The North Coast CERT 26-week Disaster Preparedness Planner
Week 8: February 20 – 26, 2012
- This list is designed to be a starting point. Be sure to adjust each item to suit your own specific needs.
- For more information about this planner click here.
Things to buy this week:
- Scissors, tweezers, etc.
- Electronic thermometer
- Liquid hand soap
- Flashlight and batteries for bedside storage and use *
- Items needed to secure furniture or heavy items in place
- Spare eyeglasses & paper prescription **
- Spare contact lenses **
* Per person in household × 1 week (your specific Rural Factor).
** Optional depending on your requirements.
Things to do this week:
- Position a pair of shoes and a flashlight beside your bed
- Secure furniture and heavy items in place
“Mom, I’ve got an oww-eee!”
Have you ever gotten a splinter and you didn’t have a pair of tweezers? Sometimes it’s the least expensive items that can be indispensable when you need them.
Next time you are at the pharmacy, pick up an extra pair of tweezers, scissors, nail files and other sundry items that might come in useful for your disaster kit. Consider your household needs and buy an extra one of each item you think would be useful.
For simple hygienic reasons, you obviously need to have hand soap. The traditional bar of soap has limitations in the disaster kit: not only is it messy once used, but also it is a potential depot for germ central. If you have a bot tle of liquid hand soap, the mess factor is eliminated, and due to the pump dispensing system, the chance of spreading germs is reduced.
In the darkness of the night sky
As we all have learned the hard way, it gets very dark in these parts when the power goes out. Fortunately it usually comes back on within a few hours, but if an earthquake causes an outage to happen during the nighttime, can you and your family members safely rendezvous once the shaking has stopped?
When a storm strikes the region, batteries fly off the local store shelves. If you are maintaining your disas ter kit, buy another set for each bedside flashlight so you have backup sets for an extended outage.
How to strap your credenza
Last week we looked for tall and/or heavy furniture that needs to be attached to the wall. A loaded eight foot tall bookcase can topple over in even a moderate-sized earthquake.
But movement can cause all of the objects on shelves and surfaces to crash to the floor. As such, anything three feet or higher should be se cured in place as discussed last week.
For more ways to secure furniture and loose items, see the earthquake preparedness resourc e list on our website.
Can you read that fourth line?
If glasses or contact lenses are a part of your life, be sure to keep not only an extra pair of glasses in your disaster kit, but also a paper copy of your prescrip tion. If you are maintaining your kit, be sure that paper pre scription is up to date. Check contact lens cleaning solutions for expiration dates, and rotate them through your disaster kit as necessary.
The North Coast CERT 26-week Disaster Preparedness planner is your tool to ensure your household and workplace are prepared. By following this weekly planner, in 26 weeks you will have established a disaster preparedness plan and supply kit for your home and/or workplace.
When the 26-week planner is complete, preparedness continues by following the “maintenance” section. This will help you keep your plan and your disaster supplies up to date.
Never fear if you are joining us partway into the planner: you will have the opportunity to catch up on missed weeks when the Planner begins again in July. The Planner is about ongoing preparedness.
Join us at North Coast CERT in taking the 26-week Disaster Preparedness challenge. As a community and a region we can become prepared. The time we spend now can make all of the difference when the worst happens.
Be aware. Be prepared.