10/30/2020 Children & Disasters Newsletter - August 2018

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Children & Disasters Newsletter - August 2018

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent this bulletin at 08/29/2018 02:07 PM EDT

 August 2018

ANNOUNCEMENTS

YOUTH SPOTLIGHT

RESOURCES

CONTACT US

ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Resources Announced at the 2018 Youth Preparedness Council

Summit 

Formed in 2012, the Federal

Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) Youth Preparedness Council

(YPC) engages members in local

and national emergency

preparedness projects. Council

members serve for two years. In this

time, members give the youth

perspective on emergency

preparedness and share information

with their communities. They also

meet with FEMA personnel to provide ongoing input on strategies, initiatives, and projects.

The YPC brings together high school-age youth leaders from across the country who are

interested in emergency preparedness and want to make a difference in their communities.

The YPC Summit was held July 17-18 at the American Red Cross National Headquarters

(HQ), in Washington, D.C. FEMA holds the YPC Summit annually to acquaint new council

members with one another, with current council members, and with FEMA. Notable guest

speakers at this year’s Summit included Brock Long, FEMA Administrator; Sherri Brown,
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President for Humanitarian Services, American Red Cross and other FEMA and American

Red Cross leaders. 

Over 130 staff from FEMA and partners attended to hear the perspectives of the YPC

members. Koshland Science Museum also facilitated their Extreme Events Game, a roleplaying game that gave YPC members a taste of what it is like to build community resilience.

The summit also served as a springboard for announcing new council members. This year’s

application was the most competitive yet, and seven new members were selected to join the

eight returning members for the 2018-2019 council. Three YPC alumni also attended the

summit to share their experience as mentors.

Finally, the summit featured the launch of the Prepare with Pedro: Disaster Preparedness

Activity Book, designed by FEMA and the American Red Cross. The book tells a story about

emergency preparedness and provides specific tips to increase families’ preparedness for

disasters. Copies can be ordered for free from the FEMA Publications Warehouse by calling

1-800-480-2520 and ask for publication number P-2005. It is also available as a free

download online at www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness.

The American Red Cross and FEMA shared the official launch of the Prepare with Pedro:

Disaster Preparedness Activity Book with local children from the Annandale Christian

Community for Action (ACCA) Child Development Center. The event gave the children the

opportunity to learn about emergency preparedness from the Youth Preparedness Council.

YOUTH SPOTLIGHT

Student Invents Bulletproof Wall to Protect Students

Audrey Larson is a 14-year-old

inventor.

For past competitions, she's created

glow-in-the-dark pajamas and a

device to pet your dog. But this year,

after hearing about the school

shooting in Parkland, Florida, she felt

compelled to focus on a more

serious issue.

"It's really scary to just think about,

and that's kind of what sparked that

idea," Larson said. "Some of my friends were having anxiety about being at school and I don't

think that's fair to any kid."

Larson was looking for an idea to enter into competition, and discussions around school

shootings among her peers led her to what she says is her own solution to the problem. She

invented a foldable bulletproof wall model that can be used to protect students like her in the

event of a school shooting.

"It's a foldable two-panel barrier that comes out of the wall for kids to hide behind in the event

of a lockdown and, ultimately, in the event of a school shooting," Larson told "GMA" about her
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invention called Safe K.I.D.S. The name stands for Kevlar-cellulose-nanocrystal-AR500-steel

Instant Defense System.

Larson, who lives in Connecticut, first submitted her idea to the Connecticut Invention

Convention, a program for young students to build projects centered on innovation. She won

awards there before moving on to the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship

Expo (NICEE) in Michigan. There Larson competed against other young inventors from all

over the country, winning more awards and placing second in her grade level. She is

currently working on securing a patent.

"It's very relevant, it really addresses the fears that are in school children today," said Mary

Lombardo, a judge at the Connecticut Invention Convention and the vice president of

engineering and innovation and research at United Technologies Corporation.

Lombardo is of two minds when it comes down to the issue.

Larson chose the mix of materials that could make the wall including Kevlar to help it

withstand shots from guns, even an AR-15 rifle.

"From an engineering perspective I felt that it was very well thought-out," Lombardo said. "It

was doable and really gave a very simplistic solution to a very difficult and complex social

problem."

Larson's invention is in line with other bullet-resistant products, including backpacks and

clothing that have been marketed to schools and parents in the wake of mass shootings.

Questions have been raised about the efficacy of some of these products and more broadly,

debates about the best way to keep kids safe.

"Her solution solves a couple of very interesting problems in modern classrooms today," said

Adam Coughran, who used to work in law enforcement and is president of Safe Kids Inc., a

group that provides safety training sessions for educators. Coughran said many classrooms

have a lot of windows to let in natural light, and glass isn't bulletproof.

