Week 2 Assignment

For this section of your course project, complete the following:

 •Describe each of the disaster scenarios you have chosen (such as a hurricane that has quickly developed in your area) and a real or hypothetical early childhood setting (such as a Head Start program housed on a university campus near the coast). What are the main dangers posed by these situations? Who is at risk?
Well, we’re pretty much in an area that doesn’t get many natural disasters, but we have had a tornado in the past in a nearby city and their house has a gas stove, so a fire could happen. So, I’ll use those two disasters. Since I’m not sure how a real setting would be, I will use my nanny position right now as my early childhood setting. The main dangers in this scenario is that it’s only me with two children, 4 years old and 14 months. If there we a flood, I would do everything in my power to make sure we got out safely, and put them above myself. In the situation of a fire, I would locate the fire extinguisher if the fire were small enough.  

 •Explain why you and your colleagues should be prepared. What are the consequences of not being prepared?
If I weren’t prepared, I could lose one of the children. Since I have a toddler and a 4 year old, either one could get scared enough to try and run away in one of the situations. If we all aren’t calm and know the plan then someone could seriously get hurt.

 •Summarize the appropriate steps you would take to develop a plan in advance for this disaster and how you would deal with it if it occurs.
I would sit down with the 4 year old and tell her the plan, ask her questions on what we would do if this were to happen.
In case of a fire, I would make sure there was an escape ladder upstairs in the bedroom along with the first aid kit and the appropriate safety materials such as numbers to call, information on the children and so on.  If I was somehow separated from a child, I would tell them to go out the door closest to them, like we had planned, and meet me outside on the other side of the street in the field. I would also have us practice different scenarios to make sure she knew what to do when the time came. As for a tornado, I would practice that plan as well. I would tell her if she was scared and couldn’t find me to run to the downstairs bathroom and I will find her or be there waiting for her.

Be sure to:

•Explain how you would assess the risks.
I would look at how bad the fire was and what we can do to make it stop. If I can use an extinguisher, to put it out and clean it up or if we need to grab the girls and get out while calling the fire department. If this were a flood, normally it doesn’t come into the house unless it were really bad, so I would just make sure I had the girls with me upstairs. If it were really bad, I would call the fire department to come get us out of the house.

•Identify potential complications created by this disaster besides the main disaster/danger itself.
Some potential complications could be if I didn’t have a plan for this specific disaster. If the plan wasn’t well executed it could hinder the outcome; in both of these disaster situations.

•Describe any other steps you and/or your early childhood program should take to be prepared to handle this kind of crisis. What kinds of materials or documentation (e.g., first aid supplies, family emergency contact information, and so on) would be necessary and/or helpful?
I would have a bag full of materials that we could access in case of a situation like this. There would be contact information for the family, my family, the police and fire department, and the family’s friends’ names and numbers so if I couldn’t reach the mother or father I could call one of their friends if needed. The materials would be in a waterproof bag that will also serve as a floating device. I would definitely talk to the mother about a plan if these crisis’ were to come up, and we would all talk to the children about the plan so they know what to do in case of these happening.

•Explain how you might involve the families of the children in your care.
In case either one of these disasters were to happen I would do everything I could do get the children in a safe place then call the fire department and then call the parents. If it were one of the days that the mother is home but I’m still watching the children, then I would follow her lead on what is best at that time.