Tag: emergency preparedness

Categories
General Preparedness Preparedness Planning

5 Tips for Talking To Your Spouse about Emergency Preparedness

It can be difficult to bring your spouse around to the idea of emergency preparedness. It’s one thing to have a great intellectual and even heart-felt discussion about tragic disasters throughout the world or nationally that leave families and children hungry and without shelter. However, to convince your spouse to put some of your paycheck toward preparing for a flood or an earthquake takes some know-how.

1. Don’t Bombard Your Spouse with Information

Bring them along slowly, one step at a time. Don’t cram several worst case scenarios into a one hour meeting. Your spouse will shut down emotionally and mentally, even if they appear attentive and interested in what you have to say. Prioritize what you want to protect yourselves against first, based on your location and what’s happening in the news. For example, if major earthquakes are devastating different countries around the world, talk about the news with your spouse first, and use one meeting to talk about earthquake preparedness. Don’t suddenly transition into talking about preparing for bio-weapons or hurricanes, which can lead to information overload. Talk about “smaller” emergencies first, such as a flat tire after dark or a power outage that lasts for more than a day.

2. Be Prepared

To be effective in a discussion with your spouse about emergency preparedness, you must be prepared. Don’t come to the meeting without many answers, or that can cause your spouse to doubt that it’s worth preparing at all, or that you know what you’re doing. Learn about emergency preparedness and draft a plan. You should value your spouse’s input and wisdom, and modify your plan as needed. However, don’t show up empty handed, or answer “I don’t know” to most of the questions they will have.

3. Do the Math

Emergency preparedness takes money, for supplies, kits and some repairs to your home or cars. When money is tight, it can be hard to persuade a spouse to use what little money you do have for food storage, water filters and other necessities. Put your spouse at ease with a budget, showing them how you can both make this work. Most likely you both will have to make sacrifices in a spending area or two, and you should be ready to make suggestions on how much to cut or completely eliminate. Couch the budget to your spouse as a draft, and encourage them to help you modify it. Make “Emergency Preparedness” one category of the budget, and use subcategories underneath, such as “Light” and “Communications”.

4. Refer to Experts

Although you may be an expert on emergency preparedness because of all the reading and research you’ve done to date, it helps to show your spouse what the experts are saying. Find sources that your spouse considers credible, and share news and information on emergency preparedness from those experts or organizations. Invite them to read an article, blog post or other book with you, and follow that up with how you can apply what you’ve learned in your home. Ask questions and elicit commentary from your spouse, to help you figure out where they stand on emergency preparedness.

5. Attend a Class Together

Many spouses will agree to attend classes that benefit the family, such as a CPR class. Take advantage of attending classes together that your spouse will find beneficial, and that also relate to emergency preparedness. It’s a way to have someone else introduce the topic for you, and teach vital skills to you and your spouse at the same time. Class attendees and the teacher might share information and personal anecdotes on emergency preparedness that will reassure your spouse that it’s normal and responsible to be prepared.

Don’t delay speaking with your spouse about emergency preparedness. Before you get started, take the time you need to strategize your best approach using these 5 tips.

Categories
Charities/Groups we support Emergency Responders General Preparedness Personal Stories Preparedness Planning

Search Dogs in Haiti — coming home

As the efforts rescue efforts in Haiti wind down and the recovery phase begins,  think about what happens to all of the personnel who responded to the call for assistance, including the search dogs.  All will return to their ‘normal life’ back at home, whether it be a full time job as a firefighter or for many of the search dog handlers, going back to that ‘office job’.  As for the dogs, they go back to training and normal every day dogdom of eat, sleep, play, train (play and train since they should be the same thing).

I didn’t go to Haiti, Dunder and I have yet to be certified by FEMA. However, for the past two weeks I have had someone either stop by my office or send me an email  every day asking if I was going to get deployed.  I even had several people call to confirm meetings.  We will hopefully be attempting our FEMA certifications this summer, putting us on the roster to be deployed.  Dunder and I are now wilderness certified so we do respond that way. 

I know several handlers who were/are in Haiti and think about them every day.  In my experience as a search dog handler, there have been multiple day deployments which result in an almost euphoria filled feeling that when you get home, you go through something of a ‘aderinline crash’….meaning that you were so busy, you knew the job you were doing was incredibly important and getting home, back to the routine of your life, is some how a needed relief but incredibly anti climactic.  For me it often results in long bouts of sleep followed with the emotional release of a good cry.  (everyone handles it differently)

Guess what, dogs go through that too. 

In the case of Haiti or any other type of long term deployment, the dog was the center of their handlers attention, getting to go out and search (or for them, play) for hours with their handler, getting the attention of everyone else in the area and even checked regularly by a vet.  They also serve as an emotional balm to victims, other volunteers, the members of their own team and their handler.  Not to mention having the press follow them, random people asking to pet them and in general, being the center of the universe.  When the dog gets home, guess what, it’s back to just them and their handler and the every day routine of ‘just being a dog’.

One of the things as a handler we actually are trained to do, is watch out for ‘depression’ in our dogs.  This has more too do with the dog being so used to the attention, that when they get back home, they think that type of attention should continue.  We have to make sure they have an adjustment period.  In addition to trying to recover ourselves, we also have to help our dogs recover.  One of the best ways for us to make sure our dogs are mentally sharp is to continue to have them work, but to do as many fun things as possible in training.  Keeping up the motivation to train is sometimes very hard when you think no one cares several weeks after that big deployment is over.  We as a nation have a very short memory.  Don’t let these hero’s, whether they have two or four legs, be forgotten.

