Are you Prepared? Emergency Preparedness Week Reminds Us to be Ready!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Perth County ― Emergency preparedness starts with you! May 5-11 is Emergency Preparedness Week across Canada and the Health Unit, along with other local organizations, is reminding residents that it’s important to be prepared. “Emergency preparedness is everyone’s responsibility” says Dale Lyttle, Senior Public Health Inspector. “Perth County residents need to be prepared to manage on their own for at least the first 72 hours of an emergency.”
The recent flooding in New Brunswick, Montreal, Ottawa and in the Muskoka area is a reminder that emergencies can strike at any time. Lyttle asks residents to think about how you and your family would manage if there was a flood in your home, an extended power outage, or damage to your house and property from a severe storm. Would you be able to get food easily? Would your water supply be interrupted? How would you communicate with family members?
Here are three simple steps to help you better prepare:
Make a Plan
In an emergency, your family may not be together, or you may be asked to evacuate your home. Thinking about what you would do in different situations and preparing a plan with every member of your family is the first step to being prepared.
Build an Emergency Survival Kit
Your emergency survival kit should have everything you and your family would need to be safe and take care of yourselves for at least three days immediately following an emergency.
Be Informed
There are two main ways that you can be informed about emergencies: sign up for Ontario’s Emergency Alerts, and learn more about the hazards you can face and how you can be prepared for them. During an emergency, you should stay tuned to local news channels. Be sure to have a portable, battery-operated or crank radio in your survival kit in case of power outages.
“Preparing for emergency situations will help lessen the impact and stress these events have on everyone,” says Lyttle.
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