Invite Local Emergency Management Officials

For Students

You may have experienced a natural disaster or an emergency or you may have a friend or relative who has experienced a disaster or emergency situation. You may have listened to the weather alerts that warn of dangerous conditions and provide the precautions that will allow you to stay safe.

Knowing how those warnings and precautions are provided will help you understand why you should follow the guidance of those warnings. Being aware which natural disasters can occur in your city or town will help you understand its risks and possible health effects.

Your teacher has invited the emergency management official in your community. He is responsible for preparing for possible future disasters and directing activities to protect people if disasters occur. His most important duty is to protect you and other members of your community so you will all be safe.

For Teachers

You can enhance any lesson on natural disasters and emergency situations by inviting a local emergency management official to your classroom. He/she can describe the types of disasters your community has faced in the past and may in the future. The official could describe the main types of local disasters, and chose 2 or 3 past events, telling how severe the disasters were, how much area they affected, the damage done, and how the community responded during the disaster. It will be important to describe what measures the city/town now takes to minimize the threats and bad outcomes of disasters to leave students with the feeling that they will be protected.

Below is a draft letter you might edit, replace underlined words with your information, and send to a local official to invite their presentation in your classroom. Although some emergency management offices may require a written request, it is always better to make a personal phone call to introduce yourself and to explain your goals for the visit.

Dear name,

I am a teacher of x grade science at school name in town name. My students have recently been studying natural disasters and the health risks and consequences to those disasters and other emergency situations.

I would like to invite you to make a one-hour visit to our classroom to describe some actual natural disasters that have affected our area in the past and that may in the future. I want students to learn how our city prepares for possible disasters and what is done when a disaster actually hits. In particular, I would like your presentation to alert them to what types of disasters they might face here, how frequently such disasters occur here, and what families may be asked to do for their own safety. I do want students to learn what they might experience, but to come away reassured that the city has plans to protect everyone.

I hope you will be able to visit our class. Please let me know when you might be available and I will do my best to accommodate your schedule.

Please call, text or email me if you would like more information, and to let me know if your visit will be possible.

Thank you very much,

Teacher signature and name

Telephone number

Email address

Note: In many communities, disaster management is now combined with homeland security, and the leader of that local group, is where to start looking for a person to visit your classroom. Look for:

Director, County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

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