Girl Guides Ontario - Girl Guides Ontario - Emergency Preparedness Challenge - Sparks

Emergency Preparedness Challenge - Sparks

This challenge helps with these Keepers for Sparks!

• Being Healthy – Band Aids
• In My Community – Be Prepared Kit
• Emergency Survival Kit – Week 2 - In My Community - Be Prepared
   
• Week #1 - Emergencies
  • Define an emergency
  • Natural emergencies
  • Natural emergencies in the community
• Week #2 - Planning Ahead
  • Family emergency plan
  • Emergency survival kit
  • Pet emergency survival kit
• Week #3 - Lifesaving & Safety Skills
  • Lifesaving skills
  • Fire safety skills
  • Water safety skills

Week #1 - Emergencies
Materials Needed

• Rope
• Whistle
• Book about natural emergencies
• Blank paper
• Markers or crayons
• Introduction (5-10min)

Pose the question “What is an emergency?” Invite girls to offer their definitions. Encourage girls to share any experiences they may have had relating to emergencies.
 

Game (5min) – Is it an Emergency?
Use a rope to lay a line in the middle of the room. Label one side of the room “Emergency” and the other side “Not an Emergency”. Have the girls stand on the rope in the middle and tell them they will need to decide if something is an emergency or not. Call out a situation (e.g., fire in a house) and have the girls move to the side of the room that corresponds to their answer. Discuss the answer if necessary and then ask the girls to return to the middle. Repeat with different situations.

Story (10min) – Natural Emergencies
Choose one of the books from the book list (or choose your own similar book) about natural emergencies to read to the girls. Talk about the different types of natural emergencies (e.g., flooding, tornado, blizzard, earthquake, etc.).
 Book List

• The Flood that Came to Grandma’s House by Linda Stallone, ISBN 0912975024
• City Storm by Mary Jessie Parker, ISBN 059042307X
• Hurricane! by Corrine Demas, ISBN 0761450521
• Come a Tide by George Ella Lyon, ISBN 0531070360
• Storms by Simon Seymour, ISBN 0688117082
• Tornadoes by Simon Seymour, ISBN 0688146465
• Emergency! by Margaret Mayo, ISBN 1841212725
• Snow and Ice by Nicole Mortillaro, ISBN 0-439-95746-X PBK
• Sun and Storms by Nicole Mortillaro, ISBN 0-439-95745-1 PBK
• Franklin and the Thunder Storm by Paulette Bourgeois, ISBN 1550744054
   

Discussion (5min) – Community Emergencies
Talk about the most common natural emergencies in your community. Have the girls share any experiences they may have had related to these emergencies.
 

Game (10min) – Move like Nature
Have the girls move around the room. When you blow a whistle, they are to freeze. Call out the name of a natural emergency and have the girls move like that. Blow a whistle again and have the girls continue moving around the room.

• Earthquake – shake your whole body

Flood – move your hands like water
Lightning – flash your hands open and closed
Tornado – spin around
Blizzard – shiver like it’s cold
Heat wave – fan yourself like it’s hot
 

Craft (10min) – Draw a Natural Emergency
Provide the girls with paper and markers/crayons to draw a picture of one of the natural emergencies. If required, help the girls write the name of their chosen emergency on the page.
 

Week #2 – Planning Ahead
Materials Needed
 

• Book – Scaredy Squirrel
• Emergency survival kit & additional non-kit items
• “Rescue My Pets” sign
• Crayons/markers
• Scissors
• Glue
   

Introduction (5min)
Review the definition of an emergency and the different types of natural emergencies. Tell the girls that there are things we can do to get ready just in case an emergency happens. One of the things our family should do is put together an emergency survival kit. An emergency survival kit has all of the things we would need to be safe and comfortable for three days.
 

Story (10min) – Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Walt ISBN 978-1-55337-959-1
Read the book Scaredy Squirrel to the girls. Before starting, tell the girls that in the story, Scaredy has an emergency survival kit. Tell them to listen for the things that Scaredy has in his kit and see if they would put the same things in their kit. At the end of the story, review the items in the story.
 

Game (10min) – Survival Kit Relay Race
Put all of the survival kit items and a number of non-survival items in a pile. Tell the girls to imagine that were stuck in a dark room with no electricity. There are items in the pile that they would need to stay safe and be comfortable. There are other items that wouldn’t really help us. Divide the girls into two teams. Relay style, have a girl from each team run to the pile and pick one thing they think would belong in the emergency survival kit. When all of the girls are done, have them sit in a circle with their items. Put the leftover items in the middle along with a duffel bag.
 

