The American Public Health Association developed this campaign to encourage emergency preparedness at the high school and community level. Materials use a catch phrase-"Set Your Clocks-Check Your Stocks"-to remind students and their families to evaluate their emergency preparedness kits twice a year when they re-set their clocks. The kit includes several components, notably a series of six fact sheets, a project kit for high school students, and interactive materials for younger children.
The fact sheets focus on topics such as developing an emergency preparedness stockpile checklist, stockpiling on a budget, recipes and meal ideas, and preparing pet supplies for an emergency. The kit for high school students promotes projects to publicize preparedness efforts. The kit also provides a week of public announcements and a sample news article. Other materials include a preparedness pop quiz, tips for teachers, and student handouts on preparedness. The language and style used in the project kit may make it appealing to high school students. Interactive materials for younger children include questions about a family's preparedness status and emergency preparedness games.
Materials included in the kit for high school students are well-done, useful, engaging, and provide step-by-step instructions for many of the activities. The kit has a strong community focus, and materials encourage students to become prepared themselves and to participate in preparedness activities as a community service.
Reviewers described this all-hazards practice as concise, fairly thorough and realistic, and appropriate for encouraging pandemic influenza preparedness. The catch phrase may make the preparedness message more effective and accessible. The fact sheets describe and address many of the common barriers to stockpiling. One reviewer found the stockpiling checklists and messages linked to the biannual time change especially thoughtful, and noted that this kit is the best source of family preparedness materials he's encountered.
