One of the many goals of the Huntsville/Madison County 9-1-1 Center (HMC 9-1-1) is to educate our community around topics such as emergency preparedness, fire safety, how to be an effective 9-1-1 caller and more. A core audience that is regularly engaged is younger children, primarily elementary-aged. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges as this face-to-face, interactive activity was no longer an option due to the statewide, virtual school mandate. However, this information was just as critical during this time, and the center needed to find a way to still engage with students while offering them valuable, and potentially life-saving, information.

As HMC 9-1-1’s Strategic Growth Partner, Flourish collaborated with each agency that HMC 9-1-1 serves to develop, shoot and produce a virtual education series that was aimed towards elementary aged students with the intent of creating an at-home, engaging opportunity that can be entertaining, yet informative. In addition, we wanted to create something that was conducive to at-home learning, meaning the students had the flexibility to take part when it made sense for their virtual learning schedules (which varied from student to student). Safety with Sprocket, developed in partnership with the Rocket CityTrash Pandas, included a series of videos that helped students learn how to be an informed 9-1-1 call taker, understanding the basics of fire safety, how to create an emergency preparedness plan and more. Each video featured one of HMC 9-1-1’s agency partners (total 8) and HMC 9-1-1’s own calltakers. In addition to the videos, we created printable coloring worksheets that helped to reinforce education while being home during the virtual school year. 

Safety with Sprocket, which was launched at the beginning of Emergency Preparedness Month, was promoted heavily within our community and was fuelled by a publicity and media strategy involving local area news outlets,  the City of Huntsville, the City of Madison, Huntsville City Schools, Madison City Schools and Madison County Schools. In addition, promotion was done on social media, within local area Mom groups, homeschooling organizations and more.