FEMA, K-State and Other Organizations Partnering to Prepare Students for Future Disasters

Media Contacts:

FEMA News Desk       Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region VII          (816) 283-7095

Lynda Bachelor          Kansas State University, HandsOn Kansas State                  (785) 410-4599

Kansas City, Mo. –The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region VII office will partner with Kansas State University (K-State), the American Red Cross, Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) and other community agencies and organizations for two upcoming events to raise awareness and inspire emergency preparedness on and off campus.

The first event will be a LIVE, one hour virtual Twitter discussion about disaster preparedness.  During the second one, ReadyCampus, K-State students will participate in an exercise to familiarize themselves with some things they might expect from emergency management organizations during and after a disaster and learn how to best use social media for emergencies. The American Red Cross will also be there hosting a blood drive. Both events support the national campaign America’s PrepareAthon! (@PrepareAthon), which is designed to increase emergency preparedness and resiliency, http://www.ready.gov/prepare.

“ReadyCampus is a great program and HandsOn K-State is thrilled to host such an important event. We encourage students to take advantage of this unique opportunity to both help their communities–through the blood drive and donating time to build care kits for the Salvation Army– and to prepare for disasters.” said Lynda Bachelor, project coordinator, K-State School of Leadership Studies.

“Both events should be a lot of fun for the students, but more than that—they’ll learn some important skills to take care of themselves and their friends and family when an emergency happens, and we know it will; it’s just a matter of when,” said Beth Freeman, FEMA Administrator, Region VII. “It’s our hope participating young adults will walk away from both events feeling a bit more confident they can handle whatever emergencies come their way.”

ReadyCampus Event

ReadyCampus is a disaster preparedness event geared towards student involvement and will be held at the K-State Bosco Plaza on Tues., April 15, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT. During the event students will learn about local, state and federal programs and resources available to them for emergency preparedness and discover opportunities for student involvement. There will be a walk-through of a mock POD (Point of Distribution) that, in the event of a disaster, could deliver food, medicine and other critical supplies to survivors. At ReadyCampus the POD will distribute materials and information from participating organizations and students will have an opportunity to donate their time to create emergency supply/care kits for people served by the Salvation Army.

Social media is becoming increasingly important for emergency management and the number of people using it during times of crisis is skyrocketing! During this event FEMA representatives will be on-hand teaching attendees the fastest and best ways to use sites like Twitter and Facebook to find critical disaster-related updates and connect with friends and loved ones during emergencies. For those less familiar with social media, they’ll provide tips to make it easy to immediately begin using it to prepare for any future emergencies.

“Done right, social media is the fastest way to get and give information on the planet and it’s free, that’s why it’s a game changer. We want our students to know how to best use it to manage emergencies. They’re going to get some great tips at ReadyCampus, even if they already use social media,” stated Bachelor.

Tweetchat

On Weds., April 9, 2014, join @HandsOn_KState, @FEMARegion7, @KansasEmergency and other participants during a LIVE disaster preparedness and awareness discussion on Twitter from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. CDT. Tweetchat participants will learn how local, state and federal partners support communities before, during and after emergencies and which organizations and agencies do what, when. Everyone is encouraged to participate, using hashtag #ReadyKState. For those who don’t sign into Twitter, you may follow the conversation at https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23readykstate and email questions to FEMARegion7info@fema.dhs.gov, during the tweetchat.

 

ReadyCampus and tweetchat participants

 American Red Cross, @kscapredcross 

Campus Student Security, KSU Emergency Management, Public Safety, @kstate

HandsOn Kansas State, @handson_kstate

KS Citizen Corps (Kansas Division of Emergency Management), @kscitizencorps

K-State Collegian, @kstatecollegian

K-State News, @kstatenews

K-State Ready Campus, @kstateready

Manhattan Fire Department, @manhattanfd

Riley County Emergency Management, @rileycoems

Riley County Police Department, @rileycountypd

Salvation Army, @salarmymokan

 

Please note, all social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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Visit FEMA Region VII’s website,  http://www.fema.gov/region-vii-ia-ks-mo-ne-0 and follow the region on Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/femaregion7. FEMA headquarters is on Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/fema, Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/fema and YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/fema.  Also follow Administrator Craig Fugate on Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/craigatfema. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

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FEMA, K-State and Other Organizations Partnering to Prepare Students for Future Disasters

Kansas State University Pilots "ReadyCampus" on September 30; Campus-wide Event to Engage Students in Real-time, Disaster Preparedness…

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Students and faculty at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, along with their neighbors, will have a unique chance to learn first-hand about the importance of disaster preparedness with the launch of ReadyCampus, a one-day preparedness campus event slated for September 30, 2013.