Discussion (10min) – Emergency Survival Kit Contents
With the girls sitting in a circle, have each girl share what their item would be helpful for. After they have shared their item, have them place it in the duffel bag. Any items that don’t belong in the emergency survival kit can go in a pile beside the bag. After all of the girls have shared their items, talk about the items that were left behind and why they wouldn’t be good (e.g., bread – wouldn’t last, hair dryer – needs electricity).
 

Craft (10min) – Pet Emergency Survival Kit
Tell the girls that when we are making survival kits for our family, we also need to make one for our pets. Some of the things we put in our pet kit will be the same (e.g., food) and some will be different (e.g., leash). Provide the girls with markers/crayons, etc. complete the “Rescue My Pets sign”.
 

Week #3 – Lifesaving & Safety Skills
Materials Needed
 

• Plastic dolls
• Band-aids
• Soap and water
• Cloths
   

Introduction (5min)
Tell the girls that they are going to learn some safety skills today – fire safety, water safety and first aid/9-1-1. Talk about why it is important to know how to stay safe and help others stay safe.
 

Discussion (10min) - Water Safety
Ask the girls about different places where we have to be careful around water (e.g., bathtub, pool, lake). Ask the girls to share some tips/rules for water safety. Emphasize that it is important to have an adult watching you around water at all times. There will be different sets of rules for the different bodies of water (e.g., don’t run on the pool deck, don’t jump in, use of pfd’s).
 

Discussion and Game - Fire Safety – Stop, Drop and Roll (15min)
Talk to the girls about what to if their clothes catch on fire – Stop, Drop and Roll. Explain that it’s important to stop so that the fire doesn’t spread faster, drop to the ground and roll around to put out the flames. Play Stop, Drop and Roll tag. One person is “it”. The girls move around the designated space. When they are tagged by “it”, they have to stop, drop and roll (five times back and forth). After a few minutes, change the “it” person.
If you have already done the Sparks Ablaze program activity in Ontario you have completed this section.
 

Activity - Lifesaving Skills - First Aid/9-1-1 (15min)
Talk to the girls about 9-1-1 and what it is for. Emphasize that it is used if you have an emergency. Explain that sometimes we get hurt but it’s not an emergency. We can help ourselves and others if we know first aid.
First Aid
Ask the girls what they would do if someone has a small cut or scrape on their body. Establish that it is a good idea to wash the area and then apply a bandage. Provide the girls with dolls, cloths, soap, water and band-aids. Have all the girls wash their hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer. Demonstrate how to wash a cut or scrape with soap and water, letting it dry. Demonstrate how to correctly apply a bandage. Invite the girls to practice cleaning and bandaging a cut or scrape on their doll.
Practice calling 9-1-1
Have one or more toy phones (or disconnected phones) on hand.
• Establish the key things you need to say when calling 9-1-1 or your local Emergency
Services (your name, parents’/guardians ’names, your telephone number, location, what happened)
• Give the girls a basic emergency situation (e.g., fire, injury…). Pretend to be a 9-1-1 operator and have the girls practice calling you.
Remind the girls at the end of the activity that they should never call 9-1-1 unless there is a true emergency.
• Some larger communities have a 9-1-1 call simulator that you may be able to try.
 

Sing a Song!
Dial 9-1-1
(tune of Twinkle, Twinkle)

If you’re in trouble dial 9-1-1,
Dial 9-1-1 and help will come.
Police and fire, an ambulance too,
They’ll all be so proud of you!
If you’re in trouble dial 9-1-1,
Dial 9-1-1 and help will come.
The Fire Song
(tune of Frere Jacques)

If there’s a fire,
If there’s a fire,
In your house,
In your house,
What do you do,
What do you do,
YOU GET OUT!
YOU GET OUT!
What do you do if there’s a fire?
(tune of What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?)
What do you dial if there’s a fire,
What do you dial if there’s a fire,
What do you dial if there’s a fire,
Dial 9-1-1!
What do you do to plan for a fire,
What do you do to plan for a fire,
What do you do to plan for a fire,
Have a fire drill!
What do you do if you’re on fire,
What do you do if you’re on fire,
What do you do if you’re on fire,
Stop, drop and roll!
Who comes in a truck if there’s a fire,
Comes in a truck if there’s a fire,
Comes in a truck if there’s a fire,
It’s the Firefighters!