Cal State SB students' project develops kits to deal with disasters
San Bernardino Sun 3/21/07
The county has seen a lot of tragedy.
But through it all, there were lessons to be learned, say health-science students in the software applications class at Cal State San Bernardino.
That lesson: Everyone should be prepared - especially if they are disabled.
On Monday, students with the university's health-science program unveiled kits they created to help all students, but particularly those with disabilities.
"We created a portable car kit and a large kit for home," said Diane Schoendeinst who, along with a handful of other students, held a power point presentation to show how the emergency kit project evolved.
In addition to the kits, the grant-funded project also included creation of Web sites and informative brochures, said Health and Science professor Marsha Greer.
Laid out on tables nearby were the components of the demonstration kit the students had put together.
Some were common-sense items, such as water, blankets and enough food for three days. Some were not so obvious: safety flashers, a deck of cards to fight boredom and food for a service dog.
"This really worked out well," Greer said.
The students also suggested keeping extra medication among emergency supplies as well as a medical alert tag.
"Some people don't even know the names of the medications they take," Greer said. "That's something they should know. They should have it written down somewhere."
With the project completed, it was presented to the entire class, faculty and to a member of the campus police force.
Money to buy the supplies was provided through a grant through the Learn and Serve America Higher Education, a program through the Corporation for National and Community Service, which according to its Web site is an independent federal agency created to connect Americans with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation.
Greer, along with professor Diane Podolske with the Community-University Partnerships program and Roy Diaz, Cal State's Disaster Preparedness Coordinator, applied for the grant which was approved and given to the Community-University Partnerships.
That campus program gave the money to the class.
The kits and brochures will eventually be given to the staff at the Office for Students with Disabilities so they can educate the more than 2,000 students who are listed as disabled.
"This is a fun class because they get to do a lot of things," Greer said. "They feel empowered by the end of the class, and they learned a lot."