Although Coughran called her project "extremely innovative," he pointed out a few things that

could hamper the wall in reality. Desks and space issues could get in the way of moving the

wall quickly. The wall might also not be large enough to protect everyone in an emergency,

especially if other people are running into the room from outside.

"Her design and concept can easily be taken and spun off into other designs, such as those

panels being slid together like a barn door or sliding glass door to cover an entire wall of

windows," Coughran said.

Growing up in light of massacres like Parkland and Sandy Hook, Larson believes that her

generation will be at the forefront of innovating in this space.

"I think that my generation is going to be the change," Larson said. "Millennials and my

generation tend to be forward thinkers and tend to be go-getters on some level -- minus our

cell phones. ...I feel like the kids of my generation are already talking about this and getting

fed up with it."

Original article by Oliva Smith and Elisa Tang can be found here.
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RESOURCES

SchoolPreparedness.gov Twitter Fest

Organizations: Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance

Center

Audience: Anyone interested in learning how to access Federal resources, interactive tools,

training, and funding to support your school safety and emergency preparedness efforts.

Topic: SchoolPreparedness.gov website launch and how it will supplement rems.ed.gov

Website: Follow the REMS TA Center on Twitter @remstacenter and email us

at info@remstacenter.org for details on how to participate!

Description: Are you wondering how to access Federal resources, interactive tools, training,

and funding to support your school safety and emergency preparedness efforts? Federal

partners are developing a NEW site to ease the process. SchoolPreparedness.gov, the

nation's new virtual hub will launch this fall. Along with the REMS TA Center Website,

schools, school districts, and their community partners will be able to use this hub to support

prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts in their states, territories,

and localities. To learn about this new site and how it will supplement rems.ed.gov, join the

REMS TA Center and partners every Monday and Friday between August 6 and September

28 for a SchoolPreparedness.Gov Twitter Fest on School Safety and Emergency

Preparedness to access resources from Federal partners to support your preparedness

efforts. Follow #SchoolSafetyTopicoftheDay on Mondays and #SchoolSafetyResources on

Friday to join the conversation. 

Webinar: Safer, Stronger, Smarter: A Guide to Improving School

Natural Hazard Safety (FEMA P-1000)

When: Thursday, September 6, 2018 

 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific

Registration for this event is free and will be recorded for viewing after September 6th. 

Organizations: The Applied Technology Council, the National Earthquake Technical

Assistance Program, and the Natural Hazards Center - University of Colorado Boulder

Audience: K-12 school administrators, school emergency managers, school facilities

managers, school board members, teachers, representatives of concerned parent groups,

building engineers, building professionals, and others interested in improving school natural

hazard safety.

Topic: An overview of FEMA P-1000 Safer, Stronger, Smarter: A Guide to Improving School

Natural Hazard Safety.

Website: https://www.atcouncil.org/fema-p-1000

Description: This webinar will provide an overview of the recently released guidebook, FEMA

P-1000, Safer, Stronger, Smarter: A Guide to Improving School Natural Hazard Safety. FEMA

P-1000 aims to equip school safety advocates and stakeholders with the information, tools,
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and resources they need to promote safer schools in their communities and it aims to

empower and support decision-makers by providing actionable advice.

Meeting: National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters 

When: September 11, 2018 2:00-3:00 PM EST

Topic: This public meeting will be dedicated to the National Advisory Committee on Children

and Disasters’ (NACCD) deliberation and vote on the Pediatric Disaster Training Work Group

(PDTWG) and Identifying Metrics of Baseline Vulnerability (IMBV) reports.

When: September 12, 2018 2:00-3:00 PM EST

Topic: This public meeting will be dedicated to the NACCD and National Biodefense Safety

Board’s deliberation and vote on the ASPR Future Strategies Work Group (FSWG) Report.

Organizations: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

Website:

https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/boards/naccd/meetings/Pages/default.aspx

Description: The National Advisory Council on Children and Disasters (NACCD) has been

established to provide advice and consultation to the Health and Human Services Secretary

and/or Assistance Secretary for Preparedness and Response on issues related to the medical

and public health needs of children as they relate to disasters.

CONTACT US

Email: FEMA-Prepare@fema.dhs.gov

Online: http://www.ready.gov/youth-preparedness

Archived Issues: Click here

Subscribe: Click here

Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the federal government provides links and informational data on

various disaster preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events, entities,

organizations, services, or products. Please let us know about other events and services related to youth

preparedness that could be included in future newsletters by contacting FEMA-Prepare@fema.dhs.gov.

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