Performing Department
Cooperative Extension Service
Non Technical Summary
This grant will provide the opportunity forthe creation of practical tools such as our disaster preparedness website, easily consumable how-to publications, and online planning tools for residents. Social media will be utilized by creating Facebook posts and online podcasts. Background instruction from such national extension resources as EDEN and eXtension will be provided by UAF Extension to Local EmergencyPlanning Coordinators to improvecommunication of conditions before and after disasters via social media and the internet. In general, these efforts toincrease preparedness forresidentsand planners for earthquake and volcanoes will also increase citizens' effectiveness in getting through other natural disasters in our state.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The primary goal with this grant will be to assist residents and Local Emergency Planning Coordinators (LEPCs)in preparation and recovery from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In the areas of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau (about 2/3 of the state population), LEPCs exist in different levels of effectiveness. In the larger cities, this grant proposes to work with LEPCs to collect and distribute state disaster, Homeland Security and academic materials. In rural areas, we will work through regional state fairs, localized health fairs and other local gatherings to distribute publications, web/social media information, and conduct workshops.Major goals of the project are to:Train rural citizens in necessary preparations in case of sudden earthquakes and volcanic eruptions of ash.Prepare citizens to protect health during earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.Encourage self-sufficiency of citizenry in the areas of food, water, heat, power, and health issues.Evaluate areas of improvement needed in local areas and collaborate with LEPCs.Assist LEPCs in developing social media and GIS tools to reach local citizenry during a disaster.
Project Methods
In addition to collaborating with existing Local Emergency Planning Coordinators(LEPCs), Extension Energy Specialist will work with district agents to assist in attending the fairs and Native Corporation events with booth materials and special presentations. Utilizing props from remote energy workshops, information will be given in a one on one format as well as group presentation style on accessing and utilizing energy in a disaster. Materials will be adapted to address the local audience's readability, dialects, and preferred styles of presentations to ensure the materials are audience friendly, the Extension evaluation specialist will assist with the creatation of surveys for pre-contact understanding and planning. We will prepare user surveys for distribution to both the community presenter and the audience. Project director will attend the trial presentation taking informal notes on, among other things, audience level of engagement, presentation flow, and comfort level of volunteer presenter with provided materials. Based on this, changes to base content will be made to best tailor to the audience of that regional area. Media and teaching need to be aligned with local learners as much as possible.The first step will be to inventory what is available and in what form. Many community entities can quickly deliver emergency preparedness information. Our aim will be to organize the materials into an "off the shelf" system so everyone can easily adapt the programming, including volunteers from the villages. It is important that even existing materials be evaluated for their appropriateness for rural audiences. We will adapt materials to rural audiences if necessary as well as develop new materials as needed to fill any gaps in the current literature.In addition, a survey will be created that will inventory existing knowledge of rural residents in the area of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. This inventory will help us isolate the need for needed materials and determine the current knowledge of residents.These materials will be available for all LEPCs as well as tribal governments and other agencies that serve rural audiences. They will be available on a website and advertised through social media outlets.Downloadable podcasts will be created and posted on a website. The subjects will be determined by the survey, but some of the possibilities are: dealing with electrical interruptions, stabilizing heating oil tanks, food safety after a disaster, dealing with debris from a disaster, health issues related to volcanic ash and cleanup procedures from a disaster. Podcasts will be 3 to 5 minutes long and will cover all salient points in a form that is easy to understand.We will develop presentation materials centering on "before the disaster" preparation that can be used by agencies, local organizations, or volunteers. These materials will be designed to prepare rural residents for eruptions or earthquakes and will be adaptable to the specific location and its challenges. An iTunes U tutorial will be created to help those individuals presenting the materials know tips and techniques for teaching the materials. When possible, these presentations will involve CES personnel working collaboratively with LEPCs or local groups.An integral part of these preparation presentations will be to focus individuals on where they can look for help if a disaster did occur. In effect, they will be commercials pointing them to their local LEPC, UAF Cooperative Extension, tribal government, and state agencies that deal with disaster recovery. Publications will be created to fill the gaps in current literature. One publication that has been determined as a high priority is first aid/health care considerations for elderly and culturally unique populations where English may be a second language. We will also update our current publication, "Family Emergency Preparedness for Alaskans" to include more information, in particular, that relating to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. New materials developed will be turned into ten PSAs to be broadcast in rural areas. We have long term relationships developed with radio and television outlets throughout the state. These PSAs will be distributed through these outlets and will be posted on our website.Finally, workshops willpromote remote energy techniques such as using rocket stoves and other remote energy techniques to help rural residents with cooking, heating, and electrical energy in times of disaster. This workshop is currently being delivered throughout the state, but will focus on adapting these techniques in a triage or immediate situation context.