In response to the California wildfires, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developed resources to help children, families, and communities navigate what they are seeing and hearing, acknowledge their feelings, and find ways to cope together. Resources include:

• Parent Guidelines for Helping Children Impacted by Wildfires (En Español)
• Wildfires: Tips for Parents on Media Coverage (En Español)
• Simple Activities for Children and Adolescents  
• Trinka and Sam: The Big Fire – e-book for young children. (En Español)
• Helping Youth After a Community Trauma: Tips for Educators (En Español)
• Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
• Creating Supportive Environments: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
• After a Crisis: Helping Young Children Heal (En Español)
• Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event (En Español)
• Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)
• Helping School-Age Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)
• Helping Young Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)
• Once I Was Very Very Scared (En Español)  – children’s book for young children
• Pause-Reset-Nourish (PRN) to Promote Wellbeing (En Español) (for responders)

Psychological First Aid and Skills for Psychological Recovery

The NCTSN also has resources for responders on Psychological First Aid (PFA; En Español). PFA is an early intervention to support children, adolescents, adults, and families impacted by these types of events. The PFA Wallet Card (En Español) provides a quick reminder of the core actions. The PFA online training (En Español) course is also available on the NCTSN Learning Center. PFA Handouts include:

• Parent Tips for Helping Infants and Toddlers (En Español)
• Parent Tips for Helping Preschoolers (En Español)
• Parent Tips for Helping School-Age Children (En Español)
• Parent Tips for Helping Adolescents (En Español)
• Tips for Adults (En Español)

For community and mental health providers who plan to continue working with affected communities long-term, review Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR; En Español) and take the SPR Online course.

 Resources to Support Firefighters:

The Center for Firefighter Behavioral Health has resources for firefighters, providers supporting them, and their friends and family, including the Helping Heroes web-based training.

 Mobile Apps:

• Help Kids Cope·
• PFA Mobile
• SAMHSA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App
• Supporting Firefighter Families
• Bounce Back Now (En Español)

 Available from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University and other partners:

• Sustaining the Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers While Caring for Disaster Victims
• Safety, Recovery and Hope after Disaster: Helping Communities and Families Recover
• Leadership Communication: Anticipating and Responding to Stressful Events
• Wildfire Smoke Factsheet: Protecting Children from Wildfire Smoke and Ash

Resources for After the Wildfire:

• Preparing Children After a Wildfire Damages Your Community

Disaster Helpline

SAMHSA has a Disaster Distress Helpline – call or text 1-800-985-5990 (for Spanish, press “2”) to be connected to a trained counselor 24/7/365.

Additional Resources:

For those that are needing technical assistance or additional resources, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Melissa Brymer at [email protected].

Our hearts and sympathies go out to our southern California community during these January wildfire and public safety power shutoff events. This time of crisis, living in fear of losing our homes, our communities, and potentially our loved ones, takes a toll on young children.   Please be aware of steps you can take to be ready if you need to evacuate or shelter in place, possibly without electricity.

• In the case of a wildfire near your home, please listen to local authorities. If told to leave, Don’t Wait, Evacuate. Check fire.ca.gov for updates and resources for new and ongoing incidents.
• If you are in Los Angeles County, visit lacounty.gov/emergency for the most up-to-date information.
• Shelters are open in Los Angeles County:
  

  Emergency Evacuation Centers

  Westwood Recreation Center

  The center is open for evacuees for shelter. Thankfully, they accept domestic family pets, but they must be in a travel carrier or pet crate. And it will allow residents to remain overnight.

  📍 Location: 1350 S Sepulveda Blvd 90025

  Ritchie Valens Recreation Center

  📍 Location: 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd

  El Camino Real Charter High School

  📍 Location: 5440 Valley Circle Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367

  Pasadena Civic Center

  📍 Location: 300 East Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101

  Arcadia Community Center

  📍 Location: 375 Campus Dr, Arcadia, CA 91007

• Get alerts directly to your phone by signing up for local emergency alerts.

Share this information with your friends and other people you know to prepare and stay safe.