As part of their Health Unit last term, students in Years 3 and 4 participated in a disaster resilience education program run by Australian Red Cross, called the Pillowcase Program.
Designed to help children prepare for, cope with and respond to an emergency, the workshop included a discussion about the importance of being prepared, as well as interactive activities to help students to consider what to pack in an emergency kit. Each student was given a pillowcase to decorate and take home, to start their own personal emergency kit.
The Red Cross have provided a checklist of actions to prepare our households and children for emergencies and encourage families to consider the following:
Getting your household prepared:
- All the children in our house know what an emergency is (a serious, dangerous and scary situation where help might be needed)
- All the children in our house know how to stay calm by 'breathing with colour' (slowly breathing in their favourite colour and then slowly exhaling their least favourite colour to regulate their breathing)
- We have a safe meeting place outside our house and have practised how to get there
- We know who to call if we can't find each other
- We have an emergency kit packed ready to go if we have to leave our house quickly.
For further guidance or to create a household emergency plan you can download Australian Red Cross' Get Prepared app or visit redcross.org.au/prepare.
