Ashley Chandler
Community Newspapers, Inc.
A local 4-H safety and emergency management course that preps kids for emergency situations is gaining attention on the national stage.
The YET program was founded in 2017 by Nassau County’s 4-H program and Nassau County Emergency Management.
Kelsey Irvine, UF/IFAS 4-H youth development agent in Nassau, said the program prepares kids for emergency situations.
“The 4-H Youth Emer-gency Team is a premier, award-winning, annual spring academy that teaches youth ages 11-18 the fundamentals of emergency preparedness and response through combining FEMA curriculum, 4-H youth development practices and local/bonus modules in addition to using a two-tier peer mentoring system which enhances leadership development for all cadre members.”
Classes are conducted at the Emergency Operations Center in Yulee by local safety and emergency professionals.
Irvine said professionals from Nassau County Fire Rescue, 911 dispatch, Ocean Rescue, Florida Forestry Service and Nassau County Animal Services are among the instructors of the courses.
Kids who take part in the program are called YETies and graduates of the program are called Majors.
Irvine said after the March 13 graduation, the program will have graduated more than 100 YETies.
The program has gained quite a bit of traction since its first year. The spring course has been capped at 20 students and up to seven Majors.
“This program has also been presented several times at state and national conferences and even has a replication website. Currently, we have two other states looking into adopting this program,” Irvine said.
YET is a seven-week program during which kids learn many skills such as, suppressing fires, providing first aid, giving hands only CPR, sheltering animals and conducting search and rescue.
The program also says “youth learn personal resiliency through stress management and suicide prevention.”
For more information about the program, visit sites.google.com/view/youthemergencyteam/home.