Picture caption: Commissioner Terence Farrell, Deputy Director for Emergency Management Bill Turner, Commissioner Michelle Kichline, and Commissioner Kathi Cozzone
At today's Chester County Board of Commissioners' meeting, a proclamation was read for declaring September as National Preparedness Month. National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort held each September to encourage citizens to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes,businesses, and communities. Bill Turner, Deputy Director for Emergency Management in the Department of Emergency Services accepted the proclamation stating that this year's theme, "Disasters Happen. Prepare Now. Learn How." is appropriate with Hurricane Florence getting ready to make landfall in the Carolina's. This campaign is to remind us all that developing a personal disaster plan, getting a disaster kit ready, and keeping ourselves informed is important to make sure that we survive any emergency that may happen.
There are simple steps to take to prepare yourself and your family.
- Sign up for ReadyChesCo; Chester County's emergency alert system so that you can be notified of the emergencies that you want to know about. This is an opt in program where you select what type of emergencies you want to be notified of; for instance, sever weather alerts, missing person alerts and notifications from your municipality. To register visit www.readychesco.org
- Develop a Safety Profile in the Smart911 program. Chester County just recently put in place Smart911 which is a program that you register for and the information you provide in your Safety Profile will automatically show on a 9-1-1 Telecommunicator telephone screen when you call 9-1-1 for assistance. The information you provide - medical information, or special circumstance information about your family, can be provided to emergency responders on their way to help you. To register for Smart911 visit www.smart911.com
- Put together an emergency supply kit that will allow you and your family to survive for at least 3 days in the event an emergency happens. In a major disaster it may take emergency responders a while to get to you.
- Plan in advance what you and your family will do in an emergency. If you are separated - you are at work and your kids are at school - have a family or friend out of the area be your contact person so you all can call them to check in.
- Be informed of the different threats that may happen in your community, whether man-made or natural disasters, and learn the appropriate ways to respond to those threats.
- After getting yourself and your family prepared, take the next step - get training in first aid and emergency response - then get involved in preparing your community.
For more information on how to prepare visit www.readypa.gov