A University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville associate professor of emergency medicine is leading a $1 million grant to develop an interactive video game teaching children what to do when a natural disaster hits.
Madeline M. Joseph, M.D., Chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, is chairing a task force via the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) grant to develop the web-based game and an accompanying website. The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Disaster Hero” is in the final stages of development and scheduled for release in the next few months, Joseph said.
The game will emphasize getting an emergency kit together, having a disaster plan and being informed. It will be targeted to youth, parents and teachers with a focus on what to do before, during and after a hurricane, tornado or other type of disaster.
“In a household, if everybody’s injured, you may be relying on the child to save themself or take care of the adults,” Joseph said. “They need to know what to do.”
Inquiries for volunteers to help develop the game started about two years ago – and the timing was perfect for Joseph.
She and a team of physicians had been working on applying for a separate grant to develop a game to teach children and parents about antibiotics. Joseph and the group were in detailed discussions with gaming companies and chose one to work with, but the project fell through at the last minute.
Shortly thereafter, she saw the call for people to serve on the ACEP committee for the disaster game development and immediately jumped at the opportunity.
“It’s almost like I had just gone through a workshop on delivering educational information through innovative tools such as games,” Joseph said.
Joseph applied just to be a part of the committee but, having held leadership roles with ACEP in the past and being a specialist in pediatrics, emergency medicine and disaster preparedness, she was picked to chair the task force.
The task force included partners from numerous organizations. These included federal partners such as Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.
National partners included the American College of Emergency Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts; Girl Scouts; YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, Emergency Medical Services for Children, Emergency Nurses Association, International Association of Emergency Managers, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Child Care Association, National Parent Teacher Association, State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association.
Children are always trained and taught to dial 911 – which may not be the best option in a hurricane or tornado when phone lines are down and emergency responders may be tied up at the major disaster scenes.
The core of every game is being prepared to teach children to recognize injuries common in specific types of disasters and use appropriate techniques for personal protection before, during, immediately following a disaster, Joseph said.
That used to be a role specifically for parents and children were often sheltered from disaster discussions, Joseph said. That mindset has changed, she said, especially after the tremendous losses in Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Now, people realize they’ll need all hands on deck – including the littlest hands in the family – if a major emergency strikes.
The game is designed for children ages 7 to 12 and will tailor scenarios geographically to prepare children for situations they are more likely to encounter where they live. For example, students in Kansas would need tornado or flooding information, but probably not hurricane preparedness.
Joseph’s interest in disaster preparedness began in 1994 when a tornado tore through Birmingham while she was doing a fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Birmingham in Alabama. When she came to work in Jacksonville full-time she wanted to stay involved in disaster preparedness in some capacity. Shortly after she got here, a role opened up and she was the Disaster Medical Officer from 1996-99, back when it was still the University Medical Center.
Work on the project allows Joseph to combine her passions for children, emergency medicine and disaster training and she says she’s looking forward to integrating the game into what schools are already teaching.
“The children need to know how to protect themselves,” Joseph said. “And if the best way to get them that information and to overcome apathy related to disaster planning is to make a game that’s fun for them to play, that’s what we should do.”
Related: Interactive Disaster Preparedness: Gaming for Children, Teachers and Parents
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