EDEN is in a lineup of National Preparedness Month partners in the Community Preparedness Webinar Series. The presentation, “Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN): Improving Disaster Preparedness through Education: An overview of the opportunities for disaster preparedness education provided by EDEN,” is September 8 at 2 pm EDT. No registration necessary to join the webinar (http://citizencorps.gov/news/webcasts.shtm). Sign in early—the webinar starts promptly on the hour!
The following post was prepared by Abby Lillpop.
September marks the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC. September is also National Preparedness Month (NPM), and this year’s theme is “A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare” to remember those lost in the 9/11 attacks as well as to encourage everyone to prepare now for future emergencies.
September was founded as NPM following 9/11 to increase preparedness in the U.S. It is a time to prepare yourself and those in your care for an unexpected emergency. 2011 has brought unexpected tornadoes, devastating wildfires, historic earthquakes, and flash flooding to name a few of the disasters that have affected millions this year. Each of these events proves a disaster can hit anytime, anywhere, and affect people just like you.
This September, please prepare and plan in the event you must go for three days without electricity, water service, access to a supermarket, or local services. Just follow these three steps:
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Get a Kit: Keep enough emergency supplies on hand for you and those in your care – water, non-perishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, and battery-powered radio – for a checklist of supplies visit Ready.gov.
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Make a Plan: Discuss, agree on, and document an emergency plan with those in your care. For sample plans, see Ready.gov. Work together with neighbors, colleagues and others to build community resilience.
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Be Informed: Free information is available to assist you from federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial resources. You can find preparedness information by:
- Accessing EDEN.lsu.edu and/or FEMA’s Ready.gov to learn what to do before, during, and after an emergency
- Contacting your local emergency management agency to get essential information on specific hazards to your area, local plans for shelter and evacuation, ways to get information before and during an emergency, and how to sign up for emergency alerts if they are available
- Contacting your local firehouse and asking for a tour and information about preparedness
EDEN has partnered with FEMA each year to promote NPM and offers resources available on the EDEN website. To help our communities prepare for disaster, consider joining the National Preparedness Month Coalition. It’s easy to join the coalition — register here. Please sign up individual colleges and their locations with EDEN as affiliation so that local communities can identify them among the college and university list and by state. The calendar for activities is also accessible from this site. You can also sign up as individuals. The daily blog is a compendium of what interested members of the public and those working on preparedness share with the list.
What activities are you planning to promote NPM?
