Disaster Preparation in Child Care

Family Disaster Planning

August 15, 2007

The Family Disaster Planning website, brought to you by the State of Florida, helps to better prepare families for future disasters by helping to create your own personalized Family Disaster Plan. In a major disaster, emergency workers may not be able to reach everyone right away, and in some cases it may take 3 or more days for help to arrive. What would you do if you had no electricity, no gas, no water and no telephone service? Having a plan for your family and their needs will help to ensure their safety and comfort in difficult times.

On the website you are asked to provide information about your home, family and pets. From this information, the website creates your own personalized Family Disaster Plan that you can print out and save for future emergencies. The plan includes recommended amounts of food and water, up to date information about evacuation techniques, and checklists of important steps to take.

At the Family Disaster Planning website you can obtain up to the minute weather information as well as a wealth of other resources concerning all types of emergency situations.

Pandemic Planning Update

July 18, 2007

In the past few months, the media buzz around 'bird flu' has died down, but the H5N1 strain of avian influenza has not. It remains a serious danger that we must all face together.

Download the Department of Health and Human Services' Pandemic Planning Update IV - A Report from Secretary Michael O. Leavitt

Pandemic Flu Update

November, 2006

http://www.immunize.org/pandemic/
Complete list of planning checklists for Pandemic Flu - home, office, community, etc in addition to "Pandemic Influenza Update" newsletters and links to most of the Pandemic Flu information websites

http://www.immunize.org/pandemic/panflu1106.pdf
November 2006 Pandemic Influenza Update - Newsletter from the CDC

What's your state doing? PandemicFlu website posts comprehensive array of state pandemic planning information

The federal government's PandemicFlu website recently added a new feature to its homepage. Titled Where You Live, it is a multi-colored map of the United States. Under the map is this explanation: "Selecting this map will take you to a page with links to state pandemic planning information, state pandemic Web site information, and local state contacts."

Click anywhere on the map to be taken to a larger map. Click on a state on the larger map to be taken to a page of links pertinent to the state and its pandemic planning information.

Pandemic Flu Child Care Checklist

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed a checklist for child care providers to use in developing and improving plans to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic.

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine. The disease spreads easily person-to-person, causes serious illness and can sweep across the country and around the world in a very short time.

Health professionals are concerned that the continued spread of a highly pathogenic avian H5N1 virus across eastern Asia and other countries represents a significant threat to human health. At this time, more than half of the people infected with the H5N1 virus have died. Most of these cases are all believed to have been caused by exposure to infected poultry. There has been no sustained human-to-human transmission of the disease, but the concern is that H5N1 will evolve into a virus capable of human-to-human transmission. At this time, there have been no cases of H5N1 virus "bird flu" in the United States.

Please review this checklist and use it to begin or continue your emergency planning. Further training on Disaster Planning in Child Care is available free of charge at your center. For training in Lee, Glades and Hendry counties, please call: Shirley Losch, RN at 239-267-0324 ext 23. For training in Collier county, please call: Danna Breeden, RN at 239-417-6022.

Download the checklist.

4 Steps to Prepare Your Family for Disasters

August 10, 2006

This guide will help you and your family prepare for a disaster. Keep this sheet in a special place so you will always know where to find it. Get the family together now to start following the 4 steps to safety readiness! Download today!

The Latest Flu Information

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has one website where you can access all documents recently posted or updated from the CDC Flu website. To obtain these documents go to: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/whatsnew.htm#new

To access a broad range of continually updated information on seasonal influenza, avian influenza and pandemic influenza, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Federal Government Launches Official Pandemic Influenza Web site

Official Pandemic Influenza Web site

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a website to provide comprehensive government-wide information on pandemic influenza and avian influenza. In the event of a pandemic, this will be the authoritative site for U.S. government information on the pandemic.

The website is intended for the general public, health and emergency preparedness professionals, policy makers, government and business leaders, school systems, and local communities. It includes information on planning and response, monitoring outbreaks, vaccines and medications, travel, research activities, national and state activities, and much more.

To access this new resource, go to: http://www.pandemicflu.gov

Vaccine Education Centers Offers Parent Info on Pandemic Flu

April 24, 2006

The Vaccine Education Center of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has added a new parent-education piece to its website with information regarding pandemic flu.

To access a ready-to-print PDF version, go to: www.chop.edu/vaccine/images/vec_pandemicflu.pdf

Crisis/Disaster Response Handbook

4 Steps to Prepare Your Family for Disasters

Child Care and Preschool Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist

Florida Disaster.org - Florida Division of Emergency Management

This website contains valuable information about how Florida residents and visitors to the state can prepare for disasters and how citizens can become more involved in the community; contains a wealth of information about creating your own business and family preparation plan; allows you to register your business plan with the local emergency operations center. www.floridadisaster.org

Family Preparedness Guide

Disaster typically gives little warning and can leave confusion and devastation in its wake. The State of Florida, through the Department of Health, has created the Family Preparedness Guide for residents and visitors as a tool that includes: * A fill-in Family Plan for Disasters and Emergencies * Steps for making a Disaster Supply Kit * Facts about natural and man-made threats *

The Family Preparedness Guide is available in English, Spanish, or Creole.

The Healthy Hurricane/Disaster Cookbook

Dr. Marcia Magnus and her creative students at Florida International University have created a cookbook filled with easy, healthy recipes for meals during those long days without electricity. They note: "This recipe book is your guide to making better food choices. We are all looking for good ways to provide our families and ourselves with nutrient dense, tasty, safe and non-perishable meals. Most of the ingredients in this recipe book are canned goods with the exception of fresh fruits and vegetables. Vegetables and fruits can be kept without refrigeration for a couple of days, so consumption during hurricane/disaster conditions is safe." How wonderful that this valuable resource has been produced by our local talent!

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