In Case of Emergency

The world today boils with turmoil. Add to that, Mother Nature's forces, and it might be a recipe for disaster.

The congregation of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints works to cool down the heat, to help community members face any incident head-on. The Rogers Stake of the Mormon church presented its eighth-annual Northwest Arkansas Emergency Preparedness Fair on Aug. 23 at the Bentonville meeting house.

"It's important," said Deborah "Jeff" Neria, who worked with the team planning the fair. Living in Florida, she witnessed the plight of people displaced by hurricanes.

"They need to understand the need for them to prepare," she said with passion. "In Joplin (tornado, 2011), they had no notice. How do you plan to take care of mom, dad and kid when you have no cell phone? Do you have a family plan of where you will meet?"

Booths from 50-plus area organizations provided information on everything from the signs of concussion to the predicted New Madrid earthquakes to financial and legal planning and preserving important documents.

"The (Benton County) Master Gardeners are sharing information about foods you can grow on your own land," Neria said. Other booths provided information about food storage and Dutch oven cooking.

Classes throughout the day focused on various aspects of emergency preparedness. One of the most popular shared how to create an emergency kit designed to sustain a person or a family for 72 hours after a disaster.

Master Naturalist Nan Lawler, who worked at a booth for the Benton County Cooperative Extension Service, had considered disaster preparedness for her family -- but not for their two 50-pound dogs, she admitted. "What are we going to do with them? They're too big to carry."

She learned the family needs not just food, but 12 gallons of water -- one per day per living being. "What we really need is a safe room that's packed. We need to put together a first-aid kit we can just grab and go and another for the car, " Lawler said, as if she was just realizing the impact a disaster can have.

Companies now offer such kits for sale, but the Red Cross offered printed instructions to build that emergency kit at home. "It costs about $25, and that's cheaper than buying one," said volunteer Mary Jean Kippenbrock.

Pharmacy students from the Northwest Arkansas location of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences provided quick screenings of glucose, blood pressure and body-mass index.

Richard Covey, who accompanied Lawler, learned not to eat doughnuts before he had his blood glucose tested, he said with a laugh.

Love Thy Neighbor

"We are Christian people doing what we can to serve and take care of our neighbors' needs," said church member Jo Evans of Bella Vista. "No. 1 is we need to know our neighbors to know their needs to be able to serve them."

And the disaster preparedness fair provides that opportunity, said Evans, who has spent at least five years planning the fairs. The fair started eight years ago when a member of the church's high council worked for the emergency services office for Walmart Stores, she said. "What they were trying in their company, he said we needed to try it in the community."

"Caring for others is one of the basic teachings of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is called the 'Prince of Peace,'" said Darrell Gibby, a high councilor of the stake, assigned to the fair.

"We believe the opposite of fear is peace," Gibby said. "And if we're prepared, then we're not in a state of fear; we feel peace. That's the way Christ teaches us.

"And if we're prepared, then we are in a position to help our neighbors, which also is a teaching of the Saviour," he continued.

Scripture is littered with passages about help, peace and facing fears, he said.

"Christ taught the second-greatest commandment was to 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Make Learning Fun

While the professional information provided was geared for adults, lessons abounded for children.

"It's not as scary if you're prepared," Neria said.

Children learned about storms and even got to star in their own weather telecasts with Dan Skoff, meteorologist for KNWA/Fox 24. Fire engines, ambulances, boats, a helicopter and other emergency equipment stood on display for children to explore, and the Bentonville Fire Department brought its "smoke house," a trailer outfitted like a home through which firefighters blow smoke and guide kids on the actions they should take in the case of a house fire.

"Just when you hear the smoke alarm, you're supposed to crawl fast, hold hands and jump out the window," said Ryker Curtis, 9, of Rogers, admitting that he learned this information at school, too.

Shelby, 8, and Zachary Rogers, 5, spent part of their day washing their hands at the booth hosted by the Arkansas Department of Health. It might seem like an easy fete, but Zachary had to wash a second time as his hands showed evidence of "germs." Fluorescent gel was applied to the children's hands before washing, clearly showing the difference a good hand washing makes.

"You wash your hands because you don't want to get sick," Zachary learned. "I also looked at the bed bugs," he added after a peer through a microscope at the booth.

Carroll Electric Cooperative used two dolls, peanut butter, a kite and a hot dog to show how electricity from power lines -- especially when downed -- affect people. The hair of the dolls began to flame, and the hot dog cooked to charred black.

"You wouldn't want your finger to look like that, would you?" asked Joey Magnini, a member services specialist for the utility company.

"We want to teach them to be safe around electrical lines and don't touch a power line if it lays anywhere on the ground," he explained. "Downed by a dead tree, a car wreck -- no matter where, they don't want to touch it. Kids are curious, and it looks boring, but always assume a power line is energized."

Parents lined up for members of the Benton County Sheriff's Office to ensure child safety seats were properly installed in cars -- and replaced for free if the seat didn't possess the most current safety features. Another queue stretched throughout the church hall for children to be fingerprinted by sheriff's deputies. "We've done probably a hundred, and we're not done yet," said Myrna Scott with the office. The procedure was easy, pain free and ink-free, she noted. Each child's fingerprints were digitally scanned with the use of a special mouse.

"Child fingerprints are very important, so parents can have them in case their child is abducted or goes missing," Scott said. "They have prints to give law enforcement to help identify children when they are sighted."

Teri Dyer of Rogers brought eight children to the fair with her and sat in line with them for fingerprints. "... Just so we have them. Just in case ...," she said softly, as if speaking about such a tragedy might make it reality.

In addition, the deputies took this opportunity for community interaction, Scott continued.

"Some children are still afraid of law enforcement," she said. "And anything fun provides them with a good experience, so if they ever get lost, they can see one of the deputies and know it's not a negative to go to a deputy for help."

NAN Religion on 08/30/2014