Kingston, NY – September is National Preparedness Month (NPM) and Ulster County Executive Mike Hein has announced the County’s support for this important initiative. The event, now in its eleventh year, is a nationwide, month-long effort started by the Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, encouraging households, businesses and communities to prepare and plan for emergencies.
“This critical initiative reminds all citizens to have a basic level of preparedness because unfortunately, we never know when a disaster will occur as we’ve seen in the past with Hurricanes Irene and Sandy,” said County Executive Hein. “If Ulster County residents are prepared for disasters, whether it is natural or man-made, it empowers them to help themselves and their neighbors and assist in emergency efforts if such a disaster occurs.”
“This year’s theme is `Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare´ focusing on increasing emergency preparedness through hazard-specific drills, group discussions and exercises,” said Ulster County Commissioner of Health and Mental Health, Dr. Carol Smith. “The Ulster County Department of Health, Mental Health, and other County agencies train for multiple disaster scenarios, however no amount of training can prepare you for every situation. That is why we need every responsible citizen to do what they can to prepare to ride out disasters in the short term until help arrives, including helping our friends and neighbors who may not be able to care for themselves. Families should consider making a plan that includes who to call, where to meet and what to pack."
One of NPM’s key messages is: be prepared in the event an emergency causes you to be self-reliant for three days without utilities and electricity, water service, access to a supermarket or local services, or maybe even without response from police, fire or rescue. Preparing can start with four important steps:
1. Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.
2. Make a plan for what to do in an emergency. Develop a written, family (and business/organization) disaster plan and review it with everyone, so that everyone knows what to do, where to go and how to communicate in the event of a serious emergency.
3. Build an emergency supply kit.
4. Get involved.
For more information about the Ready Campaign and National Preparedness Month, visit http://community.fema.gov/connect.ti/READYNPM or call 1-800-BE-READY (1-800-237-3239), or contact the Ulster County Department of Health – Public Health Preparedness Program at (845) 334-5540/5538.
