Build an emergency kit

Summary

Students will be challenged to create a 3-day emergency kit as they learn about how Canadian Armed Forces Veterans have helped Canadians respond to natural disasters.

An optional extension activity expands discussion to include Canada’s Cold War history as students consider what supplies would be needed to keep their entire class safe in a Cold War bunker for 30 days.

Objectives

Through this activity, students will:

• consider what it means to be prepared for an emergency;
• learn about how Canadian Armed Forces Veterans have helped Canadians respond to natural disasters;
• explore historical military efforts to keep Canadians safe during the Cold War.

Materials

You will need these supplies, files or resources to complete this lesson:

Handouts/Downloadable files

• Be prepared for natural disasters in Canada (PowerPoint)
• Canadian Red Cross instructions on how to build an emergency kit

Optional - Consider filling your own backpack with some or all the items described by the Red Cross.

Lesson: Build an emergency kit

Introduction (20 minutes)

Ask your class what they know about natural disasters.

• Have they been impacted by nature’s forces?
• Can they think of any recent natural disasters that have affected Canadians, such as wildfires, floods, snowstorms or hurricanes?
• When a natural disaster strikes, whose job is it to prepare?
• Who is involved in keeping people safe during the event?
• Who is responsible for helping with recovery or clean-up efforts?

Discuss how different natural disasters may affect various groups in a community (e.g., seniors, the homeless, those in remote communities, people with children or pets, farmers, businesses, etc.).

As students discuss who is responsible for helping with recovery or clean-up efforts, encourage them to think beyond first responders like police, fire and medical personnel. They should also consider the roles municipal, provincial and federal departments play.

Lead the discussion to ensure that the role of the Canadian military is considered.

Presentation (10 minutes)

Show the presentation Be prepared for natural disasters. This slideshow explores how Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces have helped Canadians respond to natural disasters that have hit our country in the past. In particular, students will learn about the Great Ice Storm of 1998. This major event required a massive response from the Canadian Armed Forces. More than 15,000 CAF members took part in Operation Recuperation, helping people living in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick in January 1998.

Today, the Canadian Armed Forces’ ongoing efforts to ensure they are ready to respond to natural disasters is called Operation Lentus.

Activity (15 minutes)

Be prepared! Learn what to include in an emergency kit

Remind students that preparing for or responding to a natural disaster is about everyone doing their part—including each of us!

The Public Health Agency of Canada encourages every Canadian to be prepared for a period of 72 hours in case of an emergency. Making an emergency kit is one way to do this. Food, clothes, medication… what would you need to survive for three days if a natural disaster strikes and you are isolated?

Here are a few questions to get the conversation started

• How much water does a person need to drink in 72 hours?
• What foods are nutrient rich, light to carry and won’t spoil?
• What will we need if there is no power?
• How will we stay warm or dry?
• How will we receive local news and emergency instructions?
• What documents might we need?
• What supplies do our pets need?

Create an example bag

Make the discussion more tangible with the help of a real backpack filled with supplies. To create your example bag, check these excellent resources:

• Public Health Agency of Canada – suggestions for making an emergency kit
• Canadian Red Cross – emergency kit checklist.

For deeper learning you could add some “unimportant items” to your bag

For example:

• foods like fresh meat or fresh fruits,
• a video game console, or
• a collection of hockey cards.

Have your class debate the importance of these items. Although there are not necessarily wrong answers, ask the class to consider that an emergency bag must be easy to carry and could be stored for weeks or months before being used.

Wrap-up (5-10 minutes)

End the lesson by asking students to consider the important role each of us plays in responding to emergencies. Being prepared is one way that we can contribute as individuals.

Thank a Veteran

It’s always the right time to say thank you.

If your community has received assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces to respond to a disaster, consider as a class how you can show your gratitude.

You could:

• ask a Veteran to talk to your class about their experience as a guest speaker,
• host an appreciation event,
• invite Veterans to your school’s Remembrance Day ceremony, or
• order free recognition cards to send personal messages of thanks to Veterans you know.

Prepare for a 30-day stay in a bunker

Expand discussion to include Canada’s Cold War history. Ask students to consider what supplies would be needed to keep their entire class safe in a “Diefenbunker” for 30 days.

The Diefenbunkers

Explain to students that, after the Second World War, tensions grew between western countries and the Soviet Union. Fear of nuclear war grew and many countries and citizens built underground bunkers for protection. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Government of Canada built a series of more than 50 nuclear fallout shelters across the country. The largest were nicknamed “Diefenbunkers” after Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, who authorized their construction.

Most of the bunkers were two-story underground shelters built in rural locations. The largest bunker in Canada was built near Ottawa. It was able to house up to 535 key government and military officials — including the Governor General, the Prime Minister and members of Cabinet — for a 30-day lockdown period. In the event of a nuclear attack on Canada, the bunker would allow the government to operate safely underground in order to assist with the governance and rebuilding of the country.

Challenge your class to plan for a 30-day stay in a Diefenbunker!

The Canadian Armed Forces was responsible for making sure that Canada’s fallout shelters were stocked and ready for action. Imagine that you’re in charge of planning to keep your class alive, healthy and connected with the outside world for 30 days. Here are a few challenges students can wrestle with:

• You need to feed yourselves. How much food and water will your class need to survive for 30 days? What modern technologies can help you preserve or grow food and recycle water? If you had to bring in all of your food in advance, what would you order (remember that it may have to be stored in the bunker for months or years in advance!)?
• Staying healthy means staying clean. You’ll need toiletries like toothpaste, toilet paper, and soap to clean yourself and your clothes. How will you handle dishes? How will you divide cleaning duties?
• There is limited space. Assign everyone a suitcase size and challenge yourself to choose what items you will bring to the shelter if you only have this one bag.
• You have no Internet. Computers can talk to each other within the bunker but you can’t reach the outside world and cell service is down. How will you stay connected?
• Power supplies are limited. You have a generator for power, but it’s not unlimited. What are the most important pieces of equipment to keep running? How will you entertain yourselves? How will you resolve conflicts?
• Make a list of all of the items you need to order for your bunker. How much money would it cost to buy everything on your list?

Logistics and planning are challenging but very important jobs in the military. The saying goes that an army marches on its stomach!