September is National Preparedness Month, in honor of this very important event my company is having an Emergency Preparedness Fair. They will be selling and raffling emergency kits for the home, car, and office and educating people about what essential items need to be kept at each location to ensure the occupant the highest rate of survival should a catastrophe hit. We should all learn a lesson from Katrina we need to be prepared for at least 3-5 days fending for ourselves should anything unforeseen happen (read terrorist attack, natural disaster, act of G-d, etc.). If you want to be a true goodie-goodie, then pack supplies for you, your family, and pets for 2 weeks. This means water, food, medications, pet carriers, change of clothing, and hard soled shoes for everyone, flashlights, and a battery operated radio.
As an individual I am being trained as an Emergency Warden at work. This training consists of renewing my CPR certificate, learning to use an AED, first aid and mass casualty triage, fire safety including learning to use a fire extinguisher, psychological first aid, action plans to use in the event of air crash, flood, fire, hazardous materials spill, blood born pathogens, and earthquakes. A lot of information no doubt, but I’m exciting about learning so much. Knowledge being power and all that, hopefully I will never have to use any of it, but at least the bare bones basics of caring for myself and others will be there if it should ever be necessary (just like my self-defense class…learn it, but hope never to need it).
One of the most important highlights of my first class this week was having an escape plan in the event of a fire. Fire in and of itself is not always the most threatening aspect, the smoke can kill so quickly that to be without an escape route can mean doom. Looks like something I need to bug my roommates about…won’t they be thrilled?
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