Soraya Sutherlin, author of A Kids Book About Safety, and Simon Huck, JUDY cofounder, talk about how to prepare for emergencies by discussing safety tools and plans.
Soraya Sutherlin, author of A Kids Book About Safety, and Simon Huck, JUDY cofounder, talk about how to prepare for emergencies by discussing safety tools and plans.
A Kids Book About Safety (view book)
Full Book Description:
What would you do if an earthquake happened? How about a house fire? Or maybe a tornado? Emergency situations can be scary to think about, but we can feel confident and empowered in dangerous situations if we do one simple thing: be prepared! This book shows kids that by knowing what disasters could happen, and what to do if they occur, makes you ready and can even save lives.
About the Author:
Soraya Sutherlin is a Certified Emergency Manager with over 13 years of experience. She is a mother to 3 kids and works across the USA helping families, cities, and states better prepare for emergencies and disasters. She also works with JUDY, a leader in the emergency preparedness space, to help empower families with the knowledge and tools for disaster planning.
*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
S1 EP31, Soraya and Simon Talk About Safety
[INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is safety?
Jonah: Safety is when people, like… during a pandemic we’re being safe so that is safety. Like, staying away from hazards and stuff.
Julia: Safety is about, like, when you protect yourself.
Simon: To me, safety is making sure you do everything you can to prepare yourself for life's unexpected surprises.
Soraya: Safety is about having a plan on what you're going to do. If you find yourself in a situation that's unknown and familiar and might feel a little icky. And we talk about that icky feeling of not feeling safe inside. So what safety is really can change based on each individual or each circumstance, but it's about thinking through different types of situations.
And then also thinking about what you might do in those situations.
Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I’m Matthew. I’m a teacher, a librarian, and I’m your host. The voices you heard at the top of our show were from Jonah, Julia, Simon, and Soraya.
Each week we talk about the big things going on in your world with a different author from our A Kids Book About series. And today we have two guests joining us!
Simon: My name is Simon Huck. I am the cofounder of JUDY. And JUDY is an emergency preparedness brand that inspired this mission. And JUDY’s mission is to help families
and kids and everyone prepare for emergencies both big and small.
Soraya: Hi. My name is Soraya Sutherlin and I am the author of A Kids Book About Safety. I am a mom of three small children, but I'm also an emergency manager.
[TOPIC FOUNDATION]
Matthew: Safety is a topic you start learning about from your very first days in the world. The grownups in your life want to ensure your protection. They take steps to make sure the world around you is as safe as possible. But also that you know how to keep yourself safe.
And, as you can imagine, not every kid hears the same safety messages, or hears them in the same way. A Kids Book About Safety was written with that purpose in mind.
Soraya: This is a book about having hard conversations about the tough stuff that we don't want to talk about. And it's also about having those conversations about what we're going to do in situations that can be really scary sometimes. It's those conversations that are so important for us to be having now so that we are prepared when something bad does happen to respond in the right way.
Matthew: Have you ever been in an emergency situation? What did it feel like for you to experience that?
Simon: I have been involved in two minor car accidents and in both cases, I was not prepared. I had no idea who I was supposed to call. I didn't have my insurance card. And I learned in those instances that I needed to have a conversation with my parents and with my family and friends of what to do when I'm in an emergency.
Being in an emergency, like a car accident, even though it was minor. was really scary.
Soraya: Yeah, I live in California and we have earthquakes. And so I remember as a child being at my house, and it was early in the morning and there was a big earthquake and I remember feeling terrified and scared. Primarily because in schools they had taught us what to do, and we had practiced what to do.
However, when things that are happening around us, like the house, moving, everything, shaking, it's the unknown of what's going to happen and how long it's going to last. And you see the fear and the reaction of your parents, who you look to. I look to my parents for a signal to say, “It's going to be okay.” And when I see fear in their faces, that's really where it gets scary and really where it was scary for me.
And I'll never forget to this day where I was, what I did, the time of day, even the direction of the blinds when it happened. It imprints it's fear and it truly imprinted in my brain, um, and really is impacted now how I respond, even when earthquakes happen again.
Matthew: I’ve mentioned before that, prior to working at A Kids Company About, I was a teacher, an elementary school librarian. We held a lot of emergency drills throughout the year for all sorts of different scenarios including fire, earthquake, hurricane, and lockdown.
