This is Public Health: Emergency Preparedness

As an annual recognition of the importance of being prepared for disasters, September is nationally recognized as Emergency Preparedness Month: Encouraging Americans to prepare to cope with emergencies in their homes, schools, organizations, businesses and communities helps prevent or minimize negative health effects that may result from disasters, including emergency disease events.

The Lake County and CSKT Tribal Health Departments work with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services to prepare Lake County for health related emergencies through surveillance and preparedness planning.

Health departments alone cannot stop major health events, such as flu outbreak, but individual efforts and cooperation, along with community awareness, can make a difference.

Are you prepared? According to the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), one-third of Montana households reported being well prepared for an emergency. A little more than half felt somewhat prepared and the remainder didn’t feel prepared at all. During September, focus on being ready at home, at work, and in your community and prepare for a natural disaster or other emergency.

It is important to put preparedness into your everyday life as you never know when a power outage, earthquake, extreme cold, flooding, terrorism, or pandemic could affect Lake County and leave you homebound for a number of days. You can join the effort by following four easy steps:

Get a kit. An emergency kit includes the basics for survival for your family as well as your pets: fresh water, food, clean air (dust masks), warmth and essential medications. You should have enough supplies to survive for at least three days.

Make a plan. According to the BRFSS, only 1.5 percent of households have a plan for emergencies. It is important to make plans with your family and friends in case you’re not together during an emergency. Discuss how you’ll contact each other, where you’ll meet and what you’ll do in different situations.

Be informed. Being prepared means staying informed. Check all types of media — websites, newspapers, radio and TV for information. During an emergency, it is important to keep up to speed with current information on such things as open shelters and evacuation orders.

Get involved. Look into taking first aid and emergency response training, participating in community exercises and volunteering to support local first responders.

Prevention is the ultimate goal in preparedness. There are many resources available to help schools, businesses and households take steps to increase their own readiness for disaster or emergency situations.

Please feel free to contact Lake County Public Health at 883-7288 for more information regarding emergency preparedness or check out some of the great resources available online at: http://www.ready.gov, http://www.redcross.org, http://www.disasterhelp.gov, http://www.fema.gov