Archive for March, 2011

National VOAD and EDEN Partnership Signed

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Guest Post by Steve Cain

EDEN reps sign NVOAD/EDEN partnership agreement

Steve Cain adds his signature

The National VOAD and EDEN took an historic step on March 15, 2011 and signed a partnership agreement. The agreement was signed by Bob Leipold, Executive Director of National VOAD and EDEN representatives Virginia Morgan, Rick Atterberry and Steve Cain at the EDEN Executive Committee’s 2011 retreat.

During his brief presentation following the signing, Bob Leipold highlighted the similarities between the two organizations. The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster’s goal is to reduce the impact of disaster through communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration. The Extension Disaster Education Network’s mission is to reduce the impact of disaster through education.

EDEN Chair Virginia Morgan pointed out that the partnership recognizes the values and the system that the Extension Service brings to helping in all functions of disasters. For National VOAD, the partnership brings a valuable ally in improving knowledge so that people in the U.S. better understand disasters.

Extension, with outreach in all U.S. states and territories, and involvement in disaster issues, matches up well with the VOAD movement. Recent disasters demonstrate the need for more individual and community disaster resilience. This need influences the VOAD growth and movement at the national, state and community level. The same need drives Extension to answer the call at the same levels to help individuals and communities prepare, respond, recover and mitigate for disasters. The EDEN and National VOAD partnership makes sense. The ideas for growth in the partnership are many, and more opinions are welcomed here.

Posted in Community Prepraredness, Family and Individual Preparedness, VOADs and COADs | No Comments »

Involve Youth in Disaster Management

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Guest post by Lynette Black

Teen CERT team members review their plan of action during an exercise

Teen CERT team members review their plan of action during an exercise

The 4-H Youth Development program reaches youth through several avenues. Focused areas of disaster management can be included in the education youth are receiving during each experience. Following are some ideas.

Camping Program

The Camping program is a popular way for youth to participate in a 4-H experience. Focus lessons on first-aid, safety, living without electricity, recognizing weather and impending signs of disasters and surviving disasters.

Focus counselor training on the camp’s emergency plans and stress management.

Traditional 4-H Club Program

Club work: focus on project areas (i.e. food and food preservation focus on emergency food supply and water safety, clothing and textiles focus on appropriate emergency clothing, outdoor education focus on camping and survival skills, small animals projects focus on backyard homesteading techniques and animal health care and diseases, livestock focus on animal health care and diseases). For all project areas cover steps to stay safe during a disaster.

County fair: educate on animal disease issues and human disease issues as well as evacuation planning and plan of action in case of disaster.

Afterschool programs: Focus on science (i.e. what causes earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes), geology (volcanoes, landslides), weather (extreme heat, cold, thunderstorms), and staying safe during a disaster.

Babysitting training: Focus on first-aid, family emergency plans and stress management.

There are many ways to incorporate disaster preparedness in 4-H programming. For more information please contact Lynette Black, 4-H Youth Development Faculty, Oregon State University.

Regards, Virginia Morgan, EDEN Chair

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Posted in 4-H disaster education, Youth Programs and Initiatives | No Comments »

Radiation Basics

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

As you hear more news from Japan about the nuclear facility disasters, you may find it useful to know some basics about radiation. Ray Burden, EDEN TN delegate provides that information below.

What is radiation? Radiation is the invisible energy emitted by certain types of unstable (or radioactive) atoms. This energy travels through the air, but cannot be seen, felt, smelled, or tasted.

Are there different types of radiation? The four types of radiation emitted by radioactive material are alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation.

Is there a difference between exposure and contamination? With exposure the radiation, but not the radioactive material, reaches the person. The source of radiation (radioactive material) is not on the person and not inside the person, therefore, the person is not contaminated. Contamination may be external or internal. An externally contaminated person has radiological material physically attached to his or her skin and/or hair. Internal contamination and internal exposure occurs when unprotected people ingest, inhale, or are wounded by radioactive material.

Radioactive material can enter the body by four methods:

  • Inhalation—Gaseous or airborne particles, dust particulates, and matter with radioactive material may enter the body through the lungs.
  • Ingestion—Internal radioactive contamination may enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract by way of contaminated food, drink, and swallowing contaminated mucous from the nasal area.
  • Absorption—Radioactive material may be absorbed through the skin or mucous membranes.
  • Puncture or injection—Radioactive material can penetrate the body through cuts, wounds, and punctures in the skin.

