ACEs and disaster exposure

Hi

 My name is Kenneth Bibbins, I’m a Clinical Physiologist and Disaster Subject Matter Expert (SME) who oversaw the recovery efforts of Hurricane Katrina here in New Orleans, La in 2005. Having worked extensively with City, State and Federal Government Key stakeholders in developing protocols, programs and action plans for kids and adults traumatized during Hurricane Katrina and working with educators in assisting students in re-establishing their academic studies while simultaneously rebuilding their shattered lives, I saw first-hand how students struggled through a multitude of traumas relating to the storm, and how it influenced their learning environment and process, which is the basis for my current research and the development of the K-5 PrepBiz trauma informed disaster literacy game-based learning materials and tools using IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Computing and chat bots

 The sheer size and scope of the Katrina impact on children forced my team to think of new and creative solutions to address the multitude of needs.  The PrepBiz project is an outgrowth of the ramifications witnessed in New Orleans as a solution to help kids build resilience, and greater self-confidence for empowerment for better outcomes in disasters and to ameliorate trauma some youth experience post event and to provide greater psychological awareness to other adverse childhood experiences. 

 Each year millions of children are disproportionately impacted by disasters disrupting their lives, families, schools, and communities; from simple house fires—to the levels of devastation witnessed in the 2004 Tsunami, 2005 Hurricane Katrina and now the 2017 Hurricane Harvey disasters, yet insufficient attention has been given to preparing this population. Youth are particularly susceptible to three types of vulnerabilities during disasters: psychological, physical, and educational.

 Disasters are calamitous events, traumatic and customarily outside the scope of normal human experiences and likely to involve psychological and physical injury. Children are uniquely affected by disasters because they are afflicted not only by the trauma of the event but also by their parents' fear and distress.

 PrepBiz recognizes the emotional effects of disasters on children are not always immediate and can last for years and may also affect their academic attainment. Evidence suggests parents and schools should not wait to deal with the enormous difficulty of explaining disasters or hazards to kids for the first time after they occur.

 With the frequency and intensity of disasters increasing and more kids being affected by school shootings, increasing acts of terrorism, rising crime and the lingering aftermath of disasters, we face a growing public health crisis caused by trauma that touches us all. The future of any society depends on its ability to foster the healthy development of the next generation.

 Through our collaborations with IBM Watson and Microsoft Skype for the Classroom we are providing disaster curriculum not only to the students in U.S. but also to a global audience.

PrepBiz youth disaster literacy book series entitled “The Adventures of Hopper,” educates youth on best practice responses to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and a host of other natural and man-made disasters.

 PrepBiz game-based learning and chat bots provides collaborative guidance in the form of "engagement knowledge" through gamification infusing emergency preparedness principles across the entire educational experience to help kids build confidence when faced with these types of incidents and may help ameliorate psychological morbidity that some youth may experience when faced with a family disruptive tragic event, emergency, hazards, or disaster. PrepBiz offers a healthy balanced collaborative that is educational, fun, and engaging. Elements of preparedness are couched in terms todays' youth understand – “gamification,” with each level of mastery being engaging and feeling rewarding.

 Given that natural disasters have increased in frequency and intensity, the need for both present and future generations to actively undertake emergency preparedness and hazard awareness activities has heightened in recent years.  

 Please take a moment and check out our website at http://www.prepbiz.us/ we have some of our trauma informed educational materials posted on the site as well as a demo of our chat bot talking to a kid about her fears of fire. 

 I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you and to provide additional insight and information regarding our efforts to educate all youth on trauma informed disaster literacy for greater resilience and greater psychological awareness.

 Kenneth Bibbins

Patrick,

I'm glad to see Kenneth has replied to your request. He is the expert on this. He is one of the few professionals who has considered the multiplying impact of ACES and natural disaster. 

~ Cathy