We just received this very interesting infogram from securitydegreehub.com/bioterrorism. No one wants to even think about such a terrible thing happening to anyone; but from the history and information below, it has occurred with devastating results. We must be better prepared.
We never know what the future will hold! This is why it’s important to prepare for emergencies by storing food and water, not only in your home, but in the workplace as well. Employers should have an emergency and disaster plan in place to ensure that their employees will be protected should an unexpected event occur. If your workplace doesn’t have a plan, it’s important to suggest that they create one or contact your local Emergency Management Office to get the ball rolling.
Contact with Loved Ones
The most frustrating thing that can happen during an emergency situation is to lose contact with your loved ones. To avoid this, all employees should have a predetermined communication plan ready to go. For example, setting up a land line for your home and obtaining phone numbers for company and school landlines gives you additional options for communication should cell towers go down. It’s important to think of every possibility and establish an emergency communication plan that everyone knows.
Food Storage
Help establish a plan of action in the workplace by talking to your employer. Many companies have caught on to this and have created storage spaces for emergency food and supplies. This ensures that their employees would have access to the resources they’d need for at least a couple of days until help could arrive. High quality food storage items are available at reasonable prices online and in stores. You can find products for bulk sized a-la-carte items as well as meal kits and food staples. These will typically come with shelf lives in the double digits to ensure quality, value and dependability when you need them most.
Communication with Local Authorities
When people in a large area are in an emergency situation, 9-1-1 emergency dispatch can be over-worked and unresponsive. Make a list of the numbers you would need to call in an emergency and keep it posted where every employee can access it easily. Examples of important numbers to list are as follows: Local police stations, state police stations, local offices of Homeland Protection, local National Guard offices, local relatives and friends, out-of-state relatives and friends, American Red Cross, and state and local emergency management offices.
First-Aid
Keeping a fully stocked and easy to use first-aid kit is vital when preparing an emergency plan. This can help you manage any injuries quickly and potentially keep them at bay should additional help be delayed. Providing basic first-aid and CPR training will also be an important aspect of fully preparing your office for first-aid in an emergency situation.
Getting Started
It’s estimated that 80% of adults work for a small company, and most small companies don’t have an emergency plan in place. It’s important for you to talk to someone in the workplace about setting a plan. Start working on emergency preparedness goals and long-term food and water storage. Take one step at a time and determine what you need to make and meet these goals. Set your priorities so you can accomplish each goal. It’s also a good idea to have an office meeting to go over important goals, numbers, and plans in case of an emergency or disaster.
To help you get started on the process of building an effective emergency plan for your workplace, we’ve provided a list of specific questions you should ask yourself to get fully prepared. Follow the list below and get started today!
About Augason Farms
For more than 40 years, Augason Farms has provided quality food storage and emergency supplies to home and business owners throughout the U.S. Our high quality kits and a-la-carte items provide our customers with easy and affordable solutions for starting an emergency food storage supply.
We thank our guest author for this very informative article, which should give us all “food for thought” about an unforeseen emergency while we are at work! pb
September is National Preparedness Month. Citizens of the United States and other countries are targets for terrorists. We have seen examples of the violence thrust upon our foreign ambassadors and others who represent our country to help bring peace to their nations. Our troops in Afghanistan have been killed and injured by certain terrorists, disguised in U.S. military uniforms. It has been a game of “Who Do You Trust” in Iraq and Afghanistan for too long. We must not let our guard down.
Preparedness, as defined by Department of Homeland Security/FEMA, is a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response. This cycle is one element of a broader National Preparedness System to prevent, respond to, and recover from natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other disasters.
Strategic and operational planning establishes priorities. The National Response Framework establishes the guiding principles that enable all response partners to prepare for and provide a unified national response to disasters and emergencies from the smallest incident to the largest catastrophe.
Homeland security begins with hometown security. The nationwide “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign is a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime. It also emphasizes the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper local law authorities. When you see something suspicious taking place, report that behavior or activity to local law enforcement or call 9-1-1. Race, ethnicity, national origin or religious affiliation alone are not reasons for suspicions. The public should report only suspicious behavior and situations such as an unattended backpack in a public place, someone trying to break into a restricted area, or other threatening scenarios. Reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with federal partners. (An example of this is last week’s threat of bombs being placed on the University of Texas campus, as well as two bomb threats in one week at North Dakota State University.) The campaign, originally used by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has licensed the use of the slogan to DHS for anti-terrorism and anti-terrorism crime related efforts.
