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Earthquakes
can occur anywhere, at any time and with little warning. Larger earthquakes can
cause death, injury, and extensive property damage. Most injuries occur when
people trip or fall running away during the earthquake. Stay safe during an earthquake by following
these steps:
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DROP down onto your hands and knees so you aren't knocked down by the earthquake;
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COVER your head and neck with your arms to protect yourself from falling debris. If you are in danger from falling objects, move to a safer place by crawling; and
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HOLD ON to any sturdy covering so you can move with it until the shaking stops.
Earthquakes
aren't preventable, but personal injury can be! Learn more about earthquake
safety in the How to
Prepare for an Earthquake guide and animated video
from America's PrepareAthon! You can also view hashtag #DropCoverHoldOn to see the earthquake preparedness conversation from @ShakeOut
during their Twitter chat held on August 12, 2015. This Twitter chat is part of a 7-week series
of dialogues promoting Earthquake Country Alliance’s Seven Steps to
Earthquake Safety.
There
are just two more Twitter chats left in the series! Be sure to join @ShakeOut
at 11 AM PT/ 2 PM ET for the following conversations:
- August 19: Improve Safety
- August 26: Reconnect And Restore
Don’t let the dog
days of summer get you down! Learn how to beat the heat by following tips provided
in the Heat Safety Social Media Toolkit. The Ready Campaign and America’s
PrepareAthon! developed heat safety messages to share on your social
media networks. You can also adapt the social media content to fit your
community’s needs.
Get started today!
Here are some things you can do to promote heat safety:
- Download the Heat Safety Social Media Toolkit and graphics. They are the last two items listed on the 2015 Seasonal Social Media Toolkits page of the FEMA documents library;
- Update your Facebook cover with a heat safety graphic; and
- Use the hashtags: #BeatTheHeat, #HeatSafety, #SummerSafety;
and attach a graphic from the toolkit.
We
all have a role in preparing our communities for disasters, and organizing a
community preparedness activity is one way to get started. The
Ready Campaign identifies
five steps along with valuable resources for making your community safer, more
resilient, and better prepared:
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Identify Local Partners. Look for programs that are already doing good work such as Citizen Corps Councils and Community Emergency Response Teams;
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Build a Team. Citizen Corps Council meetings are a valuable tactic for recruiting volunteers;
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Set Goals. Clear goals helps increase accountability;
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Serve Your Community. Find out what your community is doing to prepare for emergencies; and
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Celebrate Success. Thank your volunteers after every event, and encourage them to sign up for the next activity.
Find out more information
about each of these steps and start planning! When you complete your
preparedness activity, be sure to add it to the America’s
PrepareAthon! website so members of your team can be counted as participants in
this national grassroots campaign for action to get people better prepared for
emergencies.
Are
you a parent or caregiver of a school-aged child? Disasters can strike at any
time, even during school hours. As a new
school year begins, it’s important for you to know how your child’s school
handles emergencies. The Ready Campaign suggests
asking the following questions about your child's school emergency plan:
- How does the school plan on communicating with you in the event of a disaster?
- Does the school store adequate water, food and other basic supplies?
- Does the school have a plan for students to shelter in place?
- If not, where will students go if they must evacuate?
You can never be too informed when it comes
to school safety plans. Popular preparedness blogger, The Survival Mom, lists
other questions you might want to ask, so be sure to check out her blog.
If your child’s school doesn’t have an
emergency plan, consider volunteering to help create one. Parents and
caregivers will be better prepared to safely reunite with their child if plans
are made ahead of time.
“Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan
Today.” Get ready for National
Preparedness Month in September. Making and testing your plan is
also one of the 10 Ways to
Participate in America’s PrepareAthon!
Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the
federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster
preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events,
entities, organizations, services or products. Please let us know about other events
and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included
in future newsletters by contacting citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov.
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