Success StoryGamification and Animal Disaster Preparedness



Gamification and Animal Disaster Preparedness

Author: Roberta Dwyer

Planning Unit: Animal and Food Sciences

Major Program: Community Strategic Planning

Outcome: Initial Outcome

With a federal grant, a team of University of Kentucky Extension professionals (Roberta Dwyer, Andrea Higdon, Melissa Morgan, Kandice Williams) leads a group developing an exercise for local emergency managers. LADDERS is a Local Approach to Discussion-Based Disaster Exercises and Readiness that is geared towards pets, livestock and disaster preparedness. This disaster preparedness game helps local emergency managers and animal stakeholders work through real-world scenarios with the goal of applying these problem solving skills to their local emergency operations plan for animals. LADDERS has been delivered to several Kentucky counties with positive feedback. However, COVID-19 precluded final testing of the product in 2020. Full rollout of the game is expected in 2021 and will help US communities prepare for disasters and animals of all kinds.






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