This article was originally published in the April 8 print issue.
You don’t need to be in the middle of the woods or in active danger to learn about survival or hear a helpful PSA. Students from the Disaster and Emergency Management program created a broadcast that brings emergency preparation awareness to NAIT’s campus, encouraging students to think about what to do in case of an emergency.
Mathieu Martel, Dustin Bradford, Susan Ellwood, Isabelle Banks and Kayla Klatt were approached by their instructor about taking on an extra project during their studies to create messaging that helps students be prepared in an emergency.
“If we get people to start thinking about disasters and thinking about how they can be prepared, it actually puts preparedness onto them and gives them agency to make it happen,” said Martel. “Sometimes it snows more than it should or rains more than it should. It’s not just about the terrorist attack or hurricanes or things like that.”
Both Martel and Klatt came to NAIT with experience in disaster management from different sides. Klatt worked with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency during the 2016 wildfires in Fort MacMurray.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martel used his experience with 3D printing to make face shields to distribute to hospitals. He got to sit on logistics calls between the Quebec Nurse Association and other stakeholders, which ignited his passion for the field.
“If we get people to start thinking about disasters and thinking about how they can be prepared, it actually puts preparedness onto them and gives them agency to make it happen.”
With this project, the students wanted to spread their message as much as possible through different methods. Martel and Klatt were tasked with a radio broadcast, while Ellwood and Banks decided on a radio interview. The students paired with the Media Communications and Production program to produce and play their broadcasts on NR92, the campus station.
Klatt and Martel’s messaging encourages listeners to create a 72-hour go-kit, posing the question, “If you only had 60 seconds to evacuate your home, what would you grab?”
The commercial lists items to include, like key documents, medicine, food and other short-term necessities.
“Quite often it’s looked at as people think that it won’t happen to them or won’t happen in their community. But for such a small preparedness measure … just a 72-hour prepared kit, that will save them immensely in the long run and in the short term after an emergency,” said Klatt.
“The main thing is also [for] people to stop being idle in the face of those potential threats and actually give them back agencies,” added Martel.
The students aim to explore other options for sharing their messaging, including social media or infographics. They also hope to make it an annual project — current members will share recommendations on how to keep it going and what messaging they may want to share.
Feature image via Canva
