Case Study: Echoes of the Storm in Maplewood

Let’s pretend: You’re a member of Maplewood’s community emergency response team, you’ve witnessed firsthand the aftermath of your town’s relentless seasonal storms. Last year’s unexpected straight-line windstorms pressed the team into using the local school’s vast basketball courts as an emergency shelter. With their high ceilings and hard surfaces, the room’s acoustics magnified every sound, from the storm’s howl outside to the community’s anxious whispers within. The space, while safe, became a cacophony of echoes that seemed to amplify the storm’s ferocity.

In the weeks following the sheltering, parents shared concerns about their children’s heightened sensitivity to noise. Kids who had weathered the storm with us were now uneasy about attending events in the same space, reacting nervously to the echoes that once mingled with the sound of the tempest. This has pushed the community to rethink how we can better serve our youngest and most vulnerable residents in times of crisis.

Our team is now tasked with developing a more thoughtful approach to sheltering, especially for children. How can we transform our necessary but daunting shelter spaces into comforting havens during emergencies? What measures can we take to minimize the trauma associated with these loud, echoing environments? How do we balance the practical realities of emergency management with the psychological comfort of those we’re sworn to protect?

These are the overlooked spaces of disaster response. The spaces of comfort that is most often left to local, nonprofit groups that try to bridge the gap between the cold, but effective response of large NGO, state, and federal resources with the efficient community wellness resources of local culture, authentic security, and feelings of safety. For so many local sheltering programs, making it personal is what they do best and it’s these human factor solutions that mitigate the aftermath of disaster in those who have experienced it. Let’s look at some important factors that would affect our plans in Maplewood and our soon-to-be trauma informed sheltering program.

Reducing Stress and Trauma in the Sheltering Process

Creating a safe space in a disaster shelter that minimizes trauma for children and families involves a careful consideration of environmental, psychological, and community factors. Here are some evidenced based things to consider:

1. Noise Reduction and Control: Implementing ways to reduce and control noise should be a priority. Consider setting up separate zones within the shelter, with clearly designated quiet areas where children and families can retreat from the chaos. Providing headphones or earplugs might also be an inexpensive solution to help those particularly sensitive to loud sounds.
2. Imaginative and Playful Spaces: Encourage imaginative play, which can help children cope with trauma and stress. Simple art supplies, storybooks, and toys that encourage creative expression can significantly help.
3. Comforting and Familiar Decor: Decorate the space with colorful, cheerful, and familiar items to make it feel less like a temporary shelter and more like a welcoming environment. Comfort items like cushions, blankets, and familiar playful objects can ease anxiety.
4. Routine and Structured Activities: Maintain a structured schedule that includes regular activities, such as group games, story-telling sessions, or art and craft activities, which can provide a sense of normalcy and security in chaotic times. When activities are not happening, create “Quiet Time” activities and encourage the closed mouths—open imaginations process.
5. Parental Involvement and Support: When sheltering for days, engage parents in the planning and operation of activities. Offering workshops or discussions on stress coping mechanisms tailored for disaster scenarios can empower parents and caregivers, reducing their stress and, by extension, the stress of the children. Providing parents with tools to take home with them provides a sense of empowerment and agency.
6. Training for Volunteers and Staff: Ensure that volunteers and staff are trained not only in emergency procedures but also in psychological first aid and child-friendly practices. Understanding the signs of stress and trauma in children and the basics of supportive communication is essential. See references for tools and resources in emotional first aid.
7. Evaluation and Feedback Mechanisms: Set up mechanisms to receive feedback from children and families on what is working and what isn’t. Adjust the setup and activities based on this feedback to better meet the needs of the shelter occupants. Our References will provide more resources to set up an After-Action Reporting process.
8. Collaboration with Experts: Collaborate with child psychologists, local child welfare agencies, and educational professionals to design and review the safe space setup and activities. Their expertise can be invaluable in creating an environment that effectively supports the psychological well-being of children and their families. Local professionals will want to help, invite them into committee meetings to discuss plans and use them to fundraise.

You Are Maplewood

Imagine you’re a member of a community emergency response team in Maplewood. You’re tasked with enhancing the shelter experience for children and families after noticing the previous shelter’s loud environment had a profound impact on the kids. Here’s how you might approach the challenge:

You know you need to create a calmer, more engaging environment for the children. What happens when you go to the local school and ask administrators and teachers for help in building a creative space? You may get the approval to gather books, crayons, markers, and paper — essential tools for an ‘imaginarium’ where kids can express themselves and escape the chaos. By fostering a space for creativity, you leverage the therapeutic benefits of art and storytelling, which have been shown to help children cope with stress in disaster situations. Maybe you get the local High School distributive education program teacher to help provide students to read books and help give out snacks.

Next, you recognize the importance of having professional emotional support available, not just for the children but for their families too. What if you reached out to your local mental health resources? Enlisting the help of two local social workers, you set up workshops and support groups that could be integral during sheltering. These professionals could help families develop resilience strategies, essential for enduring and recovering from disaster stress.

Additionally, you strike up a conversation with a local carpet installer on your way to a meeting about shelters and secure a donation of two large carpets, which you use to designate two quiet rooms at the shelter. One becomes a themed playroom — a Pirate-inspired space that not only entertains but also provides a magical escape from reality. This kind of themed environment can significantly lighten the atmosphere, making the shelter feel less like a crisis center and more like a retreat.

Local businesses contribute as well. You get donated folding benches from a hotdog stand when you read about their upgrades in the local news. You tap the local ecumenical council to create a comfort community room with donated blankets and pillows; now the shelter becomes more than just a place to stay — it transforms into a community-driven support hub. High school students get involved too, organizing annual food drives to keep the children’s shelter stocked with comfort snacks, the leftovers of which are donated to the local homeless shelter.

