Disaster Preparedness : Disaster Preparedness Are You Ready?
Chapter One : Introduction to Disaster Preparedness Chapter One
. : If you think back 20 or 30 years (depending on how old you are), how often did we hear about a major disaster happening? It seemed like we only hear about one every once in awhile. Now think about today. It seems like every time we turn around there’s been another major disaster.
Are disasters really increasing? .
Lets look at a few facts about disasters for the past 30 years. : Lets look at a few facts about disasters for the past 30 years. . . Earthquakes
The number of earthquakes worldwide recorded at a magnitude of 4.0 or higher:
From: 1980 - 1989 = 53,613
1990 - 1999 = 72,122
2000 - 2010 = 166,328
Declared Major Disasters
The number of declared major disasters worldwide:
From: 1980 - 1989 = 217
1990 - 1999 = 460
2000 - 2010 = 642 Tornados
Number of tornados reported in the U.S.
From: 1980 - 1989 = 8196
1990 - 1999 = 12,139
2000 - 2010 = 14,017
Hurricanes
Number of hurricanes reported in U.S.
From: 1980 - 1989 = 54
1990 -1999 = 64
2000 - 2010 = 86
Slide 5 : There are 2 big misconceptions when it comes to disaster preparedness.
The first is that people don’t think they need to learn ahead of time what they would need to do in various situations because officials will tell them what to do as the situations arise.
But what you need to ask yourself is “what if.”
Slide 6 : What if communications go down before officials can give instructions on what to do? Lets say communications stay open but you only have a very short period of time to prepare yourself for the pending event, are you going to want to spend what little time you have trying to learn what to do rather then getting everything ready?
If they only information you received was that you need to shelter-in-place would you know how to do that?
Slide 7 : When putting together your disaster plan walk through various situations in your head and see what questions might come up.
These questions will help you to see what area’s you might need to do a little more research into.
Lets walk through a scenario together so you can see how to do this and what questions come up.
Slide 8 : Scenario:
You are notified that there has been a radiation exposure.
The radiation will reach you in one hour and you need to shelter-in-place.
The first question: Do you know how to create a shelter?
The second question: Is do you have the materials needed to create the shelter?
Slide 9 : The last thing you are going to want to do is go to the store to get supplies. Think about how many other people will be at the store buying supplies. Not only will it take up a lot of time and they may run out of supplies but also it may not be safe.
Think about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when the stores have their big sales. People act totally crazy at these sales pushing, fighting, snatching things right out of people’s hands. People have been seriously injured and worse all just to save a few dollars. Not think about how they might act when their life is at stake.
But lets say you know how to create a shelter and you have the materials you need on hand.
Slide 10 : The next thing you might ask yourself is:
If my shelter is air tight, how long can I stay inside it before I run out of oxygen?
Slide 11 : Moving forward now, you have built your shelter, you and
your family have gone inside, you’ve been inside for awhile
and now its time to come out.
But you aren’t comfortable going outside yet so you tell your family to stay inside with the windows and doors closed until hear from officials.
Then you hear a noise outside, you look out your window and see your
neighbor who has his family out on the front lawn.
You yell to him “what are you doing? You need to get inside, the air
out there is contaminated. But he tells you no, you need to get outside.
Everything inside your house is contaminated including the air and you
need to get outside and get some fresh air.
Slide 12 : Is he right or are you right?
Is everything inside your house contaminated?
Would it be safe to go crawl into your bed and snuggle up in the covers?
Could you eat the food in your cupboards?
Slide 13 : In this scenario if you had an emergency kit you could have easily taken it into your shelter with you so if you weren’t sure whether the items outside of your shelter were safe to use you would have several days worth of supplies that you knew for sure were safe to use.
Slide 14 : This leads us into our second misconception about disaster preparedness and that’s some people don’t think they need to have an emergency kit because they have all the supplies they would need in their house.
Whether you are evacuating or sheltering, if you had a emergency kit you could quickly grab it, put it into your car or shelter in one easily step. Rather then waste time running around your house trying to gather up supplies. You are also probably going to forget a lot of things.
What if you have to run out of your house very quickly and you don’t have time to run around trying to figure out what to take, looking for something to put everything into, and gathering supplies. If you had a kit you would just have to grab one item.
