Be Ready for any disaster

 So it is that time again, time to talk to you about your disaster kit.  Why? Because its hurricane season, its tornado season and its always earthquake season where I live.  We just finished a two day exercise called Evergreen Earthquake 2012.  Lots of death, injuries and some very surprised people in the Emergency Operation Centers.  Why?  Because they realized that they couldn't get the assets to open a shelter in 1,2,3 days.  That is normal for a major event.  So imagine your house, condo apartment fell down during a Hurricane, Tornado or Earthquake.  Now what?
 I do not want to tell you what you already know, make a plan, figure out what you need and start slowly to put it together.  A nice list in the below article.
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/07/03/1798427/be-ready-for-any-disaster.html

Thanks for preparing, so we in Emergency management don't have to worry about you for a few days in an event.

Disaster_Dave

"So how do I learn all this stuff?"

I was recently asked the question above; well there are a few ways you can help educate yourself and your family.

The first is to attend a training session put on by either your local emergency manager or the Red Cross.  Both do their part to get the word out and assist the public in preparing for disasters in your area.

Another is go to the big guy and take some online FEMA courses. These are free and online; they can be taken at your pace, on your schedule.

The last place I wanted to point out are a couple of companies that have taken the step of simplifying and reducing in size what you need to know for a price.

• The first is the Quick series which has a rather large library of booklets to cover many things, but of course this blog is focusing on Emergency/Disaster Preparedness.

• The second is the Informed Guides like the one above their guides are both pocket sized and available for download to your smart phone. I personally like this book better, but its about what appeals to you.

So there you have it, some sources for you to take advantage of to help prepare your family/home/your life for emergencies or disasters.

Don't wait prepare today

disaster_dave

Communication tips

When even small disasters happen communications is a problem, and there are things you can do to prepare.  This link fema-how-to-communicate-before gives some very practical tips on what to do in advance to prepare.  A couple of items on the list that deserve expansion are:

• ICE - I know we have all been putting In Case Of Emergency (ICE) contacts on our phones,but now that a lot of phones are computers they lock.  So how to get to the ICE on a SMART phone that is locked.  Theres an AP for that. http://ice-app.net/
• Call Forward - Your land line to your Cell if you have to evacuate.  If this is possible its a great idea,so that if you can't re-enter your home you have access to accounts (bank ,Pizza, etc) that read your home phone number to provide service.

So take a few minutes and read this linked FEMA document and plan out your communications.

Disaster_Dave

If you can't work...

I recently read an article about business recovery , unlike other doom and gloom articles it was actually uplifting.  They did the right things and their business survived. So what about you!
I have spent the last few months working with you on preparing your home and family for disaster, which is all well and good.  What about your workplace?  Whether you are the owner, manager or employee you have some responsibility.  If you are the owner or manager you are responsible to make sure there is a plan and it is exercised. Yes you did a fire drill to make the local fire folks (and your insurer) happy but what else have you done to protect your business.

• How will you make sure your employees are safe (you better care, you can't open without them)?
• Do they know how to get in touch with you (besides your office phone)? 
• Do they know how to contact each other for support (offer or ask for)?
• Where are your customer records stored (box in back or in the cloud)?
• Do you have an alternate place to work?
• Do you have adequate insurance for the hazards where you work (the hazards could differ from where you live)?

Even if you aren't the owner/manager you have a responsibility to ask questions, understand your place in the plan.   If you are reading this (and probably other things like this) you might be the person with the most knowledge and in a position to help.

Do one thing today
disaster_dave

But which disaster do I prepare for?

First the party line - prepare for ALL Hazards.  Most of the preparation you do can help you in any emergency or disaster that might befall you.  In emergency management, we categorize the disasters we prepare for in their simplest form as Frequency vs. Risk because there are things to plan for AFTER all hazard that are specific to a hazard. In short its about learning what hazards may affect you.

For example, the frequency for snow vs. the risk of a snow "storm" in Seattle would be High Frequency/ Low Risk (HF/LR) because we typically (in the last three years) get one to two snow storms per year; but the danger is low (short of falling on your butt). 
On the other side is an earthquake (we live in a seismic area) which has a Low Frequency/ High Risk of when it happens (LF/HR).

So what does all this mean? It means that while you should prepare for snow (stay home) you need to pay attention to the LF/HR too.  Just because an earthquake hasn't happened for 500 years, and only has a 10%-14% chance in the next 50 years doesn't mean it won’t happen; and it will be worse than a snowstorm.
Just because you did not experience landfall of hurricane the last two years, doesn't mean it won't this year, or next.
For the LF/HR event, you will likely be on your own for a longer period, so you must plan accordingly.

Now look at our area and write down all the hazards you can find out about (hint- check your local emergency management site for information), then do a little research and classify for Frequency & Risk. 

Now plan accordingly.

Any questions?
disaster dave

Do it yourself

My blogs to you have meant to help you make headway in preparing for emergencies/disasters.  There is much I think I can teach you as this is what I do for a living.  But there is much you can do for yourself and I want to highlight a step you can take for yourself.  Most are free and will make you look like the most prepared person in your office.

There's an App for that  This is a one page from the Department of Health and Human Services.  There are apps for your I phone/I pad.  Most are free, some cost a few cents.  Imagine having all of your medication on your I- phone using My Medications from the AMA - if you have to evacuate you have it. 
One of my favorites is Disaster Alert - every morning I check it to see whats going on in the world. Imagine sitting around at work and just casually mentioning "did anyone hear about the earthquake off Vanuatore.

In this age of I phones and other phones that act as a computer, there are things you can do to make yourself more prepared. Do it this weekend.

disaster_dave

Take Time to Learn

My blogs have been written to help you make headway in preparing for emergencies/ disasters.  There is much I think I can teach you as this is what I do for a living.  But there is much you can do for yourself and I want to highlight two steps you can take.  Both are free and will not only make you more prepared and look like the most prepared person in your office.

There's an App for that  This is a one page from the Department of Health and Human Services.  It puts a lot of apps in one place; most are free, a few cost a few cents.  But imagine having all of your medication on your Iphone - if you have to evacuate, you have it.  One of my favorites is Disaster Alert - every morning I check it to see whats going on in the world. Imagine sitting around at work and just casually mentioning "did anyone hear about the earthquake off Vanuatu this morning."


MetEd  Like anything else in your life you will  do a better job if you are informed.  So take some time on this FREE website and learn about the disasters that affect you and your family.  Learn how & why fire travels the way it does/ how and where Tsunamis affect us and many other very well put together training.

By taking action on these two items in the next week you will be more likely to  prepare if you understand why you won't be able to live in your home after a major quake, or why the police tell you to leave during a forest fire.


Take some time, take some responsibility...you might enjoy the training.


Disaster Dave

PS: there was an earthquake on Vanuatu an hour ago