Emergency Preparedness
The Federation's Public Services Committee has been active in the field of emergency preparedness, an effort known as our Emergency Preparedness Initiative.
The Committee has established and maintains its own page of links that are very useful for researching this field.
Here is an additional link to a neighborhood preparedness booklet from the Independence Plaza North Tenant Association, located in New York just blocks from ground zero. The booklet is short and user friendly, sending a few important messages: 1) The Community helps people survive. 2) The Community helps people heal. 3) The Community should be organized.
Here is another publication of interest: "Are You
Ready Guide" developed by the Emergency Management
Institute and the U.S. Fire Administration can be downloaded in both English and Spanish at www.fema.gov/areyouready/. This guide leads readers through actions to become informed about local emergency plans, identifying hazards affecting their area, and instructs them in developing and maintaining emergency communications plans and building their own disaster supplies kits.
You can email the members of the Committee at one address: prepared+
One of our Emergency Preparedness gurus, Jackie Snelling, was featured in this Washington Post article in the Sunday, September 7, 2003, issue. The article is highly complementary of Arlington's efforts.
In addition to its links page, the Committee has posted the following documents:
The National Response Plan
The National Response Plan was published on January 6, 2005. It "establishes a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents." Among other accomplishments, the plan "ensures the seamless integration of the federal government when an incident exceeds local or state capabilities."
Preparations for CBR Attack
This study by the Rand Corporation helps to demystify the threat of chemical, biological or radiological attack. It is designed for the average citizen and is explicit on what to do in various ugly scenarios during the first few minutes before responders arrive. In particular, the chapter on strategies for individuals lays out goals and common sense steps based on the type of attack. Although it is tempting in this rushed world to think of it as a great reference to print out for your home emergency kit, many of the strategies are best learned in advance since you would have only minutes to apply them. Your best preparation for this type of attack would be reading this document now!
Be Warned!
You can sign up for the County's free Emergency Alert service. It will send a text message to your cell phone, pager or email if an emergency occurs in Arlington. The cell phone has to have the text messaging feature, but any pager or email will work. Details are on this County Web page. This service worked very well to deliver info during Hurricane Isabel and subsequent events. Users report that the system has no bad habits and produces useful info when you want it. Without it you could be working your yard and unaware of a problem. Arlington is too close to the flag pole for residents to do without this service!
The Arlington County Site
You can access the County's extensive emergency preparedness info now on Arlington's Office of Emergency Preparedness Web page.
This page was last revised on: September 1, 2006.
|
Arlington County Civic Federation