Slide 15 : Even if your are planning on evacuating to a friend or family members
home or even a hotel, you should still take your emergency kit with you.
Anything can happen between point A and point B.
It may end up taking you a lot longer to reach your destination then you
planned on.
Your car could break down, you could get stuck on the road behind an
accident, roads could be blocked, bridges could be down.
Plans may change, maybe the area you were planning on going to is
no longer safe and you have to go in another direction.
You may end up having to spend the night in the car.
Whatever happens at least you will know you have several
days worth of supplies with you to get your family through the situation.
Slide 16 : Maybe you think in the event of a disaster you will just go to a shelter but if the disaster is wide spread and affects a large number of people, shelters might not be equipped to handle them.
Look at hurricane Katrina for example, the shelter set up for those people was completely overwhelmed and it very quickly became chaotic and an unsafe situation. So in some cases it might be better to avoid an overcrowded shelter.
Slide 17 : You have to be prepared to take care of yourself. You can’t rely on others to do it for you. They may not be able to help you, remember local officials, firemen, police and medical personnel are going to be affected by the disaster as well.
It is very difficult to make last minute decisions under stressful conditions. That’s why you need to have a step by step disaster plan in place before a disaster strikes.
You should be prepared to completely take care of you and your family for at least 5 to 7 days. You may hear some people say 3 to 5 days but 3 days is not a realistic number. It may take several days, maybe a week or longer to help to reach you.
I strongly recommend at least 7 days. Some people prepare for 10 days, some 15 days and some even longer. It would be better to have left over supplies then to run short.
Slide 18 : After a Disaster
During the first seven days after a disaster the 5 most important things you are going to need are:
1. Food
2. Water
3. Shelter
4. Personal Security
5. Medical Attention
This would include treatment for any injuries you
received as well as any life sustaining medications
you might need.
Slide 19 : First Aid
After a disaster medical help may not be able to get to you right away, so it would be helpful to have some basic first aid knowledge. You may want to consider taking a first aid class or get a book on the subject.
Slide 20 : National Hazard Maps
FEMA has an excellent tool to help predict the path of flood waters.
http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1
You enter your address and a map will come up and show possible hazards and water paths for your neighborhood. If you find you are within the flood zone you may want to consider getting some flood insurance.
Slide 21 : School Emergency Plan
If you have children who attend a school you need to know what their emergency plans are. Make an appointment with the school principle or other school official and find out what their plans are. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
* How will the school communicate with families in the event of a
disaster?
* Does the school have adequate food, water and other basic supplies
on hand?
* If the school prepared to shelter-in-place if need be?
* Where do they plan on going in the event they must evacuate?
* How trained are the teachers and staff in disaster preparedness?
Slide 22 : If you see an area where the school is lacking, see what you can do to help fix the issue.
In some situations parents may not be able to go to the school and pickup their children.
If the school is locked down they will not be releasing children.
If they are evacuating they may not release the kids until they have reached their evacuation point and each child has been accounted for.
Slide 23 : Workplace Plan
Every workplace should have a disaster plan in place. If yours does not then take the initiative and become the disaster planning coordinator.
* Create a list of items needed for your emergency kit and have
employees donate items. See if the company will donate funds for
supplies. If you work in a large office each department should put
together their own kit.
* Think about what employees will do if they can’t go home.
* Set up a plan incase you have to shelter-in-place.
* Create a evacuation plan.
Slide 24 : *An emergency packet should be out together for each department.
The packet should contain an emergency form for each employee
with emergency contact information for each person. The packet
should be take with the department head when evacuating. Not only
will this help to account for each person but will provide vital
information in the event their families need to be contacted.
* Determine what items should be evacuated with you. (files etc…)
* Review things that could be done to make the workplace safer.
* Hold a employee meeting and make sure everyone knows what
your plans are.
Slide 25 : Where to Start
* Get informed about the different kinds of disasters and what
you should do in each event.
* Develop a family plan.
* Practice and maintain your plan
* Put together your emergency kit.
* Learn about your community and school’s disaster plans.
Being prepared will reduce fear, anxiety and loss. We can stop the disaster from coming but we can reduce its impact.