10 Ways to Show Kindness During Emergencies

Two people holding hands across a table.

November 13 is World Kindness Day

Kindness is good for you. According to researchers, helping others release hormones that boost your mood and wellbeing.(1, 2)

Kindness is most beneficial to you and others when it’s made part of your routine. Acts of kindness take on increased meaning during an emergency when people need care, concern, and consideration.

Here are 10 ways you can show kindness to yourself and others before, during, and after an emergency.

  1. Join someone’s personal support network. A personal support network is a group of people who volunteer to help a family member, friend, neighbor, etc. living with an impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction that can affect their ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies.
  2. Care for yourself in at least one small way each day. Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions. It’s important to take care of your family and friends, but it should be balanced with care for yourself. Self-care during an emergency will help your long-term healing.
  3. Volunteer responsibly. Don’t self-deploy to disaster areas. Trusted organizations operating in the affected area know where volunteers are needed. By working with an established non-profit organization, the appropriate safety, training, and skills can be considered. Recovery lasts longer than media attention. There will be volunteer needs for many months, often many years, after the disaster. Your help often is needed long after a disaster.(3)
  4. Donate wisely. A financial contribution to a recognized volunteer organization active in disaster is the most effective donation you can make to support survivors. Organizations on the ground know what items and quantities are needed, often buy in bulk with discounts, and try to purchase through local businesses.(3)
  5. Shop responsibly during emergencies. Buy what your family needs and leave some for others. Do not buy more supplies than you need to prepare for or in response to an emergency.
  6. Be a helper to others in need. Help friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. prepare for and respond to emergencies. For example, you can offer to help them
  7. Feed your neighbors. Stock (or start) a little free pantry, donation bin, or community fridge to help meet the personal needs of others. Personal needs are the things you will need to keep your family healthy, safe, calm, and comfortable during an emergency. They include safe food and water, personal hygiene items, diapers, and other necessities.
  8. Listen with compassion. Call, text, or email family and friends to ask how they are doing during an emergency. If someone you care about is feeling overwhelmed with emotions like sadness, depression, or anxiety, or feels like they want to harm themselves or others, call 911. People can also call the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 (TTY 1-800-846-8517).
  9. Give a caregiver a break. Respite care is provided by family, friends, a nonprofit group, or a government agency. Respite care affords caregivers time off from their caregiving Short breaks can help caregivers maintain their health. Research shows that even a few hours of respite a week can improve a caregiver’s well-being.(4)
  10. Learn a new practical skill and share what you’ve learned with others. Practical skills are self-help and life-saving skills and lessons that can help you protect your and others’ health in an emergency. Most do not require special certification or formal training to perform, but you do need education. Examples of practical skills include learning how to make water safe in an emergency, how to wash your hands, and how to use a portable generator safely during a power outage.

Make a habit of showing kindness to yourself and others in at least one small way each day. There are many ways to do that, including many that are simple and free. Find ways that work for you.

Resources

References

  1. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/the-art-of-kindness
  2. https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/science-of-kindness.html
  3. https://www.fema.gov/assistance/volunteer-donate
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/caring-for-yourself.html

Thanks in advance for your questions and comments on this Public Health Matters post. Please note that CDC does not give personal medical advice. If you are concerned you have a disease or condition, talk to your doctor.

Have a question for CDC? CDC-INFO (https://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html) offers live agents by phone and email to help you find the latest, reliable, and science-based health information on more than 750 health topics.

Local CERTs Offer a Way to Get Involved in Your Community

A man in a green vest and hat directs traffic in parking lot.

This student-authored post is published by CPR in partnership with Medill News Service and the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of CPR or CDC.

When a 10-year-old girl went missing from her home in the middle of the night on July 23, 2021, her parents called the police.

The next morning, the Canton (Mich.) Police Department mobilized the local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to help find the child. She was found safe later that day.

William Hayes, the emergency management coordinator for the Canton Public Safety Department, calls CERT “a force multiplier.” CERT volunteers support Canton police on different nonviolent and noncriminal missions like in 2004 when local cell towers broke down. While repair crews fixed the towers, team members developed a system of communication using handheld radios. They used the radios to stay connected with each other and informed of the crews’ progress.

