In recognition of National Preparedness Month this September, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services in Washington state is hosting a preparedness and wellness campaign for the department’s staff of about 140 people. The month-long STARS (Simple Tasks Achieve Resilient Staff) campaign includes challenges and activities that employees complete weekly to be more resilient and prepared for an emergency.
Emergency Preparedness & Response Supervisor Alex Dingess brought the idea for the campaign to her department after attending the state’s annual emergency preparedness conference. Dingess saw that the emergency management team from City of Kirkland had developed a year-long campaign which included monthly challenges with staff earning “stars.”
The department’s Safety Committee and its Wellness committee partnered to host a paired down month-long campaign for National Preparedness Month that weaves in wellness. The campaign consists of four weeks of challenges with two regular challenges and one bonus challenge each week.
“Collaboration with the Wellness Committee helped to ensure that the wellness component was woven into the challenge and also ensured challenges and language were inclusive of appropriate language,” said Dingess.
To accommodate a limited budget, the committees developed a system where employees complete challenges and earn “stars” which translate into raffle entries. Each task is worth a different quantity of stars based on how challenging it may be. There is also a “division cup” won based on staff participation.
Raffle prizes include a safety whistle, stress balls, a collapsible pet bowl, and a cool towel and go up to $20 items like a life straw and hand crank flashlight. Included at each level is one item related to wellness.
To create the campaign, the Safety and Wellness committees started planning about three months in advance. They held some meetings with much of the coordination done over email. They hope to host the challenge annually moving forward.
Resources developed to support the campaign include:
