Businesses can do much to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today’s world including natural hazards like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and widespread serious illness such as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic, and human-caused hazards such as accidents, acts of violence and acts of terrorism. Technology-related hazards are also something to prepare for, which include the failure or malfu

nction of systems, equipment or software.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Red Cross both have excellent resources to assist business in their preparedness efforts.

FEMA has developed The Ready Business Toolkit series, which includes hazard-specific versions for earthquake, hurricane, inland flooding, power outage, and severe wind/tornado. Toolkits offer business leaders a step-by-step guide to build preparedness within an organization. Each toolkit contains the following sections:

• Identify Your Risk
• Develop A Plan
• Take Action
• Be Recognized and Inspire Others

The American Red Cross has created the Ready Rating Program, a free preparedness program to help evaluate and improve emergency preparedness levels. This program uses a guided checklist to ensure that businesses assess their current preparedness level correctly and provides guidance on the steps they should take next.

 

Each school day, our nation’s schools are entrusted to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for approximately 55 million elementary and secondary school students in public and nonpublic schools. Like individuals, families, and businesses, schools should consider creating site-specific emergency plans.

The U.S. Department of Education‘s Readiness and Emergency Management (REMS) for Schools Technical Assistance Center has a wealth of information that can assists schools in developing plans for their facility, students, and staff, including:

• EOP Assist, a free software application to develop and update high-quality, customized emergency operations plans (EOPs)
• Virtual training on a variety of topics
• Live training available by request for on-site delivery
• A searchable, online library of free, downloadable tools developed by school emergency managers in the field
• REMS technical assistance center staff are available to respond to direct requests for technical assistance on a variety of topics pertaining to emergency operations planning for schools, districts, and institutions of higher education.

Does your school have a preparedness plan? If not, perhaps you should consider volunteering to assist in the process.

Further information on planning for your school, care facility, or institution can be found by visiting The U.S. Department of Education‘s Readiness and Emergency Management (REMS) for Schools Technical Assistance Center.

For the millions of Americans who have physical, medical, sensory or cognitive disabilities, emergencies such as fires, floods and acts of terrorism present a real challenge. The same challenge also applies to the elderly and other special needs populations.

Protecting yourself and your family when disaster strikes requires planning ahead. Where will you, your family, your friends or personal care attendants be when an emergency or disaster strikes? You, and those you care about, could be anywhere – at home, work, school or in transit. How will you find each other? Will you know your loved ones will be safe?

Emergencies and disasters can strike quickly and without warning and can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.

You are in the best position to plan for your own safety as you are best able to know your possible needs during and after an emergency or disaster situation. With your family and care attendants, you will need to create a personal support network and complete a personal assessment. Knowing what to do is your best protection and your responsibility.  To learn more about creating a plan to fit your needs, visit FEMA.gov.

For many of us, our pets are important members of our household. Unfortunately, animals can also be affected by disaster, so we must plan for them just as we plan for other members of our family.

The likelihood that you and your animals will survive an emergency such as a fire, flood, or earthquake depends largely on the steps you take before those incidents occur. Some of the things you can do to prepare, such as assembling an pet emergency supply kit, are the same for any emergency. Including your pet in your emergency plan is important. Whether you decide to stay put in an emergency or evacuate to a safer location, you will need to make plans in advance for your pets. Keep in mind that what's best for you is typically what's best for your animals.

Plan for pet needs during a disaster by:

• Identifying shelter. For public health reasons, many emergency shelters cannot accept pets. Use a guide or an app to determine what nearby hotels/motels allow pets. Consider loved ones or friends outside of your immediate area who would be willing to host you and your pets in an emergency.
• Create an emergency kit for your pet. Aim for 2 weeks of supplies, as with your own kit. Include pet food, bottled water, medications, veterinary records, cat litter/pan, manual can opener, food dishes, first aid kit and other supplies specific to your pet’s needs. Also consider making this kit portable so it could be easily brought with you if disaster hits.
• Make sure identification tags are up-to-date and securely fastened to your pet's collar. If possible, attach the address and/or phone number of your evacuation site. If your pet gets lost, his tag is his ticket home.
• Make sure you have a current photo of your pet for identification purposes.
• Make sure you have a secure pet carrier, leash or harness for your pet so that if he panics, he can't escape.
• If your pet has a microchip, ensure your contact information is correct and your subscription is current (if applicable). Add a current photo to their profile.
• Make a back-up emergency plan in case you can't care for your animals yourself. Develop a buddy system with neighbors, friends, and relatives to make sure that someone is available to care for or evacuate you are unable.