In the case of the missing girl, the combined force of CERT volunteers and police officers were able to search further, wider, and faster than the police could’ve done alone. Jeff Grand, who works full-time at a local bank and joined CERT three years ago to get involved in his community, estimates he and his partner knocked on hundreds of doors that morning.

The response capabilities of CERTs frees up professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex, essential, and critical tasks.

CERT volunteers complete hours of basic training and education on how to respond to various emergencies. Their training includes learning practical skills, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

Volunteers also get hands-on practice putting out a fire, using a jack to lift a car, and searching for missing persons. More than 600,000 people, including the 100 members of the Canton CERT, have completed training since CERT started.

All volunteers receive the same training regardless of their location. This approach makes it easier for CERTs to work together in times of need, such as when tornadoes hit Southeast Michigan in June 2021.

The extreme weather event did little damage in Canton. Neighboring towns like Dearborn, Michigan, faced more challenges. Canton CERT–one of about 20 programs in and around Metro Detroit–turned out to help their neighbors, many of whom struggled with power outages and flooding.

The COVID-19 response has created the need for volunteers to staff local testing and vaccine distribution sites around Wayne County, Michigan. Volunteers who are medically trained help administer vaccines.

Grand has spent the better part of his CERT career registering people at vaccination sites. Thousands of people received vaccines at these sites.

Hayes wants more people to join Canton CERT. He believes the stronger the CERT program in a community, the more resilient the community.

The first CERT was established in Los Angeles, California, in 1985 by the city’s fire department. It became a national program in 1993. Today there are over 2,700 local CERT programs nationwide.

Visit the CERT website to find a team near you and to download basic training materials.

 

Thanks in advance for your questions and comments on this Public Health Matters post. Please note that CDC does not give personal medical advice. If you are concerned you have a disease or condition, talk to your doctor.

Have a question for CDC? CDC-INFO (http://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html) offers live agents by phone and email to help you find the latest, reliable, and science-based health information on more than 750 health topics.

Volunteers Prepare for Another Season of Disaster Response, Relief Work

A woman in a mask shakes the paw of a dog in a cage.
American Red Cross volunteer Gaenor Speed cares for a dog displaced by the Oregon wildfires in September 2020. (Photo: American Red Cross)

This student-authored post is published by CPR in partnership with Medill News Service and the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of CPR or CDC.

American Red Cross volunteer Gaenor Speed stood six feet away from a couple who lost everything in the wildfires that burned through the Cascade Mountains in Oregon last September. The first thing she wanted to do was hug them.

“I’m a hugger,” said Speed, 78, a retired nurse. “It’s really hard listening to a sad story from far away with masks on and not being able to just give them a hug.”

The couple told her about their photos — of their wedding, their children, their grandchildren — all destroyed amid the ash and rubble that was their home.

“They asked me, ‘Do you think we’ll find them? Our photos?’” Speed said. “It was so sad. You just want to hold them.”

Speed says the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult, if not impossible, for volunteers to comfort survivors in the ways they are used to. CDC recommends people stay at least 6 feet (or about 2 arm lengths) from others to prevent getting sick.

“Everything changed with COVID-19,” she said. “It was like everything went upside down. Those of us who had been on deployments before were used to big shelters with lots of people, where we’d go around, sit on the side of their cots, talk to them and listen to their stories. Now, it’s so hard to be able to empathize. We look like we’re standing off a long way, which we are.”

Speed, who lives in Cape Coral, Fla., is one of the most active volunteers in the Red Cross South Florida Region. She has responded to more than 20 disasters across the country since 2016. She’s helped with emergency shelters, distributed food and supplies, and provided emotional support to victims.

Speed racked up frequent flyer miles in 2020. She deployed to Puerto Rico in response to an earthquake, the Florida Panhandle for a wildfire, and Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. She spent September in Oregon for the wildfires and returned to Florida in November for Tropical Storm Eta.

The pandemic and a record number of natural disasters have tested the resilience of first responders, emergency management officials, relief organizations, and volunteers like Speed.

Things aren’t expected to get easier. Researchers predict an active Atlantic hurricane season in 2021.(1) NOAA will issue its initial outlook for the 2021 season in late May.(2)

Hurricane season starts on May 15 in the North Pacific and June 1 in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. Disaster relief organizations are preparing now.

