Many disasters happen during the day when children are away from home in the care of others. As child care providers in centers, homes and schools we have an incredible responsibility. Nothing is more important than the safety of a child and we would be negligent to ignore potential threats. There are many easy ways to prepare for a disaster. Much of the preparation comes in simply knowing the risks and having a well-thought out and practiced plan.
Take a minute and imagine a worst case scenario, a 9/11 type of disaster. How prepared are you to handle that type of event? Can you honestly tell parents that you have done everything possible to prepare for such an event?
The Disaster Preparedness for the Child Care Facility course walks you through developing a comprehensive Disaster Response Plan tailored for your facility. The course is free and available to the public.
Access the Course
The six-session online course will help child care providers
- Identify the types of disasters most likely to affect their programs.
- Know when to evacuate and when to shelter-in-place and how to do each one.
- Identify what emergency supplies are needed in each type of disaster.
- Create a communication plan to be used before, during and after an emergency for use with parents, safety personnel, and all affected individuals.
- Learn the importance of training and practicing for disasters.
- Create a recovery plan for returning to normal as soon as possible after a disaster.
- Create a framework for a comprehensive Disaster Response Plan (DRP).
The online course includes text, recorded testimonials from disaster survivors, homework assignments, and quizzes. Upon course completion, you will have the confidence of knowing that you have developed a plan to keep the children in your care as safe as possible during an emergency or disaster. You’ll also know the next steps to take to maintain that level of preparedness. A course completion certificate is available.