number of natural disasters that the United States has endured, not only in the federal sector but also in the education and research sector. Today,

Our world is complex there has always been and always will be disasters that can happen anywhere anytime. There can be natural disasters, for example floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires and drought. There are also man-made and technology types of disasters from hazardous material spills, biological weapons, cyber-attacks to even civil unrest. According to PEMA, the history of emergency management can date all the way back the first civil defense program which was started during World War I and later during World War II the office of civil defense (OCD) was created by Pres. Roosevelt. In the past emergency management, has always been event driven. With each new crisis that our nation has gone through, the reason for and the avenue in which to accomplish emergency management has changed. No more so than when the terrorist attacked on 9/11. The 9/11 commission report states that the Incident Command System is a “proven framework for emergency response” (911 CR). The incident command system is a proven framework for emergency response by providing clear leadership and organizational structure, improving the effectiveness of resource efforts, and maintaining safety for responders.

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.

This subject aims to teach students the main elements of emergency management for natural disasters and to a lesser degree terrorist attack. Students will understand the principles involved in emergency