Emergency Preparedness training - post

Natural and human-caused disasters can occur with little warning. Because young children depend on adults for protection, child care providers need procedures they can carry out while supervising a group. A written emergency plan helps staff make decisions before a crisis, clarify responsibilities, and practice how to protect children during an emergency. Emergency preparedness training Buy Now $55.00 offers tools that can help you and your program with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. For a Maryland-specific six-hour Zoom option, see Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Buy Now $60.00; confirm with the Office of Child Care or your licensing specialist that it applies to your role and program before relying on it for compliance. 

Maryland child care programs should confirm current emergency preparedness training and planning requirements with the Maryland State Department of Education’s Office of Child Care, since requirements may depend on program type and role. Read whether Maryland providers need to retake emergency preparedness training for related discussion, and verify current requirements with the agency. ChildCareEd offers Emergency and Disaster Preparedness training Buy Now $55.00. The course description presents it as training for child care providers; verify with the Office of Child Care or your licensing specialist whether this specific course meets the requirement that applies to your program. For course-content context, see what emergency preparedness training covers. Training can support planning, but each program must develop, communicate, and maintain its own procedures.

What should a child care emergency plan include?

Write procedures that staff can follow quickly, including who makes decisions, how children will be accounted for, and how the program will communicate with families. Address the emergencies most relevant to the site, such as fire, severe weather, utility failures, hazardous materials nearby, or an unsafe person. Identify the primary and alternate evacuation routes, shelter locations, and a relocation destination. Note how to adapt each procedure for infants, children with disabilities, and children who need medication, mobility assistance, or communication support.

Keep a current roster and emergency contacts accessible to authorized staff. Set a reunification process: choose who may pick up each child, decide how identity will be confirmed, and establish how families will learn where to meet. Assign staff roles for leading children, bringing attendance and emergency records, checking rooms when safe, and contacting emergency services. Provide a backup for each critical role so the plan remains workable when staffing changes.

How can providers prepare supplies and important records?

Maintain supplies that match the children’s ages, the program’s location, and the likely time away from the building. A portable kit may include drinking water, shelf-stable food, first-aid supplies, a flashlight, batteries, a charged communication device, basic sanitation items, and comfort items. Include child-specific necessities such as medication, allergy information, assistive devices, and relevant care instructions, following families’ authorizations and the program’s policies. Check expiration dates and replenish items after use.

Store rosters, emergency contacts, release information, and essential health details so staff can retrieve them during an evacuation while protecting confidentiality. Keep copies or secure backups in a location staff can reach if the building is inaccessible. For an additional form to help organize health and emergency details, see the Allergy & Emergency Information Form Buy Now $1.50.

How should staff practice evacuation, shelter, and communication procedures?

Train staff on the plan before an emergency and whenever procedures or staffing change. Practice the actions staff may need to take, including moving children to a designated safe location, sheltering indoors, and following the program’s procedure for securing the space when an external threat requires it. Drills should be developmentally appropriate: explain what is happening in calm, concrete terms, account for every child, and observe whether routes, equipment, and staff assignments work in practice.

After each exercise or real event, document what occurred, identify barriers, and revise the plan. Check that all staff know how to contact emergency services, notify families, and use the program’s reunification process. FEMA describes training options and course formats for people seeking emergency-preparedness education; see its preparedness training information. Training can support staff readiness, but it does not replace a program-specific plan or determine whether a course satisfies Maryland requirements.

For practical response scenarios, read how providers can choose between evacuation, sheltering, and lockdown and how to run fire and weather drills with young children. Programs can also review core emergency preparedness needs and steps for building an emergency response plan.

How can Maryland providers check applicable requirements?

Turn the plan into a routine that staff can use, not just a document kept in a file. Designate a person to review contact lists, authorized pickup information, medication details, and emergency supplies whenever relevant information changes. At staff onboarding, walk through the plan, identify each person’s primary and backup responsibilities, and show where portable records and supplies are stored. Make sure substitutes and newly assigned staff know how to account for children and contact the person coordinating the response.

During each drill, record the date, scenario, staff and children present, time needed to reach safety, and any barrier observed, such as an inaccessible route or missing item. Use those observations to assign follow-up actions, set a review date, and update the written plan when the building, enrollment, staffing, or children’s support needs change. Share relevant updates with families and explain how reunification communication will work. These steps help connect planning, practice, and revision while keeping procedures usable for the people who must carry them out.

How can Maryland providers check applicable requirements?

Maryland requirements may vary by program type, role, and applicable licensing rules. Confirm current emergency planning, training, and documentation requirements with the Maryland State Department of Education’s Office of Child Care or the program’s licensing specialist. Do not assume that a general preparedness course is approved for a particular requirement: verify the specific course, provider, and eligibility conditions with the agency before relying on it. For related Maryland guidance, see what Maryland programs should have, practice, and document.

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe disasters and their possible effects.
• Identify ways to prepare for emergencies.
• Identify elements of an emergency preparedness plan.
• Identify emergency documentation.
• List supplies for a disaster kit.
• Explain additional provisions for children with disabilities or other support needs.
• Develop an emergency preparedness plan.

Summary: How can a program stay prepared?

Prepare before an emergency occurs: maintain a written plan, accessible records and supplies, assigned staff roles, and a clear family reunification process. Practice procedures, document what needs improvement, and confirm Maryland-specific requirements with the Office of Child Care or a licensing specialist. Emergency preparedness training can support staff learning, but each program must develop, communicate, and maintain procedures suited to its children and setting. #Safety #Planning #Preparedness #Training #ChildCare