COAD's Children and Family Support Subcommittee is launching this year's information campaign for family emergency preparedness. As our partners, we encourage you to share this information with as many clients and partners as you can so that more people know about the resources available in our community before a disaster happens. The first steps in a response for vulnerable individuals, such as families with young children and infants, is preparedness. Together we can build a more resilient Napa County!

 

This week's topic is: EMERGENCY SUPPLIES

 

Flyers, in both pdf and jpeg formats, and links are provided for easy sharing. You may use the jpeg images for online sharing, and the pdf versions for printing and sharing hard copies. Feel free to share this information with your distribution list of partners and/or include this information in any newsletters you may send out to the greater community. CLICK THE RED BUTTON BELOW TO SHARE THE LINK TO OTHERS.

 

 

ENGLISH: "Napa Valley COAD is continuing its information campaign for EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR FAMILIES! We are quickly approaching fire season and it's important that families with young children and infants become prepared before a disaster so they can stay safe. It's important to get your emergency supplies together BEFORE an emergency occurs. You can include your children in this process by making it a game of finding what emergency supplies you may already have lying around the house! Please share this information with friends and family so we can build a more resilient Napa County!

 

SPANISH: "El Napa Valley COAD continúa la campaña informativa de la PREPARACIÓN DE EMERGENCIAS PARA FAMILIAS. Nos estamos acercando a la temporada de los incendios y es importante que las familias con niños pequeños y bebés estén preparados antes de que sucede un desastre para que todos se mantengan a salvo. Es importante de juntar sus suministros ANTES de que suceda una emergencia. Puede incluir a sus hijos en este paso de preparación por medio de un juego de buscar suministros de emergencia que tal vez ya tiene en su casa. Por favor comparta esta información con sus familias y amistades para poder hacer más fuerte nuestra comunidad aquí en el condado de Napa."

A Go Bag is a backpack or bag filled with emergency supplies and personal items that you take with you when there is an evacuation. It's good to have one ready and handy, so if there is a spontaneous evacuation, you're ready to head out safely. A few things to include would be your critical documents (either hard copies or digital copies), medication lists, cash in small bills, and other personal items. Your Go Bag should be in an accessible area so you are able to evacuate quickly and safely. Below is the COAD Go Bag flyer with more ideas of what to include in your emergency Go Bag.

 

A Stay Box is an emergency kit for your household in the case you need to shelter-in-place. This is typical during and after earthquakes and floods. The roads are too dangerous to evacuate, so people need to shelter-in-place and have the supplies necessary for these situations. There could be power outages, so flashlights and extra batteries are essential, as well as lots of bottled water and nonperishable foods with a long shelf-life.

 

Not all families can have Go Bags ready because the items in these bags are used daily, so having a grab list is a great alternative. Many people "steal" from their Go Bags because they need the items, and never replenish the things they take out. A Grab list is a list of all the things you would need to take with you in the case of an evacuation (and where you will find these items), so you don't forget anything before you leave. Below is a Grab List and Critical Documents worksheet in both English and Spanish.

Critical documents can be very difficult or impossible to replace if they are left behind during an evacuation. Everyone should put all their critical documents together in an accessible area. They should be somewhere handy in the case that you need to leave abruptly. Below is a Grab List and Critical Documents worksheet in both English and Spanish.

It's important to involve children in emergency planning so they know what to expect when there's an emergency response. This helps young children feel more secure, knowing there's a plan and steps to follow. Children should be involved at an appropriate level so they are not scared and overwhelmed. 

 

One way young children can help prepare with their families is looking for emergency supplies around the house. This can be introduced as a fun scavenger hunt!  

All in-home childcare providers need to think about emergency preparedness for the children under their care. These children are usually young children not yet of school-age and infants. Below are some checklists in both English and Spanish for the emergency supplies childcare providers can prepare in their homes to keep the children safe. These resources also include special considerations for children with disabilities or other access and functional needs.