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Children and Disaster Preparedness

By admin | September 24, 2009

Discussing disasters with your children can be difficult, but very important.  The more your child understands about disasters and your preparedness efforts, the less apprehensive they are likely to be during and after an event.  While you don’t want to upset your children or burden them with fear of impending disasters, understanding that certain events may happen in your area, and knowing that you have prepared properly for those situations ultimately creates a more confident child. 

 

You will have to consider your child’s age and maturity when implementing these suggestions, and adjust them accordingly.  We want our children to be well informed, and to feel safe and secure knowing that steps have been taken to minimize the risk of any possible situation.  Children typically feel empowered when they work through the preparation process with their parents.

 

Before a disaster:

• Expose your children to the concept of disasters, focusing mostly on natural disasters.  Terrorism can be a very difficult concept for children, especially younger children.  The effects of disasters and terrorist attacks are similar in effect (from the child’s point of view) and do not need to be specifically separated until the children are old enough to handle the concept.
• Use opportunities when disasters are mentioned in the news to answer questions about what happened and how the effected people will cope with the situation.
• Discuss the similarity between your preparedness efforts and the fire drills your children experience at school or daycare.
• Read books to your children that discuss weather, clouds, storms, tornadoes, etc, as that can foster substantive discussions of weather-related emergencies.
• With books about firefighters and other emergency responders you can guide the discussion toward the role of emergency responders during a disaster, and how they keep us safe and help us in times of need.
• Let your children assist you in preparing or maintaining your disaster kit.  Teach them (as appropriate) about the different parts of the kit and why/how they help during an emergency.
• Help your children prepare their own disaster kit or “go bag.”
• Get your child an Emergency Wallet Card (free from www.MyDisasterPlan.com) and explain to them when to present it to an adult and what it does.
  • An Emergency Wallet Card should have the child’s name, contact information for the parents and/or another emergency contact, emergency medical information, out-of-town contacts, local meeting places, and a summary of the family’s disaster plan.

 

During a disaster:

• Early in the process (if possible) calmly discuss your expectations for how the situation will progress.  The less your child is caught off-guard the less apprehensive they will be.
• Acknowledge that it is normal to be scared, and that you can work together to make the situation better.
• Pick an age-appropriate task or job for your child to help them feel pro-active and part of the “team.”
• Avoid getting agitated, your children will mirror your reaction to the event; be calm and deliberate in your comments, instructions, and reactions.
• Having something “normal” to do like singing a favorite song or playing a favorite video game, can bring some comfort to a scary situation.
• Your child’s appetite might decrease during a stressful event.  Encourage them eat or drink, but don’t force them.

 

After a disaster:

• Allow your children to discuss their feelings of fear or sadness, reinforce that these feelings are appropriate; really listen, don’t just talk.
• Your children may need more physical contact after an emergency: more hugs, wanting to be in the same room with you, standing closer than normal, and holding hands more.  This is normal and needs to be accommodated.
• Include your children in the recovery effort.  Playing an active roll in the clean-up and recovery can be important for their sense of stability and accomplishment.
• Encourage your children to write stories and draw pictures of what they saw, heard, and felt.
• Discuss your thoughts and feelings with your children, but remember that they need you for stability; if you need to vent, do this with an adult away from the children.
• Answer their questions as honestly as you can, and give them the amount of detail they ask for.
• Replace any special toys or security items (blankets, pillows, teddy bears, etc.) as soon as possible.

Topics: Disaster Planning Tips | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Children and Disaster Preparedness”

1. Enafesase Says:
   January 29th, 2010 at 19:40

   Very nice Blog, I will tell my friends about it.

   Thanks

2. admin Says:
   February 9th, 2010 at 09:12

   Thanks, Bernice, I hope the information we provide serves you well. You can also get more information at http://www.MyDisasterplan.com

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