This Citizen Corps News Digest is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.

DHS and FEMA Updates

Half of Children Killed in Fires are Under Age 5 - How You Can Help

This Citizen Corps News Item is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.

HALF OF CHILDREN KILLED IN FIRES ARE UNDER AGE 5. USA Today (2/13, Sternberg) reports, "Children age 4 and younger, those least able to make their way to safety without help, account for roughly half of all childhood deaths and injuries suffered in fires," according to a FEMA report set for release today. "Children younger than 5 made up 52% of the deaths of children younger than 16 in fires in 2007," and "were 46% of the injuries that year." The absence of "a working smoke detector has been linked with nearly 25% of fatal residential fires, though just 3% of homes do not have smoke alarms installed, the report says." FEMA Administrator Fugate is quoted as saying that small children "need to be rescued. If the adults in the household don't know what's going on until it's too late, they're going to perish." Noting a statement from Mark Shriver, Chairman of the National Commission on Children and Disaster, that the numbers are getting worse, USA Today adds that to combat the problem, "Fugate says, FEMA, the commission and more than two-dozen other organizations will launch a national campaign today to promote fire safety. The federal agency will post safety tips and other information at www.ready.gov/kidsfiresafety. FEMA also is promoting a dialogue on Twitter, using the hashtag #kidsfiresafety."

As part of this call to action, we are also encouraging you and our many partners across the fire, emergency medical services, public health, emergency management and many other fields, to help us get the message out . To spread the word, we are launching the following online tools and resources to encourag e families to take simple steps now to prevent fires and to protect children. We ask that you incorporate the information below into an email message, your organization's website or twitter account:

• An updated website, www.ready.gov/kidsfiresafety, with key tips and resources for how to protect children – and the entire family – from residential fires;
  
  
• A widget that will link to this website and resources; and
  
  
• A new Twitter hashtag (#kidsfiresafety) to promote a dialogue about children's fire safety and share tips.

These updated tools will offer tips for how to prevent the two leading causes of fires during the winter months: heating and cooking.

Heating

The high cost of home heating fuels and utilities has caused many Americans to search for alternate sources of home heating. The use of wood burning stoves is growing and space heaters are selling rapidly. These heating sources are a major contributing factor in residential fires and may put children at risk. Many of these fires can be prevented.

What you can do:

• Never use your oven to heat your home.
  
  
• Never allow children to play near a fireplace, wood burning stove, space heater, or other heating sources. Establish a 3 foot safety zone around all heat sources.
  
  
• Have your chimney or wood stove inspected and cleaned annually by a certified chimney specialist, and use a metal mesh screen when burning a fire in your fireplace.
  
  
• Follow manufacturer instructions when alternative heat sources such as wood stoves and kerosene heaters are used. Kerosene heaters may be prohibited by local fire marshals.
  
  
• Use fire-resistant materials on walls around wood stoves. Store fuels in proper containers, and keep them out of the reach of children and away from combustible materials.

Cooking

Many families gather in the kitchen to spend time together, but it can be one of the most hazardous rooms in the house if you don't practice safe cooking behaviors. Cooking is the leading cause of reported residential fires and fire injuries in the United States.

What you can do:

• Young children are at high risk of being burned by hot food and liquids. Keep children away from cooking areas by enforcing a "child-free zone" of 3 feet (1 meter) around the stove and microwave.
  
  
• When young children are present, use the stove's back burners whenever possible.
  
  
• Never hold a child while cooking, drinking, or carrying hot foods or liquids.
  
  
• Keep young children at least 3 feet (1 meter) away from any place where hot food or drink is being prepared or carried, such as around the microwave. Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges
  
  .
• Teach children that hot things can burn them.
  
  
• When children are old enough, teach them to cook safely. Supervise them closely.

Be Prepared

In at least 23 percent of all fatal residential fires, no smoke alarms were present. Keep your family safe, by installing a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm on every level of your home and inside and outside sleeping areas. Test smoke alarm batteries every month and change them at least once a year. In addition, make an escape plan with a common meeting place and call 911 once you are safely outside. Practice the escape plan with your family; plan a home fire drill on a regular basis.

Families can further reduce their risk of injury or death by also installing residential sprinkler systems.

This news story and other Individual & Community Preparedness news can be found on our website at www.citizencorps.gov

Sincerely,

The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division

We Need Your Participation!, Table Top Exercise, Girl Scout Preparedness, and more -
Citizen Corps News Digest for February 15, 2011

This Citizen Corps News Digest is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.

We Need You To Participate By:

• Giving your feedback on policy challenges.
  
  
• Nominating or applying to be on the National Advisory Council.
  
  
• Using the new Critical Power Failure Table Top Exercise.
  
  
• Registering your Citizen Corps Council or CERT Program.
  
  
• Learning hands-only CPR.
  
  
• Provide guidance on disaster and failure studies.
  
  
• Reaching out to help kids be prepared.

These opportunities to participate are below:

DHS and FEMA Updates

FEMA Requesting your Feedback on Working Paper: Policy Challenges in Supporting Community Resilience
FEMA is conducting an engagement campaign to discuss ideas for strengthening public participation in emergency management and homeland security. Over the last several months, we have engaged a diverse range of people, organizations, and professions from across the Nation. Our goal is to learn what works well in local communities before an incident occurs and to connect these successful activities, networks, assets, and processes to preparations to withstand, respond, mitigate, and recover from emergencies. As members of the emergency management community, your comments are requested on a working paper, Policy Challenges in Supporting Community Resilience. This paper explores how governments can better engage with the public to increase locally-organized disaster resilience and empower citizens and local institutions to take an active role in protecting themselves and their communities.

