Nourishing Resilience # 9 – Homework

Session 9 – Homework Summary

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1. Review Handouts

New marks a handout you have not seen before; Shared earlier means it appeared in an earlier session.

2. Start or continue looking for your State/Local Core Response Team

If your area’s emergency preparedness team does not currently include IYCF-E, OR if they would need support from infant feeding specialists (tip – nearly all will need support), find your tentative core team.

Explore who might be willing to be part of this core group if/when an emergency occurs. Look to your local breastfeeding coalition, birth network, lactation professional organizations, or other groups of perinatal professionals. A great place to connect is other people in your state who are registered for this training series (ask us!), and our quarterly S3C meetings.

• Make a list of some potential people and reach out to them. Let us know if you want to connect with other trainees in your state.
• Find out who is willing to consider it. Help them know what this would involve. They do NOT need to commit at this time. 
• Ensure that you trade contact info and store it in your phone contacts AND somewhere you could access another way.
• Include phone number and physical address as well as email and any socials you could contact them through.

3. With your potential Core Team, discuss how you would approach an emerging event, initial communication, and scope.

During blue sky times (before an emergency occurs), start making some plans about what you would do. Understand that these plans are likely to change, especially if a major disaster were to happen. Reviewing the Supporting Clients in IYCF-E After a Disaster for Small Orgs & Individuals document before your discussion may be helpful.

Together, discuss:

• What emergencies are likely to come up in your area? Which would you possibly want to take action on?
• What actions would you want to take if there is an incident approaching or one that occurred?
• What scope of response you would probably be willing to do if/when an incident were to occur?
• Who will begin to develop relationships with the local emergency planning committee or emergency planner, healthcare coalition, state VOAD, or ongoing support organizations.
• How you will organize information now so it will be ready when needed. You can make copies of our spreadsheet templates and set up a shared Google Drive or OneDrive folder.
• How would you connect after an incident? Do you want to set up a potential meeting location? (See session 8 homework for more considerations)
• What organizations you can partner with for distributing educational information before incidents, teaching others, and getting volunteers if needed. 
• Will you operate as a group of individuals or under the umbrella of one of the above existing organizations?

Remember – you can always revisit the recordings of this training series, or reach out to us at 828-809-3301 or safe@infantfeeding.org to discuss your training & support needs.

4. Find and connect with your county emergency planning manager or group, local healthcare coalition, and your state VOAD

Having friendly contacts before an emergency makes an enormous difference. It can take time to find the right people and connect with them.  If you have not already done so, reach out to local and state organizations that handle disaster response in your area. See the Resource List Guide for IYCF-E Connections file for questions to ask and more tips.

5. Complete the Evaluation

Handouts, Links & Resources

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