If you know someone who is a search dog handler or who went on this deployment to Haiti, the best thing you can do is thank them…then ask if you can hide for their dog to do a fun motivational search problem.  Also, thank them, agian in a month, and ask to hide for thier dog, agian.  Many, if not almost all of the handlers that went on the deployment to Haiti from the USA are volunteers, yes even those with the FEMA teams.  Some of the handlers are full time firefighters.  Most are volunteers who put their own personal life on hold to answer the call.  They are adjusting to being home, getting their life back in order, and having someone who will ask to be a victim can be a motivating tool for the handler.

If you are interested in becoming or learning more about becoming a search dog handler, you can go to www.k9handleracademy.com.  You should also spend some time and learn how to be prepared yourself for the type of natural disasters that are common in your area, have supplies stored.

As always, if you have questions, please ask.

Wags,

Robin and K9 Dunder  (NASAR Type I Area Search Team)

Categories
Uncategorized

High School Student on Emergency Preparedness

The Laguna Beach Independent in California reports that Brad Itnyre, a local high school junior, wrote emergency preparedness guidelines to help families prepare for disasters if they must live away from their home for three to five days. The guidelines begin with a recommendation to have an emergency survival kit with vital supplies. Next, Itnyre recommends the following:

For those who prepare ahead of time, surviving outside of their home can be easy. If there is access to a car, it can provide good shelter, the engine and heater can be run periodically in areas with a cold climate. Dangerous areas, such as damaged or destroyed buildings and places filled with hazardous items, should be avoided.

Before sleeping, make sure the shelter is not in an area where something could harm its occupants. If possible, stay in one place and do not move around, since you will be easier to find you stay in one place.

These are great tips and advice. It’s important that all children that age and even younger are well versed on what to do when disaster strikes. Don’t just buy and store your children’s survival kit. Pull it out and train them on what’s in it, how to use it, and go into great detail on plans to survive during an emergency.

Source:
http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/news/2009-12-11/School_(and)_Sports/Students_Guide_Prepares_Residents_for_the_Next_Dis.html

Categories
Uncategorized

Ice Storm Emergency Preparedness

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray of Massachusetts announced the release of $5.5 million toward the state’s share of reimbursements for expenses incurred by 165 communities across the state:

“When we woke up on Dec. 12, we were facing an unprecedented challenge,” Mr. Murray said. “In the days and weeks that followed, 350,000 households were without power.” Including, he noted, his own home — for five days.

According to the state, the ice storm of 2008 was Massachusetts’ most expensive disaster. Mr. Murray said the state continues to learn the total costs of the storm, as some repairs are unfinished. He said the total cost of what the 1,500 responding Army and Air National Guard members nicknamed “Big Ice” is expected to be $75 million.

As you can see, ice storms should not be taken lightly. It should be considered a part of your emergency preparedness plans, whether you live in the Northeast or another part of the country. One of the major ways to prepare for ice storms is to have supplies on hand for when the power goes out.

Even the lieutenant governor didn’t have power for 5 days. Could you survive for that long, or even longer, with what you have right now? Do you have the right survival kits to withstand an ice storm?

Source:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20091211/NEWS/912110428/1116

Categories
Uncategorized

You’re on Your Own in an Emergency

Emergency preparedness is a hot topic these days for many local government officials and spokespersons. A lot of grant money and other funds are going towards informing the public at large to be prepared. It’s as if they’re gearing up for the real possibility of emergencies occurring, and acknowledging at the same time that there are not enough first responders to help everyone. That’s being admitted in several statements in various communities across the globe. For example, Sybille Sanderson, the public safety education coordinator for the Cowichan Valley Regional District in Canada, warned residents of the need to prepare themselves for emergencies.

“If there’s an earthquake, how many here would be prepared?” Sanderson asked. “What we’re encouraging is that you don’t wait until you run out of food before you stock up and that you learn about what other things you can do to be best prepared.”

She said that if, for example, there is an earthquake — which experts say is inevitable on Vancouver Island — the likelihood of emergency crews being able to offer immediate help will likely be remote, so that means people will have to take care of themselves for days or even weeks.

She went on to state that individuals had better be ready to help each other rather than rely on police and firefighters. She’s absolutely right. Do you have the supplies and skills to respond to emergencies in your home and neighborhood?

Source:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/lakecowichangazette/news/78777457.html

Categories
Uncategorized

New York’s Emergency Preparedness

The state of New York is the recipient of more than $344.7 million in federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a preparedness grant of sorts, giving the monies necessary to train and equip first responders in emergencies:

“New Yorkers know all too well the evils of terrorism as the City and State remain a target for those who would cause us harm. And it is especially gratifying to see that our partners at the federal Department of Homeland Security recognize that too,” Governor Paterson said. “That is why these funds are so vital in the continuing effort to enhance our readiness and response capabilities to protect our citizens. These funds will help make sure that our valiant first responders have the tools and training they need to protect our State from potential acts of terror.

“These grants play a major role in our efforts to work with our state, local, tribal and territorial and private sector partners to build a national culture of readiness and resilience,” DHS Secretary Napolitano said in making the national target awards announcement this morning.

New York is one of many states to receive similar grants. If the government is putting so much money into emergency preparedness at the state level, shouldn’t that motivate individuals and families to get prepared as well? At the very least, it’s implicitly a warning that we all could find ourselves in a crisis, whether naturally caused or man-made.

Source: http://www.wbng.com/news/state/78802217.html