Prepared for Bird Flu? Americans aren’t ready for any emergency
This entry was posted on 6/6/2007 11:31 AM and is filed under General Emergency Preparedness.
I took a step back from blogging about Bird Flu as I found that people were just not prepared for any kind of emergency. Only 14% of Americans are prepared for a three-day disaster, allow an Avian Influenza Pandemic that may have waves lasting 2 months at a time.
Reflecting on this I have spent the last few months working in the community on general emergency preparedness and starting a new emergency preparedness web site ReadySmart.com. We have been conducting public forums and working with neighborhood associations and city government to increase the publics awareness on emergency preparation. People are receptive to emergency preparedness once they better understand the need for it.
It is each of our responsibilities to prepare for our families and ourselves. Even the best-prepared cities will not be able to care for its citizens in a major disaster. Everyone needs to have a
three-day kit to provide for the basics of food, water, shelter, sanitation, and first aid. Three-day kits should be supplemented with personal items such as medication, cash in small denominations, and definitely clean underwear.
The American Red Cross has "get a kit" as their number one step to preparation. This overcomes the inertia most of us experience at putting together a kit and is economical too. Another benefit of commercial kits is that they provide supplies that are designed for an emergency such as food that does not invoke thirst and has a five-year shelf life thus simplifying kit maintenance for ease of kit maintenance.
If you live in an area prone to hazards such as fire, severe storms, flooding or urban areas where you may be subject to shelter in place warnings then you should have a
Public Alert Certified Radio. These radios are great as they will turn themselves on to alert you to the hazard and can be easily programmed to alert you to hazards only in your area. So if you don't have the TV on or are sleeping you will not miss the Alert that could give you precious minutes to take action.
The real trick to being prepared is to act now. Don't put off the preparation to another day or that day may end up being to late. Instead take steps today to prepare, knowing you can become even better prepared tomorrow.
