Page 39 - Creating a Community of Resiliency

Preparedness and Response Readiness: Providers
Having Plan in Place
“When [parents] first come to my day care I explain to them that in case of emergency I will be at the parking lot of the church. I tell them not to wait for my call. If there is an earthquake, they should go straight to the church. The day of the fire, I took the list and I called the parents from the church and they came and picked up their children.”
 Spanish-speaking, family child care provider
“Early 2000, we had a gas leak in the school district. It was early morning before most of the kids were in the school itself. When it happened I had about 12 kids with me. We have a plan, so we knew what to do. We gathered [the children] and took them to the designated spot.”
 English-speaking, center-based provider Having Practiced the Emergency Procedure
“The best thing was that the kids were prepared. I practice with them at least once a month and I try to make it as fun as possible. I have two whistles; one I use in case of an earthquake and the other I use in case of fire and they already know the difference between the two sounds and they know what to do when they hear the different sounds.”
 Spanish-speaking, family child care provider
“I practiced earthquake drills with the children so when the earthquake hit, the children knew what
to do. They immediately went under the table and took cover.”
 Chinese-speaking, family child care provider What Could Be Done Differently
When asked to report on what did not work during the emergency situation they experienced or what they would do differently given the same emergency, the providers’ discussion closely paralleled the discussion of what worked during the emergency. Early care and education providers indicated that lacking a plan made the emergency situation more difficult. The lack of a plan described by providers often had to do with lacking a clear procedure for communicating with parents during and after an emergency and ensuring that the children’s parents’ contact information is always current in the providers’ files. Early care and education providers discussed some of those difficulties and also described some of the changes they have already made. Finally, providers reiterated the importance of practicing those
procedures and protocols.
Develop Plan
“Now when we say ‘code red’ and everyone knows what we are supposed to do. Different codes mean different things, but we still cannot lock the doors ourselves. We have to call the facilities, and they will push the buttons to lock the doors.”
 English-speaking, center-based provider
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