Individuals should use the principles of time, distance, and shielding to avoid radiological materials:

  • Time—Minimize time spent near a radioactive source or radioactive contamination. The less time exposed to source of radiation, the lower the dose received.
  • Distance—Maximize the distance from a radioactive source or radioactive contamination. Keep as much distance as possible between oneself and the source of radiation. The farther one is from the source, the lower the dose received.
  • Shielding

Regards, Virginia Morgan, EDEN Chair

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Posted in Hazards and Threats, Nuclear Release | No Comments »

Earthquake and Tsunami International Disaster

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Between the weather and the earth, hundreds of thousands people have suffered major ill effects this past week. The most devastating of these was the Magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the east coast of Japan on March 11. That was followed by a tsunami that caused more damage to Japan and rolled eastward impacting the U.S. Pacific Region. 

USGS map

The EDEN network was alerted early Friday morning to the disaster and, as new reports were issued, the network was updated. We have heard from our colleagues in Guam and Hawaii. Their first reports are now posted on the EDEN site. In addition to these reports, the Tsunami page has been updated to reflect the current situation. In addition, the page provides information about tsunamis and how to prepare for them as well as what to do when a tsunami warning is sounded. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working in support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) who is the lead federal agency when responding to international disasters. If you would like to help the survivors, or the families of the victims, of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, visit InterAction for information on how to donate.

Although aftershocks of 6.0 and larger continue off the coast of Honshu, Japan, no new tsunami warnings have been issued. The U.S. Geological Survey monitors earthquake activity around the world. 

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It’s time to move.. EDENotes at blogger.com has worked well, but we think the time has come to move the blog to eXtension. With that move, it will be easier to post articles by guests and for readers to post comments. In addition, it will keep our blog more closely aligned with our Community of Practice in eXtension. If all goes well, our next post will be from our new site. 

Regards, Virginia Morgan, EDEN Chair

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Posted in Earthquake, Hazards and Threats, Tsunami | No Comments »

Six Tips for Integrating Disaster Education Into Your Extension Work

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

One day you were minding your own business when a colleague came along and talked you into becoming an EDEN delegate. It sounded really good at the time, but now you may wonder how disaster education can be incorporated into your work.

Here are six actions you can take to help reduce the impact of disaster on your communities.

  • Teach your audiences how they can become resilient and resistant to disaster as part of your curriculum. Incorporate preparedness concepts in your regular education efforts. Preparedness is not limited to one Extension program area. Demonstrate how taking steps to protect property and homes from disaster (mitigation) is actually good practice for normal times. Show how determining what natural or man-made disasters citizens are most at risk of experiencing can be used to reduce their vulnerability to those same disasters.
  • Facilitate disaster planning discussions, meetings, workshops. Use ReadyBusiness, Stengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning (S-CAP), Coastal Community Resiliency Index, and other tools to frame the sessions.
  • Promote EDEN, eXtension and state resources that relate to disaster education. For example, states in the Central U.S. this spring can benefit from the Floods and Flooding EDEN topic page, eXtension flood articles and frequently asked questions, publications found on state websites, as well as from regularly scheduled webinars. Include resources in your newsletters, blog posts and other communication tools.
  • Develop partnerships with key people to make sure you are connected at the local, state and national levels. Local key contacts include your county/parish emergency manager, sheriff, fire chief, Citizen Corps, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and county officials. These connections will make communications between your agencies and organizations run more smoothly during a disaster. These partnerships also expand your opportunities to find funding to support your educational efforts.
  • Build and maintain inventory lists of supplies, suppliers, and contacts. Not only will this information be useful in an emergency, you will find it valuable in day-to-day work efforts.
  • Learn the chain of command used in an emergency or disaster. Most state and local responders use the Incident Command System for managing crises. Knowing the accepted protocol gives you credibility with your local emergency responders and emergency management agency. This knowledge is key to your access to those in need during a disaster so that you can deliver appropriate resources.

Regards, Virginia Morgan, EDEN Chair

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Posted in disasters | No Comments »