‘Iolani School grad has important message to keep keiki safe

Alex Min hopes a cute dog and a catchy phrase can help Hawaii’s keiki prepare for disasters and pandemics.

The 2010 ‘Iolani grad, who joined the Coast Guard right after school, has written a children’s book, “Poppy the Preparedness Pup,” with simple advice on how to get ready for hurricanes, tsunamis, floods and other hazards, including pandemics. The e-book is now available on Amazon for $4.99; Min expects to have hard copies in time for the holidays.

“I was thinking, ‘How can I come up with something that will help children and help their families start a discussion on these topics that are oftentimes very scary and hard to talk about?,” Min said.

The book, illustrated by local artist Shea Tam, features Poppy, who is named after Min’s own dog, a terrier/border collie/Lab mix that he rescued in late 2018. Poppy’s advice is simple and direct. In a pandemic, she urges kids to “wear a face mask and wash your hands often!” following that up with the catchphrase, “Don’t be scared, be prepared!”

Min said the books’ message has caught on with youngsters. One of his friends read it to his 4-year-old nephew, who afterward kept saying “Don’t be scared, be prepared” to all manner of things.

“He had the garbage truck come by and his mom said, ‘Oh no, I didn’t put the trash out’, and the kid said, ‘Don’t be scared, be prepared!’, which might not be the right application,” Min said, “but (his friend) thought it was funny and I thought it was great.”

Min’s first Coast Guard deployment was in drug trafficking prevention, which took him all over the Eastern Pacific. More recently, he’s been involved disaster preparation, based out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Every time you guys have a hurricane out there, like Hurricane Lane, or those super­typhoons in Guam in 2018, we stand watch out here and provide information and work on reinforcing and asset allocation,” said Min, who plans to leave the Coast Guard soon and go into business. “I specialize in preparedness, exercise and taking care of our people and helping out the public.”