Disaster Scenarios

Jennifer McCarty

• 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?
• Explain why you and your colleagues should be prepared. What are the consequences of not being prepared?
• 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.
Be sure to:
o Explain how you would assess the risks.
o Identify potential complications created by this disaster besides the main disaster/danger itself.
o Describe any other steps you and/or your early childhood program should take to be prepared to handle this kind of crisis. What kinds of materials or documentation (e.g., first aid supplies, family emergency contact information, and so on) would be necessary and/or helpful?
o Explain how you might involve the families of the children in your care.
The disaster scenarios I have chosen are tornadoes and floods. Tornadoes are quite common where I live, and flooding occurs on a regular basis because some of our areas are low-lying areas. Any daycare setting in any of these low-lying areas would be at risk for flooding just because of where they are located. With tornadoes the main dangers are not being able to get everyone to safety in time, and becoming trapped or injured by debris that the tornado may drop. The tornado develops so quickly that sometimes you have mere minutes to get to safety, let alone trying to get many groups of young children to safety. With tornadoes everyone working in that daycare center is at risk because of the speed in which you have to get to safety. If someone becomes injured it may become more difficult to get them medical attention because of a power outage, downed wires, debris blocking the path to the nearest hospital. With floods you may not be able to get everyone to higher ground in time because it does take some time to move larger groups of people, especially children. Again everyone is at risk because flooding may be slower, it can also cause people to drown, it can knock out power, and it can cause great damage to buildings.
My colleagues and I should be prepared because we have to have a plan in order to get everyone to safety, especially the children that we care for. A tornado comes so quickly that without preparation, not everyone may make it to safety. With flooding, it can cause damage to the facility used to watch the children, so being prepared to have someplace else to go is important because children need to feel safe and secure. Not being prepared can cause children to panic and not feel safe. Lack of preparation may cause some people not to make it to safety in the event that one of these events may occur. People can become separated without a plan, so people and parents may not know how to locate their child, and may not know how to get their child medical attention if it is needed.
First I would assess the risk. Since I know that there is a high chance a tornado would occur, my coworkers and I would take appropriate steps in order to prepare for this disaster. Next, we would make a plan. In the event of a tornado we would know how to get the children out and where to take them to make sure they are as safe as possible. We would also have medical supplies ready to go, such as bandages and icepacks in case injury occurred during this disaster. We would also explain to the children, as much as we could, what a tornado is and how to be safe, and then we would have tornado drills so they know where they should go in the event that a tornado occurred. We would also send out fliers and talk with the families so they know how to contact us and how we can contact them in the event of an emergency, and we would inform the families what our policy is in case a tornado occurred. If a tornado did occur I would first make sure I got the children to safety. Once they were safe I would get myself and my coworkers to safety. After the tornado was gone, I would check to make sure everyone was all right, and treat any injuries as best as I could. Then I would call all the families and inform them of the status of their child.

Robertson, Cathie, 2010. Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Education. Wadsworth.