I often worry if my children are prepared to handle an emergency and even realize the hazards and risks they face. We recently took the free course provided by Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) at Calgary.ca/readysquad and in just 20 minutes learned many important lessons such as knowing the risks in Calgary, potential hazards and taking steps in how to prepare for an emergency.
I liked how this is a community preparedness program and concentrates on risks at both home and the school.
We took the course at home on our laptop. The children liked it so much, they wanted to do it again! The content is designed to educate and empower children but also to engage them with fun animations and relatable characters. My children were attentive and interested throughout the course.
The children are encouraged to become part of the Ready Course by completing the course. There are Squad Goals that are actionable items for the children. We also enjoyed the quizzes at the end of each section.
We covered many topics in the course including tornadoes, floods, power outages, snow storms etc specific to Calgary.
One of the most favorite parts for the children was putting together a 72-hour emergency kit. They loved the interactive learning of picking items and dropping them in the backup. The commentary in the course is humorous, which kept the children entertained especially at their mistakes.
The best part is that you get a certificate in the end for becoming part of the Ready Squad.
We highly recommend this 20-minutes course to all Calgary families so that they become better educated about the various risks in Calgary, how to deal with them and also encourage conversations around this extremely important topic.
You can take this free course here Calgary.ca/readysquad
Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by City of Calgary. All opinions are my own.