The Red Cross partners with state and local agencies to put in place emergency plans for shelter, food distribution, and volunteer assistance. Those plans must also integrate mask requirements, facility temperature screenings, physical distancing measures, and cleaning and disinfecting practices.

“As we saw in 2020, disasters did not stop for the pandemic,” said Siara Campbell, regional communications manager for the South Florida Region. “It is imperative to make preparations now, and you need to prepare with the coronavirus situation in mind. You just have to be agile and ready to allocate resources that you may not have expected previously.”

Nicole Coates, director of emergency management and public safety for the Village of Wellington, Fla., agrees. The village is reviewing debris removal contracts, servicing generators, and putting emergency vendors on standby in advance of the hurricane season.

“The better prepared our residents are, the better prepared we are, so we start that public messaging as early as we can before storm season,” Coates said.

Speed knows the importance of preparing her community, as well. She’s helping to recruit volunteers in the hopes of finding others who, too, are willing and ready to deploy.

She believes everyone has something to offer.

“It’s the giving back,” she said. “We need everybody, and I like being in an organization where we’ve got different jobs, but we’re all working for the same goal: to deliver people from these terrible disasters and, as soon as we can, get them back to being able to carry on their lives again.”

Supporting voluntary organizations like the Red Cross is an example of how people can get involved during National Volunteer Month. Other ways you can help improve the preparedness and resilience of your community include participating in response drills and donating blood.

Visit the Prepare Your Health website for information on how to prepare for emergencies.

References

 

Thanks in advance for your questions and comments on this Public Health Matters post. Please note that the CDC does not give personal medical advice. If you are concerned you have a disease or condition, talk to your doctor.

Have a question for CDC? CDC-INFO (http://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html) offers live agents by phone and email to help you find the latest, reliable, and science-based health information on more than 750 health topics.

Coop’s Scoop: What’s not counted when we count “Citizen Science”?

Citizen science is skyrocketing in popularity. Not just among participants (of which there are millions), but also in its visibility in academic journals. A new article in PLOS ONE by Ria Follett and Vladimir Strezov

APHL joins partners in Sierra Leone to strengthen lab capacity in Ebola’s wake

This week a team of APHL staff and consultants traveled to Freetown, Sierra Leone where they will join US federal and Sierra Leonean partners to launch a year-long project to support and strengthen the country’s laboratory system in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis. This initiative builds on APHL’s longstanding relationships with laboratory and public health partners in Sierra Leone. We are proud of these relationships; proud of our partners, staff and consultants; and eager to begin this critical work.

In addition to its project work in Sierra Leone, on October 15-16 APHL staff – in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) – will participate in the Regional Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Consultation for Laboratory Strengthening, a two-day meeting focused on developing resilient laboratory networks in Africa. This meeting will bring partners together to initiate and build consensus around an inclusive roadmap framework for the implementation of the Global Health Security Agenda across Africa.

Who is going?

APHL Staff: Scott Becker, executive director; Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, global health director; Ralph Timperi, senior advisor of laboratory practice & management

APHL global health consultants: Alpha Diallo, Paul Jankauskas, Kim Lewis and Jocelyn Isadore

What are the objectives of APHL’s work in Sierra Leone?

– APHL global health consultants will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOHS) and National AIDS Secretariat of Sierra Leone in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen laboratory infrastructure and capacity. This support will entail guidance on implementation of the National Laboratory Strategic Plan, mentoring and participation in the laboratory technical working group, and mentoring and training for the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory staff, all with the goal of strengthening lab capacity in Sierra Leone.

APHL joins partners in Sierra Leone to strengthen lab capacity in Ebola’s wake | www.APHLblog.org– APHL, in collaboration with CDC Division of Global HIV/AIDS and the MOHS of Sierra Leone, will assist in the development and implementation of a National Laboratory Strategic Plan for the MOHS. APHL will conduct a range of activities to build capacity for testing at the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory and to develop a team of laboratory scientists who can conduct reference testing services and provide training to other laboratories in the MOHS network. A National Surveillance Strategic Plan will detail linkages between epidemiology and laboratory.

