Saturday, April 4, 2009

Emergency Preparedness: Get Ready!

STEP 1: We prepared disaster/earthquake kits for our home/cars, and also got our home ready, safe and bolted. See how to here & here.

STEP 2: We actively looked for ways to be prepared/trained/able to help the community in the event of an emergency (that was tougher.)

STEP 3: We enlisted to the LAFD's CERT programs, which are available throughout town. We encourage everyone concerned about how they can protect their cherished ones and help their neighbors in the event of an emergency to attend those great, free classes (7 x 2.5 hours.) The Red Cross also offers preparedness classes, but we haven't tested them (if only because they are not available in Santa Monica where we live.)

STEP 4: Today, we took the Red Cross' Adult/CPR/AED Infant & Child CPR + First Aid Class: yes, it ate most of our Saturday, and it cost us $68 a pop, but how insignificant is that compared to our new ability to help our family and community in the event of a disaster? Two useful Red Cross videos if you can't afford the time or money: Intro to disaster services + Be Red Cross ready.

Bottom line? It all should be much better coordinated and communicated to the public, but it is not, and getting prepared requires dedicated, proactive probing to know what to do. Want to avoid another personal/community Katrina? Get ready!
UPDATE: Op-Ed in NYT: All Disasters Are Local
photo of Santa Monica Red Cross truck LA Frog

No comments: