Seeing as I always like to schedule October for fire drill and all things fire prevention, one of the key items that I like to talk about is emergency preparedness. This includes preparedness at home.
Making sure that you are prepared at home is in my opinion of greater importance than preparation at work. It is important and in some jurisdictions required at work, but taking care of your family and loved ones is top priority.
Thinking of all the disasters and incidents happening around us, it is important to be prepared.
Here are some key items to consider to be prepared if an emergency were to happen close to you.
Meetup plan: Knowing where you will meet up with your loved ones in the event that you are in different places when disaster strikes is reassuring. Have a plan of where you will meet and/or communicate if possible if the inevitable happens. Review this and practice or talk about it to keep it fresh in everyone’s mind. I recommend that you do this each year. Pick a time of year that makes sense for you. It may be in October, or you may be in a location where seasonal weather will be your trigger to review your plan.
Emergency Supplies: It’s critical to have emergency supplies on hand to be able to stay safe and healthy. A couple of things to consider could be an emergency kit in your vehicle, your day bag, at the workplace and especially at home. I know that I am probably an extremist on this, but let me share with you what I keep for emergency supplies. At my home I have a couple of fire extinguishers, some bottled water, power banks, flashlights, first aid supplies, canned goods and some camping supplies that I could access if needed. Some additional items that you may want to include would be medications, cash, food, pet supplies, etc. In my vehicle, I have a safety vest, steel toed boots, a flashlight, a first aid kit, some water and some warm clothing. At my office, I have a couple of granola bars, water and some bandaids. What will you put in your emergency kits. I would love to hear what you include or that I forgot. Let me know here!
Know the hazards: This encompasses a couple of items. First, having a radio or a way that you can get information on the emergency at hand will help you make better choices on what to do next. Being aware of weather systems or incidents that may happen will be important. Secondly, know what hazards are around you and how to deal with your home. You may live close to a river that may also flood in a situation, or you may live on an earthquake fault like or near a power transformer. Think also about how to turn off the natural gas, electricity or other hazards in the event of an emergency.
Being prepared involves a lot of aspects and it probably seems scary or overwhelming to think about. That’s OK. Knowledge is power and the better prepared you are, the more at peace you can be because of the plan that you have in place.
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