Increasingly sophisticated use of the mainstream and social media, the internet, and information technology by violent extremists adds another layer of complexity. These threats are neither constrained by international borders nor limited to any single ideology. Groups and individuals inspired by a range of political, religious, or other ideological beliefs have promoted and used violence against the homeland.
International partners with the DHS include the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Denmark and Australia, along with international law enforcement organizations such as Europol. Our Department of Homeland Security also holds conferences and workshops for law enforcement to better educate them about countering violent extremism. Along with the Department of Justice, DHS has trained hundreds of thousands of front line officers on suspicious activities reporting and Counter Violent Extremism. DHS has issued grants that directly support local law enforcement efforts to understand, recognize, prepare for, prevent, and respond to terrorist pre-cursor activity, and raise public awareness and vigilance through the campaign, “If You See Something, Say Something.”
We all must work together to keep our country safe.
Source: Department of Homeland Security
It’s hard to say if the old saying “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” applies to every part of the world. It seems like the lion has been showing more of his teeth lately, with the horrible tragedies in Japan – an earthquake, tsunami, and the nuclear concerns. Also, in the United States, tornadoes have already hit several areas. Every year they start a littler earlier, or so it appears! Floods, as well, have occurred as a result of heavy rains in certain parts of the country, and drought in others. It’s either feast or famine, when it comes to the weather.
In the eastern United States, March came in like a lamb, but is really threatening to go out like a lion. In Texas, we have seen a few beautiful spring days; however, we have experienced some very unusually cold and windy March days, too. Whatever has gone on in your corner of the world, it is hoped that it will get better soon. April hopefully will bring showers, as rain is really needed in our state. The threat of wildfires continues because of extremely dry conditions.
It is hard to realize that the first three months of 2011 have already passed us by. We need to start preparing for spring and warm weather. A few pretty days get us motivated to get outside and start yard work. Take your time and gradually build up, as those muscles may not be quite ready for a full-throttle workout. Stock up on work gloves, Eye safety glasses, (for trimming tree limbs and mowing grass), and wear long-sleeves on your arms, and sunscreen on your face. Spring brings a new beginning for the rest of the year, and it’s a time we all look forward to – before the heat comes around!
Think about stocking up your emergency kit just in case bad weather should happen. Keep plenty of water handy, some non-perishable foods, flashlights, NOAA weather radio, batteries, pet food, and other supplies ready. Pay attention to weather warnings in your area. Know where you can pick up your school children in case of a weather emergency, or where they will be taken for safety at their school. Preparedness pays, regardless of weather conditions, or any other emergency situation. Most everyone loves springtime, and yet Mother Nature can find ways to really get our attention during that season.
Last, but not least, here’s hoping that everyone’s final day of March will mosey on out like a sweet little lamb. But beware……….there’s one more thing to be prepared for: April Fools’ Day!
Tuesday, February 22nd, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the island nation of New Zealand, causing damage to its’ second-largest city, Christchurch, which has a population of around 400,000 persons. This was an “aftershock” that followed a September 2010 earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.0. At this time, there are at least 75 persons dead and hundreds still trapped.
Search and rescue teams from the United Kingdom, Australia, United States and Japan are responding to offer aid in finding those still trapped. These teams are experts at recovering trapped persons under structural collapse; emergency workers, doctors, engineers, and search dogs comprise these teams. Google has launched a person finder on its website. Their crisis response page lists emergency phone numbers, maps, and other resources. This service was also offered following the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.
Some buildings survived the earthquake better than others, because of more rigorous building standards over the past five years. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Graeme Beattie, a local structural engineer, who had worked with a reconnaissance team in Seattle after the Nisqually earthquake, and again in Chile after 2010’s Maule earthquake, reported that stricter local building regulations that had taken place in the mid-2000’s appeared to have been beneficial to Christchurch. Of course, we are seeing older buildings that did not fare so well, and understandably so.
It seems to me that an earthquake would be one of the worst natural disasters to really be ready for. Those who live in areas prone to earthquakes would be wise to do all they can to be prepared, just as persons who live in tornado-prone areas should know where the nearest shelter or storm cellar is, and what to do in that type of emergency.
For earthquake preparedness, here are some suggestions from the United States Geological Society. These steps are taken based on “The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety” handbook, Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country:
Most of these suggestions would apply in different emergency situations, as stated. We have talked about emergency supply kits and being prepared in many articles. But truthfully, have we done anything about it? I need to get things better organized. We never know what may be coming. To the people of New Zealand, we pray for successful rescues of the many who are missing, and that they will be able to come back from this devastating earthquake better than ever.
Source: USGS