Melissa
Kaplan's
Herp Care Collection
Last update
January 1, 2014
The better prepared you are, the better you will be able to cope with your family, pets, and neighbors
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Melissa
Kaplan's |
Emergency
Preparedness The better prepared you are, the better you will be able to cope with your family, pets, and neighbors
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If you aren't prepared, what are you waiting for? While state and federal agencies urge people to be prepared to take care of themselves for three days, assuming that it will take that long for first responders (such as fire, police, and trained medical personnel with ambulances), first responders and other trained disaster responders believe we should be prepared to be on our own a week or longer. Why? Because unless you live in the areas of heaviest devastation, your area won't be considered critical enough to send limited first responder resources to. Even in the epicenter of major destruction, it may take time for first responders to reach the scene because of having to dig themselves and their equipment and supplies out, and then get into the disaster area. The only person you can rely on is yourself and those around you who are similarly prepared. You can increase your chances of survival and reduce the problems associated with being the only prepared person in a neighborhood (or mobilehome park, or large apartment complex, or cul de sac buried in suburbia) by getting some training yourself in emergency preparedness, and working with some of your like-minded neighbors to get your neighborhood trained and organized. If you think I am being overly pessimistic, just read these recent article from the San Francisco Chronicle, keeping in mind that most police and fire personnel in San Francisco don't live in San Francisco: For those who live in Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas, compare the location of the Rogers Creek Fault that underlies most of the city east of the 101, and look at where the sheriff's office, police department, Memorial and Sutter hospitals, and the radio and television stations are, not to speak of the highway 101 overpasses that cross the main east-west streets across town. West Sonoma County is thus bordered by two major faults: San Andreas on the west (running through Tomales and Bodega Bays) and Rogers Creek. The county is situated on sandy, alluvial soil, which increases the degree of damage to anything sitting on and just under the earth's surface. A recent (2007) study says that the Rogers Creek fault is due for a major shift (Experts say local fault primed for big quake). The City of Santa Rosa and Community Media Center has available for viewing on its site a short documentary on the 1906 earthquake which devastated the city, and an overview of how the city has been planning for the next big one, recognizing that the city and county with both sustain major destruction and loss of life due to the nature of the soil on which we have built. The DVD of this documentary, Earthquake 1906: A Santa Rosa Centennial, can be purchased from the producer, Community Media Center. Fire Jump to: Get Your Block, Neighborhood or Workplace Together Get Your Emergency Information Together Other Disaster & Emergency Information Resources Melissa Kaplan's Personal Emergency Planning Checklist for People & Pets (PDF) |
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Poison Hotlines Additional Animal Poison & First Aid resources
Pets American Veterinary Medical Association Disaster Preparedness Disaster Preparedness for Bird and Reptile Owners Emergency Planning for Reptile and Amphibian Collections Emergency Tips For Service Animal And Pet Owners (ILRSF) First Aid Kits for Reptiles, Dogs & Cats First Aid/Wound Management for Reptiles Giant Snake & Lizard Bites: Open Letter to Emergency Responders PetFinder's Emergency Preparedness Preparing Your Pet For The Big One PDF Signs of Ingestion of Toxic Substances When Disaster Strikes: Are your pets prepared? Search the articles database at VeterinaryPartner.com for more first aid and emergency handling of injured pets... See CERT-LA's Special Considerations page for more booklets and resources for people with disabilities, kids, and pets
NFPA Fire Safety For People with Disabilities National Organizaiton on disAbilities Disaster Readiness Tips Emergency Preparedness: Taking Responsibility for your Safety PDF Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities PDF Emergency Tips For Service Animal And Pet Owners PDF Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs (FEMA) See CERT-LA's Special Considerations page for more booklets and resources for people with disabilities, kids, and pets
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Proactive: Fill Out A Household & Emergency Infomation Form One Page Sample Information Stash - everything you'll need in condensed form (PDF) MedID's Free Emergency Medical Informationj Form
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Proactive: Training Opportunities American Red Cross - check your local chapter's courses Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Sonoma
County CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams)
Be Proactive: Get Your Block, Neighborhood or Workplace Together Get Organized: Neighborhood Census Form Word; PDF Sonoma
County CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) CERT-LA's Home/Work Preparedness Resources
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Proactive: Other Things You Need To Know For, During, and After Disasters How To Survive a Disaster - Lessons learned Disaster Mental Health Resources (for professionals and the public) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Information Center Managing Traumatic Stress: Tips for Recovering from Natural Disasters Managing Traumatic Stress: Disasters and Terrorism National Mental Health Information Center (Mentalhealth.gov)
California State and Sonoma County Emergency Services Agencies Californa OES > Sonoma County Dept of Emergency Services > Emergency Preparedness Maps California Veterinary Medical Associaton > Disaster Planning California Department of Food & Agriculture > Disaster Preparedness Sonoma & Mendocino Chapter of the American Red Cross 72Hours.org - provided by the City of San Francisco Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies (COPE) (Intro video)
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Proactive: Get Your Kits Together QUAKE! Living on the Fault Line Family Disaster Supply Calendar: A 24 Week Plan to Preparedness - A good plan for those on limited income or otherwise too overwhelmed with trying to do it all at once. Family Disaster Supply Calendar: A 16 Week Plan to Preparedness - Another good plan for everyone Get A Kit, Make A Plan, Be Informed (Red Cross interactive) Preparing Your Pet For The Big One (Peninsula Humane Society) Personal Emergency Information - everything you'll need to remember on one piece of paper (Word; PDF)
Other Disaster and Emergency Information and Resources American Red Cross - Sonoma, Mendocino & Lake Counties Chapter FEMA Guide to Emergency Preparedness What's Your RQ (Readiness Quotient)? USGS: Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country
Now That You're All Prepared... You've done a great job! You have all of your emergency contacts and other info noted down, you have your will, advance care directive and other instruments executed, you've got your pets and kids and other criticals documented...the only problem is, it's five years later and you haven't even looked at them since you first put them down on paper or in a computer file! People change, lives change, situations change, but your original documents don't know that unless you sit down, review them annually, and make the necessary updates. You've done such a good job - it would be a shame to let all that hard work go to waste! Schedule time with yourself, putting your appointment with you in your date book - every year. You and your family is going to be stressed enough when the unthinkable happens, so why make it worse by having only outdated information to refer to? Just do it. .
The
Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why? "The Unthinkable is the thinking person's manual for getting out alive." - NPR Radio “Engrossing and lucid … An absorbing study of the psychology and physiology of panic, heroism, and trauma … Facing the truth about the human capacity for risk and disaster turns out to be a lot less scary than staying in the dark.” - Oprah Magazine "This book will help those who've never faced disaster to understand their own behavior and be prepared should their luck runout one day." Nando Parrado, Miracle in the Andes Amazon US; Amazon.CA; Amazon UK; Buy.com
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