# Presentation: 382758

## Indian Health Service Head Start ProgramDisaster Planning/Response                                   March 22, 2005

- IHS Head Start Program
- Indian Health Service
- 5300 Homestead, NE
- Albuquerque, NM

** **

## Indian Health ServiceHead Start Program

-   Cheryl A. Wilson    Acting Program Director   _[Cheryl.wilson@ihs.hhs.gov](mailto:Cheryl.wilson@ihs.hhs.gov)_   Phone: (505) 248-4368
-   Ralph Fulgham     Lead Environmental Health Specialist    _[Ralph.](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[fulgham](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[@](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[ihs](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[.](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[hhs](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[.](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)__[gov](mailto:Ralph.fulgham@ihs.hhs.gov)_    Phone: (928) 871-5804
-   Bob Bialas    Early Childhood Health & Safety Specialist    _[Robert.](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[bialas](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[@](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[ihs](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[.](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[hhs](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[.](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)__[gov](mailto:Robert.bialas@ihs.hhs.gov)_    Phone: (360) 792-1235

## Disasters Happen...

- Chicago Fire – 1871
- Oklahoma City Bombing – 1995
- Rhode Island Nightclub Fire – 2003
- San Francisco Earthquake – 1906
- September 11, 2001 Attacks
- Three Mile Island Incident – 1979
- Space Shuttle Challenger – 1986
- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill – 1989
- Sri Lanka Tsunami - 2004

## Myths vs. Reality

- Worst in Human Behavior
- In general, disasters DO NOT lead to mass panic
- People are often immobilized by disasters
- Residents of disaster-affected areas respond actively
- Epidemics and plagues are inevitable after every disasters
- Epidemics DO NOT spontaneously occur after a disaster

## Consequences of Disasters

- Injury, Illness & Death
- Psychological distress
- Damage to buildings
- Damage to infrastructure
- Evacuation of homes & communities

## What is a Disaster?

- Hazard
- Is a condition or agent that has the potential to cause harm
- Natural or Man-Made
- Disaster
- Is a hazardous event that occurs in a community and overwhelms the community’s ability to respond.
- For example: An earthquake that occurs in the middle of the desert versus an earthquake that occurs in Portland

## Types of Disasters

- Natural Events
- Earthquakes
- Tornados
- Hurricanes
- Droughts
- Coastal erosion

- Man-Made
- Biological terrorism
- Bomb blasts
- War
- Civil strife
- Fires
- Intruders/Violence
- Chemical Spills

## Earthquakes

## Ache Before & After

## Tacoma Narrows Bridge - 1940

## Tornado

## Chemical Spill

## Floods

## Slide 14

## Oklahoma City

## Nuclear Explosion

## Space Shuttle

## House Fire

## Phases of a Disaster

- Non-disaster phase
- Disaster preparedness
- Pre-disaster or warning phase
- Warnings are issued & protective actions are taken
- Impact phase
- Disaster strikes
- Emergency Phase
- Immediately following the impact
- Reconstruction Phase
- Reestablishing normal services, repairing damage, etc.

## Assessing the Head Start Program’s Risks & Resources

- Hazards that could cause a disaster in your community
- Specific areas of vulnerability and concern for your Head Start Program in the event of a disaster
- Human, material, financial, and other types of resources that can be used both in planning for and responding to a disaster
- Your Head Start Program’s disaster planning priorities

## Community Risk Assessment

- Define the geographic areas impacting your Head Start center & associated hazards
- What type of hazardous events have happened in your area & how can these events impact your Head Start
- Identify the structures and facilities in your community that could result in a man-made disaster
- Assess the likelihood with which certain hazardous events may happen in your community

## Site-Specific Hazard Assessment

- Identify the hazardous features of the buildings where your Head Start center and administrative sites are located

## Resource Assessment

- Identify the resources that your Head Start program currently has and what you will need in order to respond effectively to a disaster

## Summary

- Summarize assessment results and prioritize needs to help guide your disaster planning strategy

## Developing/Implementing a Disaster Plan

- The purpose of the plan is to have policies and procedures in place prior to a disaster
- Adaptable to any situation
- Each site should have an individual plan

## Pre-Event Planning

- Introduction
- Emergency Contacts
- Information on Interagency Relationships
- Education and Training
- Watches and Warnings

## Incident Response

- Organization and Assignment of Responsibilities
- Emergency Supplies
- Maps
- Evacuation Policies and Procedures
- Sheltering in Place
- Hazard-Specific Information
- First-Aid Information

## Incident Recovery

- Reuniting Children with Parents and Caregivers
- Organizational Recovery

## Evacuate or Shelter in Place

- In the event of an emergency where hazardous materials, floods, power outages, esc., affect the areas outside of the Head Start center, you may be instructed to shelter in place.

## Emergency Plans

- Already in place for events at the Center (fire, intruders, loss of utilities)
- Plans are to safeguard your Center and children during and immediately following a disaster
- Must incorporate larger issues facing your community

## Safe Evacuation Routes

- Select evacuation routes that minimizes exposures to hazards
- Know location of gas & power lines, and transportation routes
- The fire evacuation route may not work for all evacuations
- Alternative Routes

## Evacuation of Children/Staff with Disabilities 

- How to evacuate people with disabilities
- Debris on floor
- Loss of electrical power and the effect on evacuation routes
- Buddy system

## Evacuate to Where?

- Need to establish where children will be evacuated
- Coordinate with Emergency Services
- How to inform the children’s parents
- News media
- Sign posted at entrance to Center compound

## Evacuation Transportation

- How will the children be transported away from the facility?
- School buses
- Emergency Services
- Transportation procedures for driving in a disaster
- What are the driving hazards associated with floods, earthquakes, tornados, blizzards, etc.

## Shelter in Place

- Short-term solution
- Designed to use the Center to avoid an outdoor hazard
- Measured in minutes not days

## Shelter in Place

- Discuss with local emergency coordinator
- Identify a room that will meet the needs
- Determine proper procedures, coordination & communication
- Determine the required supplies

## Community Relationships

- Fire Department
- Health Clinics
- School District
- Police Department
- Tribal Administration
- Building Owner

## Communication System

- What is going on outside the Center?
- How to inform the Staff of an emergency?
- How to inform and properly evacuate or shelter in place the children?
- How to properly inform the EMS?
- Contacting Parents.

## Training

- Staff
- Policies and Procedures
- Staff orientation
- Drills
- Children
- Evacuation
- Protection
- Parents
- Informing parents of the policies and procedures

## Conclusion

- Parents and the Community must be involved
- Staff must feel comfortable and confident
- Use local EMS
- Practice, Practice, Practice!