Emergency Preparedness Plan - Do You Have One?
With the world opening up and schools back in session, there will be many moving parts. What will you do in the event of an emergency? Are you prepared for one? Chances are with quarantine, you’ve gone through some of your supply. Here are three basic steps for developing an emergency preparedness plan.
Step 1
Make the plan. What should your plan entail? An actual plan! Do you know your meeting places? How about the name and number of a person you can stay with? How will you get to your safe place? Do you know what emergency zone you live in? How about the emergency zone you work in? All of this needs to be outlined in your plan. After you compose it, make sure you store it someplace safe and accessible.
Step 2
Gather the supplies needed. In the winter never keep the gas tank under half-full (I prefer to do this all year), find a safe place to store gasoline, grab a Judy bag, identification folder, analog radio, fire blanket and flares.
Step 3
Get informed— Know the emergency broadcast station in your area. Know your evacuation route, nearest shelter and numbers for all. Learn about what needs what. What to do in the event of a gas leak, fire, etc? Many of these emergencies require different responses.
To help you with your emergency preparedness plan, Shapely has composed a supply checklist. Feel free to use this as a tool to help with your plan but also keep in mind that this list is not the end all be all of emergency preparedness. As stated above do your research and learn what YOU need for YOUR area.
Bottled water and nonperishable food such as granola bars.
Copies of your important documents in a waterproof container. - Insurance cards, Medicare/Medicaid cards, birth certificates, IDs and even a physical ATM card to an emergency fund.
Flashlight
Hand-crank or battery operated radio with extra batteries
List of medications with why you take them and the doses
Contact info for your household members and support network
Cash in small bills
Notepad and pen
Backup medical equipment such as glasses, hearing aid batteries, chargers and nebulizers.
Supplies for a service animal or pet if you have one
Portable cell phone charger
Feminine hygiene products
Masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment
First Aid Kit
CPR Certifications and/or instruction card
If you’re in NYC like me, here are some websites that you may find helpful. If located elsewhere, it may benefit you to find the corresponding agency in your local municipality and record the information.
NYC emergency management - nyc.gov/emergencymanagement
Ready New York - Request materials and presentations - nyc.gov/readyny
NYC Citizen Corps for community planning resources and information - nyc.gov/citizencorps
Partners in Preparedness - Make sure your business is prepared - nyc.gov/partnersinpreparedness
Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder - nyc.gov/knowyourzone
Advance warning system - for organizations that serve people with disabilities - advancewarniningsystemnyc.org
Preparing for an emergency can be very intricate. If we’ve learned anything from COVID, it’s that its useless until it’s useful. Many of the things we overlooked in our busy day today became a necessity as the world closed and obtaining items, such as toilet paper, because a headache. If you have anything, you think one may find useful in an emergency plan feel free to leave it in the comments.
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