Your perspective will help inform the development of short and long-term strategies that can be enacted, both by FEMA and by members of the emergency management community to strengthen community engagement in preparedness and resilience efforts throughout the Nation. In particular, your thoughts on the following questions are appreciated:

To access the paper, please click the following link or copy and paste it into your web browser: http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=4563

Please submit your reactions and comments on the themes, challenges, and overall approach presented in this paper by Monday, February 28, 2011 to FEMA-Community-Engagement@dhs.gov. In addition to feedback on the paper, we welcome your comments, questions, and personal experiences at the same e-mail address. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Community Level Critical Power Failure Tabletop Exercise Now Available
FEMA's Private Sector Division posted a new community level Tabletop Exercise, the third in its series of free tools for continuity planning, preparedness and resiliency. The first two exercises offered tips on employee preparedness and emergency planning at the organizational level. This new one builds on that design, and has a broader community-wide scope that you can use in coordination with your local emergency management partners. As an added bonus, this new Community level exercise includes Twitter feeds and text alerts, in addition to the Virtual News Network (VNN) videos. The exercise is in a simple to use and scalable format and incorporates real-world examples.

The new exercise is available at: http://www.fema.gov/privatesector/exercises.shtm

FEMA Accepting Applications for National Advisory Council
FEMA is seeking individuals who are interested in serving on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC is an advisory committee established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. The NAC is looking for applications and nominations for people in the following disciplines: Emergency Management, Emergency Response, Health Scientist, Standard Settings, Infrastructure Protection, Communications, Disabilities, Local Non-Elected Official, Tribal Elected Official and three appointments which will be selected at the discretion of the FEMA Administrator. The selected members would serve until June 15, 2014. In addition, FEMA seeks applications to fill the remaining term for a Local Elected Official position (to serve until June 15, 2012), a State Non-Elected Official position (to serve until June 15, 2013), and an Administrator's Selection (to serve until June 15, 2013). Qualified individuals interested in serving on the NAC are invited to apply for appointment by submitting a resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV). Letters of recommendation will also be accepted, but are not required. Applications must be received by Friday, March 4, 2011.

Visit the NAC Web page for more information.

Important reminder! 45 Days Left to Register Your Council or CERT Program
FEMA is asking all new and existing local Citizen Corps Councils and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Programs to register on the National Citizen Corps and CERT websites. FEMA has two improved online registries that will demonstrate community readiness efforts of local Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs. This effort will recognize the tremendous work accomplished to date and serve as a baseline for future individual and community preparedness and resiliency projects. Every Citizen Corps Council and CERT Program is required to register if they wish to have a listing in the Citizen Corps and CERT directory on the National Citizen Corps and CERT Program websites. Please note that only Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs may register. The registry is not for individual CERT Teams that are organized within a CERT Program.

More information and guidance documents for registration are available on the Councils and CERT Program registration support pages located at http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/registry.shtm and http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/registry.shtm. The websites provide a registration fact-sheet, registration questions and contact information for technical assistance and support.

Citizen Corps Partners and Affiliates Updates

Got 30 Minutes? You Can Learn a Lifesaving Skill
The American Red Cross is encouraging more people to get trained by offering a Citizen CPR course, which teaches hands-only CPR—a potentially lifesaving technique involving no mouth-to-mouth contact. This technique, which is also known as compression-only CPR, is best used in emergencies where someone has seen another person suddenly collapse. Studies show that if more people learned hands-only CPR, we could increase the likelihood of cardiac arrest survival by putting more victims within a few steps of lifesaving assistance. Full CPR, which combines rescue breaths with chest compressions, is still the best option in some emergencies, including those involving infants and children, drowning victims, or people who collapse due to breathing problems.

Click here to read more and to find out where you can take these classes.

NIST Seeks Experts to Provide Guidance on Disaster and Failure Studies
T he National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) is seeking nominations of individuals for appointment to the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee. The committee advises the director of NIST on matters related to the agency's work studying the performance of structures and associated evacuation and emergency response procedures during disaster and failure events. NIST invites nominations, including self-nominations, from all fields involved in issues affecting disaster and failure studies. The agency especially encourages nominations of experts from industry and other communities, such as, but not limited to, universities, state and local government bodies, non-profit research institutions and other Federal agencies and laboratories. Nominations must be submitted no later than Feb. 19, 2011.

Read more and get specific details on the NIST website

Other Preparedness Updates

We are providing the following links to third party sites for your reference. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, or applications.

Girl Scouts Work to be "Prepared not Scared"
Emergency Management Magazine reports that FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano "are seeking to ingrain disaster preparedness information in increasingly younger audiences" by forming a partnership with the Girl Scouts of America for "further spreading these messages and increasing preparedness." The stated mission of the partnership is to "motivate young women to become leaders in their communities in emergency management and response; raise public awareness about personal preparedness, training and volunteer service opportunities; and encourage the FEMA Citizen Corps councils and Girl Scouts councils to work together." Paulette Aniskoff, director of the Individual and Community Preparedness Division in FEMA's National Preparedness Directorate said, "When you reach out to kids and when you start with kids, cultural change happens in part because when you get to reach them at a young age, they'll remember it throughout their own lives."

These news stories and other Individual & Community Preparedness news can be found on our website at www.citizencorps.gov

Sincerely,

The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division

FEMA Major Disaster Declarations Updates

Oregon Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Mudslides, Landslides, And Debris Flows
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:17:14 -0600

Major Disaster Declaration number 1956 declared on Feb 17, 2011

New York Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:44:45 -0600

Major Disaster Declaration number 1957 declared on Feb 18, 2011
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