These drills are meant to help train and protect us, but they can also be a little scary. That’s not anyone’s intention, but it’s what happens when our brain and our body start to put us into protective mode.
Soraya: Absolutely. And it's important to recognize that that's an appropriate level of reaction, right? It's okay to feel afraid.
And it's okay to talk about why we feel afraid too. And so what happens normally when we're presented with circumstances that are beyond our normal realm, right? It's not what we're used to. It's not normal. Our natural reactions. And this is where the brain takes over and we go into this fight or flight mode, right.
That's what they call it. And we like to talk about, we add another level to this it's fight, flight, or freeze. And so you will respond in one of those capacities based on past experiences, based on how quickly your brain can process what's happening, and then how you then process that and take it into action.
So feeling afraid is completely normal feeling. It's important to recognize that feeling and know that it's okay. And that's an important component.
Matthew: What does feeling safe feel like to you? Give yourself space to acknowledge that you may have lots of different feelings about it depending on where you are in the emergency, who is with you, and what happens.
While you think about your response, notice how these responses differ. What does feeling safe feel like to you?
Julia: Like protecting my babydolls. Like just being with my family and being together.
Jonah: When you feel safe your heartbeat is normal.
Simon: It's all about being prepared, the same way that I feel when I prepare for a big job interview or a podcast like this, or a big test at school. Feeling safe is being prepared and making sure I'm having all those tough conversations before I need to have them.
Soraya: It's not about feeling safe. It's about being safe and there's two differenced, 'cause we can feel all sorts of things, but to actually be safe is very different than just feeling that you're safe, because feelings come and go, right. And being safe is actually taking the steps and actions to then have a certain outcome.
Whereas feeling is an emotion based on your perspective to a situation. So we talk about that a lot, um, because I do a lot of work with schools and part, you don't have to keep this, but I do a lot of school works with schools and a lot of people think they're safe because they feel safe, but it's not about feeling safe.
It's actually about being safe by following the steps to get there.
Matthew: Given all the ways you could or should react to certain situations, here are two safety guidelines to put at the top of your list, plus something you can put in place right now to help ensure your safety and the safety of others around you.
Soraya: Remain calm. And it's really hard cause sometimes kids can't regulate your emotions in that way. So I always tell, especially with my kids, I say, “Just remember to breathe, because just being able to get a hold of your breathing can help you think more clearly.”
The other piece is look for people, trusted community partners, helpers in your community. If you don't know what to do. Look for the helpers. Look for the people that we trust, police officers, firefighters, you know, doctors, nurses, people that we trust in our community. And that can look different for everyone, but having those conversations of how do I get help, right. If I need help and I don't know what to do because I'm separated from my parent, how do I get help?
Simon: The biggest takeaway for me in an emergency is to listen to authorities. Is that first responders? Is that a police officer? Is that a firefighter? If they are telling you that you must evacuate or leave your home or your school, make sure you listen to them. It is so critically important that we listen to the advice and the recommendations of our first responders.
The most important and free thing you can do to prepare yourself for an emergency is make a plan.
And what does that mean? Make a plan. “Make a plan” means sit down with your friends and family and talk about all the things that you're vulnerable to at your home at your school, at your office. Are you living in an area where you're near wildfires? Are you living in an area where you're close to water, where there could be flooding, have those important conversations and learn about all the things you need to know in the event that an emergency does happen.
Matthew: We’ll be back in a minute with more from Simon Huck and Soraya Sutherlin. Right after this quick break.
[BREAK]
Matthew: Welcome back to A Kids Book About: The Podcast. On today’s episode we’re talking about safety with A Kids Book About author with Soraya Sutherlin and JUDY cofounder, Simon Huck.
Here’s Simon with a quick word on the name of their company.
Simon: Judy is an emergency preparedness brand that provides all of the information and the physical products to prepare for life's unexpected emergencies, both big and small. So our Judy offers a variety of emergency kits that come with. Power and first aid and comfort and safety and all the different things that you may need in the event of an emergency.
Judy is not our grandmother. We do not know her. Judy is a name that we thought everyone would remember, and we all feel like there's a Judy in our life, who's super prepared.
Simon: We set out three years ago when we launched Judy to really do whatever we could to get people to pay attention to the importance of being prepared for emergency. And the book is such a beautiful way to get new people, young people engaged in, in the mission.