By taking these steps, you not only address the immediate needs of sheltering during a disaster but also build a lasting infrastructure that promotes resilience and community spirit. What could happen next as you continue to develop this initiative, supported by the community’s collaborative spirit?

Something to Take With You

What would it cost? 30×30 Room. 960sqft of Wall, Lots of floor space. You’re on a small-town budget of “Yeah, why don’t you buy the supplies, and we will reimburse you.” No problems! You’ve got the school doing supplies, snacks, blankets, pillows, tables, and carpets thanks to that random encounter. (Bragging about your work gets you stuff!)

Imagine yourself a set designer, what are you going to do with those walls? What’s your theme? If you are going to inspire kids, maybe start by inspiring yourself. I’ll start. What about Pirates? I’m on Cape Cod and we’ve had our share of Pirates, and we even have our own Pirate Ship, The Whydah. Go on Amazon, Walmart, or any other online cheap store retailer and they will have wall tapestries. Currently they go for about $10-20 per.

Imagine your pirate ship in a room. A part could be outside at the wheel sailing the ocean, another in the captain’s room, or maybe the Map Room where kids can chart their next adventure. Get LED changing lights for flexibility. This storm’s pirate ship can turn into next year’s Hogwarts, and you never know when you’ll need purple lights instead of pink. Simulated wood tablecloths come very inexpensive and often are hardy enough to be reused. Turn industrial tables into themed banquets and grand halls.

Faith-based organizations are a great source of finding random things. Look around and maybe you can find old plated silver or objects of kitschy art to use as bowls for snacks and set pieces at the local thrifts. When everyone in town is looking for you, the project will end up with more than it needs. Local churches often are packed with people who are looking for something good to do and building stored resources of resiliency is a great task for these places. If not, just about anything will do with enough imagination.

Then set up a Bluetooth speaker and play 8 hours of Pirates of the Carribean ambience music. There are so many great free resources on the internet for ambience, including long loops of Harry Potter fairy music, the sounds of a pirate ship deck, factories, and all that. You can really let your imagination run wild. Create hide and seek games, pirate treasure maps, play a movie and share some foamy libations in creative cups. While the world will give you reasons to go all out, most of us kids use our imaginations and a self-decorated solo cup. Some weird color changing Kool-Aid and sprite will do fine when you add a sea shanty while serving.

When you make a safe space for kids to fall into their creativity and imagination, you can help mitigate some of the impacts of trauma in disaster by helping them build their own resiliency. In Maplewood, perhaps the kids believe they went through Pirate training instead of sheltering from the storm. Small towns can provide creative and authentic human factors work that makes the real difference to local resiliency. You can do it and on the cheap, it just takes some imagination. If you are interested in local emergency response and resiliency work, visit FEMA’s CERT webpage and find a local team. If one’s not available, consider yourself for the job. The world needs more volunteers.

One last thing! Don’t forget to document everything. Make a list of your supplies, box them for storage and access. Provide some direction to the person who opens these Disaster Response totes. When you write the notation, pretend as if they have no idea what to do. As somebody who has been thrown into work without any idea of what to do, there is something comforting about a letter tucked into the top of a tote stating its purpose, how to use it, and what is inside the box. Do your due diligence and your program will be run every time, with or without you at the shelter. Do not get into the trap of building a program that ends up failing after you move on, do things with a long view perspective. Most importantly, have some fun.

References

Giamo Forti (Director). (2020, July 30). Pirates of the Caribbean Ride Queue Ambience (Loop). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sEKIrjDeo8

Haen, C. (2020). The Roles of Metaphor and Imagination in Child Trauma Treatment. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 19(1), 42–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2020.1717171

Disaster Preparedness Toolkit. (n.d.). CIP/CITAP. Retrieved April 30, 2024, from https://preptoolkit.fema.gov/web/cip-citap

Join CERT | FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2024, from https://community.fema.gov/PreparednessCommunity/s/welcome-to-cert?language=en_US

Keeping, S. (2018, November 21). 31 Fun Drinks To Serve At Children’s Parties (Non-alcohol). Spaceships and Laser Beams. https://spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/10-fun-drinks-to-serve-at-childrens-parties-non-alcohol-drink-id/

Lai, B. S., Osborne, M. C., Lee, N., Self-Brown, S., Esnard, A.-M., & Kelley, M. L. (2018). Trauma-informed schools: Child disaster exposure, community violence and somatic symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 238, 586–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.05.062

Magnuson, C. D., & Barnett, L. A. (2013). The Playful Advantage: How Playfulness Enhances Coping with Stress. Leisure Sciences, 35(2), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2013.761905

nctsnadmin. (2018, March 5). Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Operations Guide: 2nd Edition [Text]. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. https://www.nctsn.org/resources/psychological-first-aid-pfa-field-operations-guide-2nd-edition

Parker, C., Kennedy-Behr, A., Wright, S., & Brown, T. (2023). Does the self-reported playfulness of older adults influence their wellbeing? An exploratory study. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 30(1), 86–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2022.2145993

Rubinstein, D., Lahad, M., Leykin, D., & Aharonson-Daniel, L. (2021). Development and Validation of Fantastic Reality Ability Measurement (FRAME) to Measure Use of Imagination in Response to Stress and Trauma. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 16(4), 412–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2020.1789017

Rubinstein, D., O’Rourke, N., & Lahad, M. (2023). Using imagination in response to stress and uncertainty in the time of COVID-19: Further validation of the Fantastic Reality Ability Measurement (FRAME) Scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1115233. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1115233