Post 2:

Describe each of the disaster scenarios you have chosen (such as a hurricane that has quickly developed in your area) and a real or hypothetical early childhood setting (such as a Head Start program housed on a university campus near the coast). What are the main dangers posed by these situations? Who is at risk?

            There are many disasters that can happen all around the world. Here in Washington state we have our own. The first is wildfires this can happen more in the spring/summer times but is still dangerous. Wildfires can spread easily and we should be ready in the case of a wildfire. If we get a call of a wildfire we should place the students all into one room and be ready to leave or evacuate at a moment's notice. So having the children with their stuff ready would be the best thing. Make sure we have all the windows close and that the air quality in the room is good. Also, keep in mind of the children who have asthma. Keep their medicine handy.  There might be road closures and parents might not be able to get through, so remembering keeping the children calm is important.  Everyone is at risk because of how quickly a wildfire can spread. Not only should we be prepared at school, but also at home.

            The second disaster is volcanoes which here in Washington our biggest threats of this is Mt. St Helens, Mt. Rainer, and Mt. Adams. The main dangers of this is that we have mudslides, rock slides, and ash blown all over. We are all at risk for this because of the fact that it can be reached everywhere. With the volcano eruption compare to wildfires there won't be much time to evacuate so you might most likely be stuck.

Explain why you and your colleagues should be prepared. What are the consequences of not being prepared?

 

            We at the head start are required to know the specific evacuation route and should review routes throughout the center. If we have any questions we should ask our supervisor. We should be prepared so when a disaster does hit we are not out of control and we are calm and ready for it. We should have practice drills so we know what do. If you are not prepared you might forget something that is important such as maybe the children's medical stuff (if needed), emergency contact information for the children.  Overall we want to be calm so the children don't get scared.

Summarize the appropriate steps you would take to develop a plan in advance for this disaster and how you would deal with it if it occurs.

 

            Some of the steps to plan for a wildfire or volcano disaster is to have supplies ready (at least 3 day supplies) in case we have to evacuate or stay in the center.  According to the red cross http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster

                -Water, food (3day supply)

            -Flashlight

            -Battery operated radio

            -Cell phone/chargers

            -Blankets

            -Emergency and family contact information

            -first aid kid

The plan should include where we will be staying should we have to evacuate. When would be the appropriate time to call the families of the children.  This can be done by having a tree log of numbers from the whole agency to  determine what we need to do. They will be contacted then our director who will contact the supervisor and then so on. A complication can be that the lines are down and we cannot get through with parents and family members. Maybe even having to stay longer and not having enough supplies can be a complication.

            A way to involved the families is to invited them to our trainings when we have them on the evacuation plans and what to do in case of a natural disaster. It was nice when they did the lockdown one in case of a shooting or hold up, and the parents where there to see and hear what we would be doing. So having them take part in it makes it nice so they understand that we have the best interest of the children.

References:

http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster Retrieved on March 16, 2013.