So, um, that's how it happened. And we're so excited about the book and we think that this is going to just help families talk to their kids about emergencies in a way that's really easy and, and exciting.
Matthew: So much of what we are talking about today comes down to practicing and remembering. There’s a terrific quote relating to this in A Kids Book About Safety.
It goes, “it may feel silly pretending to get out of your house or to stop, drop and roll when the house isn't on fire. But when you practice, you prepare your body and mind to be ready to act in an emergency. Practicing improves your ability to respond to emergency situations. Just like how practice helps improve your learning in school or your skills on a sports team or in band or anything."
Soraya: Yes. This is why we practice these things in school. And that's why it's so important to practice because it becomes second nature. And then we don't have to think about it. We just react and we respond. And sometimes it's a split second of a decision that can make all the difference in the world, in the world.
So by practicing, doing the earthquake drills at school, fire departments teach children, stop, drop, and roll if your clothes are on fire. These are all important life-saving tips that when we practice them, we get good at them. And we remember them when we get in these scary situations that we can't use all the parts of our brain to think, to be able to respond.
Matthew: Our listener question today comes from Julia in Maryland, who first offered up these great safety tips:
Julia: If there’s a fire you stop, drop, roll.
Just get out of the house and call the firemens.
If there’s a tornado, then you go into the basement and stay until the tornado’s away.
Matthew: And then asked this question:
Julia: How can I be safe in my house?
Soraya: That's such a good question.
And it's a common question a lot of children have. And the first thing I would say, when you talk about being safe in your house, sit down with your parents and talk about things that might be unsafe in your house and identify things that might hurt you. And that's where, when we talk about safety, what essentially is in your house that might cause you to get hurt.
And so we talk about things that might be fall on you, or we very, something very simple that children all understand and know are smoke detectors, right? We can be safe by having working smoke detectors in our house. And why does that help us become safe? Because that's an early warning system, if there's a fire, that it's going to alert us, that there's something dangerous going on and that we need to then respond to that.
And then also giving children the tools to be that be able to then overcome that fear by giving them things to do. Showing them how to be safe. So bookshelves for example are another great one. Their bookshelves are really easy to fall over, not just in earthquakes, but children are very common. I know when I had little kids, all they wanted to do was climb bookshelves.
I don't know why, but those are things that can fall on top of you and they can hurt your body. Right. And so by bolting them to the wall, right. Just securing them to the wall now makes that situation more safe and, and won't hurt you or hurt me if I'm next to a bookshelf during an earthquake, or my three-year-old is trying to scale the wall and climb the bookshelf.
So having those conversations, um, and identifying things that might be unsafe and then giving them tools to then overcome.
Matthew: We hope this book finds its way to you, listeners. We hope it finds a place in your home or at your school or at your library or just where it needs to be to serve as a tool for helping you and others know how to prepare for an emergency and how to be safe.
Soraya: It's a resource that just doesn't exist. And when I say that so many parents and so many children that I know, and that I've worked with, don't know how to have these crucial conversations. And the book is really a resource for families to have conversations to bring up tough stuff and it gives parents, it enables them to bring those conversations to the surface and then gives them the tools to address them with their children in a way that doesn't make them feel scared.
And I think that's a huge part to this, is that we want to talk about this because talking about emergencies, talking about diseases, talking about the scary stuff now is what will save lives later because children will then not be so afraid in circumstances or situations when they feel that they've had that conversation, and they have tools when we talk about tools in the book, but when they have tools to overcome that really scary stuff, because the reality is, is this stuff is out there. And we hope it never happens to you and your family or you as a child, but it might. And we need to have that conversation now, so that you can feel as a family, as a child, as an individual, as prepared as you can be to face that situation with confidence.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Simon Huck, cofounder of JUDY, and to Soraya Sutherlin, author of A Kids Book About Safety, for joining us today. You can learn more about this book and others like it by visiting akidsco.com. And thank you to Jonah and Julia for adding your voices to the show.
Jonah: Hi. My name is Jonah and I’m 11 years old. I live in Maryland and my favorite thing is Fortnite.
Julia: My name is Julia and I live in Maryland. And I’m 6. My favorite thing is to play is babydolls.
Matthew: If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: the Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner, with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
Join us next week for a conversation about your microbiome with A Kids Book About author and SEED cofounder Ara Katz.