 

ReadyCampus, a student-centered initiative, is an innovative partnership between Kansas State University (K-State) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Region VII. The event is being hosted by K-State’s School of Leadership Studies’ HandsOn Kansas State (HOKS) as part of their civic learning opportunities. Manhattan Good Neighbors is a program activity, within HandsOn that focuses on campus and community relationship building and service. Timed to coincide with the end of National Preparedness Month 2013, this initiative focuses heavily on existing resources and capabilities accessible to students by combining disaster information and social media.

 

The three-hour event, from 12 noon to 3 pm, will take place in a “preparedness” social media environment where students and faculty will gather at the Campus Creek Amphitheater outside of K-State’s Leadership Studies Building. There they will hear campus and community preparedness presentations, participate in an eChallenge preparedness hunt and meet student and local organization representatives active in disaster readiness and response such as campus Police and Emergency Management. They will also meet with student groups connected with the Capital Area American Red Cross, Riley County Emergency Management, United Way of Riley County, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, and Citizen Corps groups such as the Community Emergency Response Team, County Animal Rescue Team and Medical Reserve Corps.

 

“Emergency preparedness remains a high priority not only for Kansas State, but all higher education institutions,” said Lucy Finocchiaro with Manhattan Good Neighbors. “While the administrators of Kansas State have done a phenomenal job of caring for students in emergency situations, many students find themselves unaware of the resources available to them in a disaster. Enhancing student awareness and preparation is the next step for many universities in increasing overall emergency preparedness and we are honored to join with FEMA and our surrounding community partners in piloting ReadyCampus to assist in that mission.”

 

FEMA Region VII and K-State leaders recognized that preparedness messaging for students runs the risk of becoming old and repetitive, so they created ReadyCampus as a more engaging way to inform and involve students through social media by moving students from preparedness discussions to personal demonstration.

 

The highlight event is an e-Challenge preparedness hunt. Similar to a traditional scavenger hunt, the e-Challenge Hunt requires teams to locate and identify emergency preparedness resources from around the campus, the community, as well as their own homes.

 

Participating teams will demonstrate their progress by submitting their entries electronically through Twitter. Responses will be projected onto a screen visible to the general public. Teams will be recognized for their levels of achievements for participation, identified items/locations, and collaborative interactions with one another. Prizes for participating and recognitions will be presented for all levels of achievement.

 

“We are honored to support the leadership and student body of Kansas State University in this unique and innovative effort” said Phil Kirk, Federal Preparedness Coordinator for FEMA Region VII. “This partnership represents a whole community effort focused on delivering preparedness solutions in a practical and effective manner, one that schools across the country can hopefully replicate within their own institutions of learning.”

 

Beth Freeman, FEMA Region VII Administrator also applauded the efforts of K-State and its student body for taking an active and voluntary approach to bridging the gap between the academia and emergency management communities.

 

“FEMA Region VII has partnered with universities, schools and educational groups for many years, primarily in the areas of disaster response planning, exercise and training. This event however, signifies the first time such partnership has materialized so noticeably, primarily for the individuals served the most by these institutions – the students” Freeman said.

 

Members of the media and the general public are welcome to attend and observe ReadyCampus on September 30. For more information or instructions on accessing the K-State campus on event-day, contact Manhattan Good Neighbors at mgn@k-state.edu and post questions or information on HandsOn Kansas State’s Twitter @handson_kstate #KStateReady.

 

To learn more about ReadyCampus or school and workplace preparedness contact FEMA Region VII’s National Preparedness Division at 816-283-7925 or visit: www.ready.gov/school-and-workplace.

 

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Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Find regional updates from FEMA Region VII at www.twitter.com/femaregion7. The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications. FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

 

 

Original post: 

Kansas State University Pilots "ReadyCampus" on September 30; Campus-wide Event to Engage Students in Real-time, Disaster Preparedness…