Ready or not? By RON DODSON The month of September has been designated as National Preparedness Month. It is a nationwide effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and schools. Over the next few weeks, we will have a series of articles to help you evaluate your current state of disaster readiness and then show you how to improve upon it. Many people think that when a disaster strikes, emergency management, police, fire, EMS or the National Guard will be there to rescue them. They will, but some disasters can overwhelm the local response system, greatly extending the time it takes for help to arrive. Everyone should be prepared to care for themselves for at least 72 hours or longer after a disaster. How many actually are? Are you? What about your business? Statistics show that 55 percent of small business owners say that having an emergency plan is important, but less than 30 percent actually have a plan. Did you know that after a major disaster strikes, 40 percent of small businesses never reopen? Having an emergency plan can save lives, company assets and entire businesses. If you take last year’s hurricane season out of the figures, estimates show that on average about 480 people die and another 2,880 are injured in U.S. disasters annually. In addition, thousands lose their livelihoods and jobs due to disasters. With just a few simple steps you may be able to save yourself, your family and your business when a disaster strikes. Remember! No matter where you live, the next disaster is a matter of “when,” not “if.” Consider the following questions over this next week. In our next article we will begin to look at ways to improve your odds of survival. If a disaster occurred tomorrow – whether you were at home or all family members were at their regular daily routine – what preparations have you made as of right now to ensure that your family can manage for 72 hours to a week with no power, no water and no means to travel? Have you made plans or considered how you intend to maintain communications with your family when the phone and cell systems are down? What preparations have you made to ensure that family members, kids, pets and dependents will be able to reunite as a family if a disaster should come about when you are all separated? What can be done now, before disaster strikes, to ensure that your home and regular work space is as safe as possible and ready for disaster? Have you taken any steps to inventory possessions and photograph property and valuables for insurance? How would you get information about what is going on and what you might need to know? Last year in the Gulf Coast, many reported the feeling of isolation and having no contact with the outside world as being nearly more devastating than the event itself! If some disaster came tomorrow, how ready are you? Small business owners are invited to attend the Kentucky Business Preparedness Summit being hosted by the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security in partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. This opening summit will be held Sept. 18 at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset. The Business Preparedness Summit has been designed to provide the commonwealth’s private sector community with information and resources to improve their emergency and disaster preparedness. This event is open to business leaders, local officials and first responders interested in improving their community’s preparedness for any type of emergency – natural or manmade. Speakers at the event will include Congressman Hal Rogers, Wal-Mart’s Global Security and Business Continuity Sector, along with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kentucky Department for Public Health, and Kentucky Division of Emergency Management. Regional business preparedness summits are also being planned for Northern Kentucky, Paducah, Bowling Green, Louisville and Lexington. As more are scheduled, I will keep you informed. To register for this first summit online, please visit www.homelandsecurity.ky.gov and click on the link “Business Preparedness Summit.” The registration deadline is Sept. 11. The meeting is free; breakfast and lunch will be provided.
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