Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
Child Care Health Consultant Competency 10: Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery
(Source: Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center, Child Care Health Consultant Competencies)
The CCHCs works collaboratively with programs to develop an emergency preparedness, response, and recovery plan. The CCHC helps programs develop relationships with relevant community partners to support emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. A CCHC also:
- Helps programs identify types of emergencies for which the program should prepare
- Encourages programs to include emergency preparedness and response information in training for all adults including staff, substitutes, consultants, and volunteers
- Ensures programs align emergency preparedness planning with state/tribal and local disaster plans Helps programs develop written plans for responding to emergency situations or natural disasters that may require evacuation, lock-down, or sheltering in place
- Helps programs regularly practice and document the practice of evacuation, lockdown, and shelter-in-place procedures, and modify as needed
- Connects programs to community resources and services to help with training and assistance in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies
- Helps programs address the needs of infants and toddlers and children with special health care needs or disabilities in their emergency preparedness plans
- Supports programs during recovery after an emergency or disaster to assess the environment for safety risks and support staff, children, and families
Find a CCHC in your community.
Featured Initiatives and Resources
The Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) in Child Care training provides early educators with information and tools to prepare for many types of emergencies. The EPR in Child Care training addresses NC Child Care Rules on emergency preparedness, current best practice recommendations, and guidance on completing the online EPR Plan.
The Childcare Risk Management plan tool provides a standard template for child care facilities to enter facility details and emergency preparedness procedures. The plan template walks facility owners through the process of collecting data required by the NC Child Care Rules that results in an EPR Plan for the facility.
ReadyNC is a website with information to help people get ready for everything from traffic jams to hurricanes and ice storms.
Additional Resources
- American Academy of Pediatrics: Children and Disasters
Disaster Preparedness to Meet Children’s Needs ~ Pediatricians can serve as expert advisors to local, state, and federal agencies and committees and play a key role in disaster and terrorism preparedness with families, children, and their communities. - American Red Cross
The American Red Cross offers resources to help families prepare for natural and human-caused disasters. Resource materials are available that can be used to help children in school and home settings to prepare for natural and man-made disasters, respond safely to emergencies and recover from trauma. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Emergency Preparedness and Response website is CDC’s primary source of information and resources for preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. - Emergency Preparedness Tip Sheets
Tip sheets posted on the Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) website focus on children’s responses to crises and tragic events, as well as ways to help children cope. The resources are available in both Spanish and English. - Head Start Emergency Preparedness Manual
The Office of Head Start developed the Head Start Emergency Preparedness Manual, 2020 Edition to provide Head Start programs with the latest tools and resources to guide their emergency preparedness planning process. - Fire Safety for Children
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reviews and collects resources that can be used in public outreach activities to help keep children safe from fire. Explore the materials to learn more about discussing fire safety for children with families, teachers, and other caregivers. - Ready.gov
Ready is a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters.