Youth Programs

Please share with the group a little bit about your youth preparedness program. We would love to know what is happening around the country. 

 Youth activities in the under age (below 18) are not in my purview. I teach and research on non age specific concerns. I teach two safety and injury prevention university level courses that address factors that apply to all age groups. I caution governmental sponsored and NGOs to be sure to obtain parental release signatures for any activities in training or active response situations. This is imperative. Parental involvement and oversight must be included in your programs.  Every year we see student athletes die on school playing fields from injuries related to health problems and contact sports. The courts are full of these cases.  In addition, just as we are required to craft legally bindable Good Samaritan laws for responding to crises, we must make sure that youth are afforded the same legal protections. I see youth involvement as something that must originate at the family level at the most local level. Youth have historically been integral to preparing for crises, and aiding in clean up and restoration.  I actively participated in such activities in my own family and neighborhood as a child. Our parents, relatives, and neighbors showed us what to do and oversaw our actions. We have lost much of our self-reliance and historical memory on how to respond.  I endured several hurricanes and two tornadoes in my childhood. We were always well prepared.   This work needs to be bottom up, not top down.   Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 12:36 PM, National Preparedness Coalition <readynpm@«hidden»> wrote:

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Our Citizen's Corps is trying to find a why to get CERT training in to the region's high schools. One way that has been successful for juniors and seniors is to partner with the HOSA - Health Occupations Students of America that has found its way to several high schools in our region. (learn more at www.HOSA.org)

HOSA isn't in my county's schools yet but in the counties that have it the CERT program, it has been well received and the students have really enjoyed it.

As a parent of a teen, I would like to see us expand the youth programs and get them more involved as they will be tomorrow's volutneers and leaders.

 

Another way you might be able to make this happen, is through the various scouting agencies.

The Boy Scouts already has several types of merit badges and/or awards available for the scouts that are similar in nature. The biggest one being the Emergency Preparedness BSA award. The others would include the wilderness survival, first aid, camping, and hiking badges. Do not let the names fool you as it will be the individual requirements within the badge that will train you for some CERT events.

My CERT has reached out and partnered with the Venture Crew Scouts - and through them have assisted the BSA in our community with earning their preparedness awards as well as involving them in other preparedness activities for their families. We did a scavenger hunt that went over well - it was to encourage assembling a kit with things that were 'found', and to involve the whole family without spending $$.  We also incorporated them and their adult chaperone's into an exercise involving search and rescue and first aid - they loved it!! The team will be attending their yearly 'hoopla' and we are going to have the regional Decon tent set up so they can go through, ask questions etc and hopefully if we ever have to put up a decon tent they won't be scared and through their calm their families might remain calm.

I am having a roadblock getting it into the schools as well, I am mentoring a Girl Scout who is going for her Gold Award and she sent letters to all the elementary schools and asked if she could come in and talk for about 20 min about preparing, and possibly have some take home word find./ color things and she got no support from the schools.

 It is too bad there is not a way to use the fire safety week to introduce disaster preparedness into the schools.

As a side note - we've also asked the Crew to instruct on appropriate search and rescue attire/packs, and on orienteering.  The Team and the Crew seem to enjoy learning.  Not to mention with the Crew kids....you get parents involved, and parents own and work for businesses in town...sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. 

 

 

East Lake Cert (Palm Harbor, Florida) recently conducted a basic CERT class. Among the attendees was a local Civial Air Patrol Squadron from area high schools. A few weeks after the class one of the cadets came upon a class mate that had fallen,hit her head and was unable to move. The cadet's first thought was,"what did I learn in my CERT class?" The cadet took appropriate action to assess, maintain c-spine and summon help and give report to first responders. This is what it is all about...The Greatest Good For the Greatest Number...sometimes the number will be one!

East Lake Cert (Palm Harbor, Florida) recently conducted a basic CERT class. Among the attendees was a local Civial Air Patrol Squadron from area high schools. A few weeks after the class one of the cadets came upon a class mate that had fallen,hit her head and was unable to move. The cadet's first thought was,"what did I learn in my CERT class?" The cadet took appropriate action to assess, maintain c-spine and summon help and give report to first responders. This is what it is all about...The Greatest Good For the Greatest Number...sometimes the number will be one!