Make 2016 the Year of Emergency and Disaster Preparedness

Posted by Emily Glenn on December 30th, 2015 Posted in: Emergency Preparedness, Public Health

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When setting your goals for the year ahead, why not include emergency or disaster preparedness? By tackling the preparation activities over several weeks — whether it’s a trip to the grocery or hardware store, making copies of valuable information, or agreeing on a plan with relatives—you can make be more prepared in 2016. The first post in this series on emergency and disaster preparedness focuses on preparedness at home and with family.

Make a Kit

A disaster supplies kit is simply a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency. You may need to leave your home with very little notice; help may be hours or days away. The Red Cross has developed an interactive module to help you figure out how much you’ll need for how many days. View the Be Red Cross Ready module to get started.

Plan Ahead

When it’s time to go, you need to have a plan. Consider all of the members of your family when creating your plan. Short guides for planning for Children, People with Disabilities, Seniors, and Pets, and for safely shutting off utilities are available. A handy visual planning chart can help you and kids confirm emergency plans. And, don’t forget Ready.Gov for Kids the CDC’s graphic novel, Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic.

Be Informed

In addition to emergencies at home and in communities, the Pacific Northwest is at risk for certain kinds of disasters. Get to know about those risks at home and when traveling, and monitor weather conditions. You can monitor weather conditions at the National Weather Service page and be alerted to weather events on your mobile phone.

The Ready.gov site provides information in several languages about making a kit, making a plan and being informed. Regional state health departments (AK, OR, WA, ID, MT) also provide guides to citizens and news about statewide preparedness initiatives and services.

 

The NN/LM PNR supports Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Pacific Northwest Region.