FAMILY PREPAREDNESS
Disasters disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives every year they can strike quickly and without warning. If a disaster occurs in your community, local government and disaster-relief organizations try to help you. But you need to be ready as well. Responders and relief workers may not be able to reach you and your family immediately. Families can work together to cope with disasters by preparing in advance. Being prepared and understanding what to do can reduce fear, anxiety and losses that accompany disasters. Knowing what to do is your best protection and your responsibility. Help your family to know that if they are prepared, they need not fear emergency situations.
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IMERT Family Preparedness Officer
The purpose of the Family Preparedness officer will be to act as a liaison to the families of IMERT members and to facilitate in the assistance to resolve emergencies or problems that arise while team members are deployed or on mission for IMERT. IMERT members are provided with a phone number for the dispatch center. IMERT members please refer to the Policy & Procedure page on the Team Members section of the site for the dispatch center phone number.
Family Emergency/Disaster Kit Recommendation
It is important that you and your family have certain basic emergency and first aid supplies available at your home (and office) so that you can respond to home emergency and disaster situations when they arise. Organize your emergency kit(s) and be sure each family member knows where these supplies are kept and has a basic knowledge of how to use them. The supplies in your kit may vary with your family's individual needs and activities. Please review the following emergency/disaster kit recommendations and create your own kit:
Kit recommendations from the American Red Cross
Kit recommendations from the American Red Cross a full plan
Kit recommendations from the American Red Cross for your work place
Kit recommendations from FEMA
Kit recommendations from Janes
Kit recommendations from the National Fire Protection Association
Kit recommendations from Ready.gov
Kit recommendations from Ready.gov PDF
Remember to include important items to preserve your family's routines, such as favorite toys, games, or books so that your family will be able to have some degree of normalcy if a time of emergency arises.
Family Emergency/Disaster Plan Recommendations
In addition to emergency supplies your family should also have a plan for how to respond to an emergency. Your family plan should be flexible, responsiblites should be divided and often duplictated among family members so that regardless of who is at home the family will still be able to respond properly. You should inlcude in your plan specifics of how family members will contact one another if the family is scattered during an emergency, keep in mind normal lines of communication may not be functioning depending on the scope of the event.
Planning recommendations from the American Red Cross
Planning recommendations from FEMA
Recovery recommendations from FEMA
Animal Emergency/Disaster Recommendations
Be sure to include your companion animals in your emergency and disaster plans. You are your compainion animal most import lifeline, be prepared! Pet recommendationf from FEMA
Pet recommendations from the Humane Society of the United States
Pet recommendations from the National Fire Protection Association
Pet reommendations from Ready.gov
Remember to include important items to preserver your companion animals routine, such as favorite toys, bedding, or treats. Normalcy is as important to your companion animals as it is to the rest of your family members.
First Aid & CPR
Knoweldge of first aid procedures may be invaluable for your family durning any type of emegency sistuation. First aid and/or CPR classes are provided at many locations within most communites. The following are organizations and companies in Illinois which offer First Aid and/or CPR training:
American Red Cross - List of Chapters contact your local chapter
American CPR Training
CPR Pro - directory of Illinois specific training centers
Take Your Heart For A Walk
Help get America walking and join the American Heart Association as they Start! with a Million Miles. They've set a national challenge to collectively walk a million miles at American Heart Association Start!
Walk more. Eat well. Live longer. Did you know that you will gain two hours of life expectancy for every one hour of regular exercise? For more information about the American Heart Association Start! program please visit the following link:
Start! Heart Walk
Organ Donation
The number of people requiring a life-saving transplant continues to rise faster than the number of available donors. Approximately 300 new transplant candidates are added to the waiting list each month. Each organ and tissue donor saves or improves the lives of as many as 50 people. Giving the "Gift of Life" may lighten the grief of the donor's own family. Many donor families say that knowing other lives have been saved helps them cope with their tragic loss. The following links provide information about organ donation:
Donate Life America
US Government Information on Organ & Tissue Donation & Transplantation
United Network for Organ Sharing
The following link enable Illinois residents to register for particpate in organ and tissue donation:
Life Goes On
Additional Resources
50 Emergency Uses for a Camera (Camera Phone)
Information from the National Organization on Disability
Websites & Links
www.americanheart.org
www.bt.cdc.gov
www.disasterprep101.com
www.fema.gov
www.hsus.org
www.ifaw.org
www.janes.com
www.lifegoeson.com
www.nfpa.org
www.nod.org
www.organdonor.gov
www.ready.gov
www.redcross.org
www.shareyourlife.org
www.unos.org |
