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September is
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH
National Preparedness Month (NPM) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Ready Campaign. NPM is held each September and is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities.
- This September a large group of businesses and community organizations are combining efforts to assure Lincoln families are ready for those emergencies. Locally and nationally, National Preparedness Month emphasizes the urgent need for citizens to:
- Get an Emergency Supply Kit
- Make a Family Emergency Plan
- Be Informed
- Get Involved
- GET A KIT: Emergency kits for home use should include a 5-day supply of bottled water, food, blankets, medicines, and first aid supplies. Batteries and a portable radio or television are recommended for the kit.
- MAKE A PLAN: A family emergency plan should be developed so you know where your family should assemble, keeping contact with other family members, and how the family should act/react during the emergency.
- BE INFORMED: Inform yourself first. Family communication is important, but just as important is the need to keep up to date on the emergency itself. A portable radio and/or television and a wired telephone (not a cordless or cell phone) should be included with the kit. If electricity is unavailable, the wired land-line phone plugged directly into the phone socket will be powered by the telephone line itself so you can make emergency calls. Have a phone list in the kit that includes emergency numbers and the phone numbers of distant family members.
- GET INVOLVED: And stay involved in emergency planning. Remember, items in your emergency kit, such as batteries, food, and medicines, have expiration dates and need to be replaced periodically. Ways of handling different emergency situations can change. Your family size may change, so emergency plans need periodic review.
In Lincoln, and southeast Nebraska, several activities are planned for National Preparedness Month. Information is being circulated among public and parochial school families, a "Business Interruption Workshop" is planned-- specially aimed at helping small and non-profit businesses plan for disaster. Above all, your family will be safer for having made the preparations and provisions for a disaster.
- 2009 Disaster Preparedness Challenge: Open to individuals, families, classrooms, or workgroups in southeast Nebraska, this challenge is an opportunity to win prizes just for assembling a disaster kit for your household. To download the Preparedness Challenge form, click here.
If YOU participated in the DISASTER PREPAREDNESS CHALLENGE:
We ask that you take a few short moments to fill out this survey which will aid us in developing similiar programs in the future. Click here for the link. And thank you!
- Business Interruption Workshop: On the morning of Tuesday, September 29th, the UNL Extension Office will host a seminar entitled "Planning for Business Interruptions". This free seminar is intended for businesses and nonprofit organizations wanting to learn how to start or develop a Business Interruption Plan with limited time and resources.
- National Preparedness Month in the classroom: Trained instructors will be visiting select classrooms in Lincoln and Lancaster County to present information to students on preparedness.
- Get Involved : Learn about preparedness and help pass on the information to others! To download a simple, one-page flyer outlining the goals of National Preparedness Month, click here.
For more information on community preparedness in Lincoln and Lancaster County, visit the Lincoln-Lancaster County Emergency Management website.
In Other Parts of Nebraska, we will list preparedness activities here as we are made aware of them. If your organization wishes to have an activity or event related to National Preparedness Month listed here, please contact Brent Curtis (brent.curtis@nebraska.gov) at NEMA.
- Columbus: "Family Preparedness Day" at Hy-Vee - September 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sponsors include Platte County Emergency Management, Prarie Valley Red Cross, East Central District Health Department, the Columbus Area United Way, and Hy-Vee.
- Ready is a national public service advertising campaign produced in partnership with The Advertising Council that is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.
- The Campaign’s Web sites (ready.gov and listo.gov) and toll-free numbers (1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO) provide Americans with free emergency preparedness information.
Citizen Corps brings together community, emergency and government leaders to involve community members in emergency preparedness, planning, mitigation, response and recovery. More than 2,200 state, local, tribal and territorial governments in all 56 states and U.S. territories have formed Citizen Corps Councils, and every day new Councils are formed in communities around the country. These Councils enable collaborative planning between government and civic leaders and provide localized support for: outreach and educational efforts to the public; training and exercises that effectively integrate emergency responders, volunteers with a response role, and the general public; and volunteer programs that augment the full range of emergency response services
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