– APHL will support the laboratory science staff at the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory through training and mentoring in testing methods, quality systems, laboratory management and accreditation. APHL will expand staff knowledge and increase the number of staff at the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory in order to increase testing volume and the range of tests.

– APHL will work to strengthen laboratory management and move the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory towards accreditation. APHL will review the National Laboratory Strategic Plan to assess Sierra Leone accreditation goals, and work towards accreditation through training, mentoring and implementation of improvement projects.

 

 

Coop’s Scoop: Shark citizen science, on the next #CitSciChat

After the blockbuster movie Jaws, two silly things happened: kids started calling me Hooper (instead of Cooper) and I was afraid even in the deep end of a swimming pool. Logic can battle fear, but not necessarily win. Even though … Continue reading »

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Coop’s Scoop: Mind over Mainframe – next #CitSciChat discusses citizen science games

The next time you get into an argument with your laptop or shake a fist at your computer, try to refrain from calling it “a stupid machine.” That would be gloating. We really are more intelligent than our computers. Case … Continue reading »

The post Coop’s Scoop: Mind over Mainframe – next #CitSciChat discusses citizen science games appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Coop’s Citizen Sci Scoop: Bird watchers have themselves to thank (and here is why you should thank them too)

Like any parent, I get a lot of questions from my kids that only an encyclopedia could properly answer. I got away with being vague when they were young: “What plant is this?” they would ask, as if they were …

The post Coop’s Citizen Sci Scoop: Bird watchers have themselves to thank (and here is why you should thank them too) appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Coop’s Citizen Sci Scoop: Does citizen science get lost in translation?

View_from_Vespucci_by_Derya

I spent this week in Fiesole, Italy at the Vespucci Institute held at Fattoria di Maiano. I was vacationing helping facilitate a summer course about citizen science and VGI (which stands for Volunteered Geographic Information). With colleagues in …

The post Coop’s Citizen Sci Scoop: Does citizen science get lost in translation? appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Busy Gym Testing for TB

When the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) in Virginia put out a call for volunteers to help conduct a tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation, Rosalia Parada, a long time Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer, jumped at the chance to serve her community.  The investigation was sparked when news of three students from Robert E. Lee High School acquired TB around the same time.

As a nurse and a resident of the Lee High School community, Parada saw firsthand the need for care and support throughout her neighborhood.  With a variety of ethnic groups and languages, the community is very diverse, lending itself to some challenges during a public health response of this scope.  For example, many families living in the community were from Spanish-speaking backgrounds.  In the same situation herself, , Parada felt that volunteering was an opportunity to provide interpretation, as well as nursing services for the contact investigation – when contacts like teachers, other students, and people who interacted with the students would be tested for TB.  “Many people don’t have access to health care,” Parada expressed, adding to the need for proper communication about the situation through interpretation. 

In the second phase of the contact investigation, screening and testing was provided at many sites around the community, one of which was located at Lee High School.  During the second phase, Parada volunteered as a screener.  She gathered information, distributed learning materials about what to do if someone has TB, and provided encouragement to those with concerns.  Her skills as a nurse permitted Parada to assist with TB testing, such as performing tuberculin skin testing (TST)

Although Parada is a practicing nurse, this was the first time she was involved in a response of this size.  During screening and testing, Parada saw the importance of providing comfort and reassurance for families, making them aware and helping build their knowledge about TB and the broad size and scope of signing upthe investigation.  Parada also stressed community awareness about TB vaccinations as a preventive measure for acquiring TB – and making the community aware of the consequences of not being tested, especially for those who were in close contact with the students who had acquired the active TB disease.

Among the many projects that Parada worked on as an MRC volunteer and as a practicing certified nurse, she says the Lee High School TB contact investigation is the largest and most unique. Parada explained that the gymnasium was very well organized for the screening and testing process, as volunteers kept the flow of students steady.   As a mother of three boys who graduated from Lee High School, she understood the worry, questions, and concerns from parents whose children may have been exposed to TB; but as a volunteer nurse, she knew the importance of making parents aware by gathering and providing accurate, helpful information while still being able to ease their worry.

Parada was extremely encouraged by the involvement of the community during the TB response.  She said the  investigation was a great learning experience for her community.  It combined the responsibility of the health department, along with the school and community, to help make people aware of good public health practice.