Graphic Medicine and Emergency Preparedness

Posted by Sarah Levin-Lederer on September 21st, 2020 Posted in: Graphic Medicine
Tags: Emergency Preparedness (EPP), graphic medicine

---

September is National Preparedness Month! How can graphic medicine help with emergency preparedness, response and recovery?

Graphic Medicine is comic books and graphic novels that cover topics of health and wellness.  The visual format makes the information easier to understand and digest.  By reading a personal, non-fiction story, we can learn about issues we may not have experienced ourselves.  These stories can also help us feel less alone in our own lives.

So how can graphic medicine help with emergency preparedness, response and recovery? Here are graphic medicine resources for getting started with graphic medicine and emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

Mental Rehearsal-Comics about emergency preparedness, response and recovery can help people mentally practice what they would do in an emergency which can help overcome the initial feelings of being overwhelmed that can have people freezing.

• Survivor Tales from Seattle King County Public Health with real stories from people who survived earthquakes, hurricanes and more.
• Ready Frieddie from Seattle King County Public Health to help kids understand emergency preparedness.
• Ready Wrigley Activity books from the CDC for younger kids.
• Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic from the CDC.

Dealing with trauma-Seeing other people’s responses to emergency and disaster related trauma can help people feel less alone and build empathy.

• A Fire Story by Briand Fies available online or in print with additional material
• Brian Fies discussed creating A Fire Story as part of his keynote for NEGM20

Comics can help people understand social and political issues that affect personal and community emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

• Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Don Brown
• AD: After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
• No Ordinary Flu from Seattle King County Public Health about the 1918 Flu

Learn more about emergency preparedness, response and recovery with resources from Ready.gov.

• Personal and family preparedness
• Community preparedness
• Continuity of operations planning (COOP) for businesses and libraries

To learn more about Graphic Medicine visit the NLM’s website for the traveling exhibit Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived, Well-Drawn.  Or request information about the Graphic Medicine Book Club Kits (due to COVID, kits are not currently ciruclating), including the Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery kit that uses Drowned City by Don Brown.