Disasters can occur in just a few seconds. Personal preparedness
lessens the impact on families, on workplaces and on communities.
Since hospitals play a particularly important role during
community disasters, it is imperative that hospital staff
understand the importance of personal preparedness.
Preparedness of hospital staff has a significant impact on the
hospital’s ability to provide uninterrupted service to the
community. Every hospital staff member has an important role in
hospital operations and in the ability of hospitals to provide
care to the community regardless of circumstance.
Personal preparedness has a direct impact on the effectiveness of
the hospital during critical times. Hospital staff can focus on
their jobs if they are prepared at home and have planned for the
safety and well-being of their family during a disaster.
Learn about vulnerability to natural hazards in your
neighborhood by visiting My Hazards website below and getting a
customized report based on your home’s address.
Searching your home and files for important papers can be
tedious. Organizing and protecting those documents before a
disaster strikes is vital for personal safety and peace of mind.
Examples of documents that may be gathered for safekeeping
include vital records, insurance policies, property records,
medical information, financial records, and any other important
personal papers.
For a complete checklist of documents and the FEMA News
Release
click here.
Video (Good Day Sacramento): Loni Howard’s
interview gives a quick rundown on how hospitals prepare to help
and handle mass causalities and what you can do to help in these
situations.
The Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) is the nation’s first
hotline dedicated to providing disaster crisis counseling. The
toll-free helpline operates 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week.
The helpline is free, confidential and multilingual.
This crisis support service is available to US residents who are
experiencing psychological distress resulting from man-made or
natural disasters via telephone at 1-800-985-5990 or by SMS (text
‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746).
Callers are connected to trained and caring professionals from
the closest crisis counseling center in the network. The helpline
staff provides confidential counseling, referrals and other
needed support services.
This initiative was developed to help meet the needs of
pets and pet owners during and following emergencies and
disasters.
The initiative examined current capabilities of various
animal and sheltering stakeholder organizations to respond to
meet the needs of pets and their owners during and following
emergencies and disasters which threaten the region.
Additionally, an animal sheltering exercise was designed to
validate operational concepts that were currently being utilized.
The initiative also faciliated work with animal and sheltering
organizations to develop Pet Friendly Shelter plans and
procedures.
The Jackson County (Florida) Emergency Management Department
has undertaken an initiative entitled Operation Full Access. The
program focuses on disability disaster planning and
has goals which include:
Reviewing disaster readiness of the county’s organizations
and agencies
Convening a Task Force to analyze individual disaster
readiness for residents with disabilities, who are
transportation disadvantaged, senior citizens, or those who speak
limited or no English.
Disasters can can change lives in the blink of an eye. Are you
prepared?
When disaster strikes, help may be days away. This is just one
reason why every household needs a disaster kit and a plan–being
prepared will help you know exactly what to do when disaster
strikes.
So where do you start? Right here! Red Cross has
developed a helpful tool that will help your family to get
prepared in a series of small steps. Here’s how it works:
Over the next 21 weeks, you’ll build a customized disaster kit to
fit the specific needs of your family. So start today… Prevent,
Prepare and Respond for the unexpected – the Red Cross Way!
Emergencies and disasters can happen anytime and anywhere. They
typically strike without warning and disrupt hundreds of
thousands of lives each year. Each emergency and disaster has its
own lasting effects on individuals, families, and communities.
Through preparedness efforts, you can help reduce the fear and
anxieties related to these unknown situations as well as reduce
the immediate and long term risks to you and your families by
preparing you and your loved ones for the best response possible
to a real disaster situation. Remember, awareness and
preparedness will save lives!
The Office of Emergency Preparedness at UCLA Health System has
developed a tool entitled “Get Ready, Stay Ready” which provides
a comprehensive 12-month guide for assisting families with their
personal preparedness efforts.
With the New Year approaching, the Department of Homeland
Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Ready
Campaign is reminding Americans to Resolve to be Ready in 2010.
Resolve to be Ready is an annual initiative encouraging
individuals, families, businesses and communities to make
preparedness a part of their New Year resolutions.
As a parent, one of your most important jobs is making sure your
children are properly equipped to handle anything life throws
their way. Even though your child may not ever have to put the
knowledge to use, simply knowing that your child is prepared to
handle an emergency can give you immeasurable peace of mind.
