Disaster Preparedness for People Who Would Rather Just Pet the Cat

University Friends Meeting,
Adult Education,
September 18, 2011

Wherein RantWoman attempts to apply the following guidelines
http://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2011/09/adult-religious-education-guidelines.html  and to impart important content and generate action at the same time.

September is National Disaster Preparedness Month.
What are our experiences with disasters?
What steps can we take to live our faith in extremely difficult situations?
What obstacles or challenges do we feel when considering these questions?
What larger questions or other realities might we discern about as we consider our needs during and after disasters?

1. Session Housekeeping and Timing:

2. Identify spotter and communicate task:
a. Help RantWoman identify who has their hands up.
b. Make sure that people throughout room are recognized
c. Make sure that all voices that want to be heard get heard.
d. Watch vibes and alert RantWoman if anyone seems to be looking uncomfortable or offended, or otherwise having difficulty.

3. Offer handouts to review, pass around; explain ecology and equal participation grounds for not making more copies.

Main Presentation:
1. Silence

2. Introduction:
a. Please tell us your name.
b. Then tell us the last disaster you were involved with, how it affected you, what you most wish you had known to be prepared beforehand or most wish you had had available, or what you did to recover and return to ordinary life
c. What are the 2 or 3 most important thing we as individuals, families, communities, need to survive and be resilient?
d. What are plans A, B, and C to try to maintain what we most need?

3. Being prepared ourselves / being prepared to help others whoever they are wherever we are.

4. Key concepts
a. 3 days 3 ways
b. Disaster Kit / Ready Go Kit
c. Family Communication Plan
d. Out of Area Contact
e. Medical or Pet Plans
f. Organizations and workplaces
g. Drop Cover and Hold / Beneath Beside Between

5. Some EASY actions you can take to prepare:
a. Check batteries in flashlights and smoke detectors
b. Check your household for earthquake worthiness
c. Put a pair of shoes under your bed.
d. Make a communications Plan with family and members of your household and / or community group.
e. Identify an out of area contact and make use of this contact part of your household communications plan.
f. One gallon of water per person per day in your household
g. Get to know your neighbors, both their resources and needs.

6. Further inquiries; Some concepts perhaps we will be led to:
a. Ordinary Emergencies vs disasters
b. What kinds of disasters occur in our area?
i. Do bedbugs count?
ii. What about flu, pandemic flu, other communicable diseases?
iii. Severe winter wind, rain, SNOW storms
iv. Power outages
v. Floods, landslides
vi. Avalanches
vii. Earthquakes, tsunami
viii. Volcanic eruptions, lahars

7. How are we led? Next steps
a. Individuals / households
b. Neighborhoods / communities
c. Meeting?

 
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS RESOURCES LOCALLY
The Seattle Area Red Cross, 206-323-2345
http://www.seattleredcross.org/
 good resource for classes, presentations for groups, printed materials, programs targeted at a number of different kinds of organizations and populations.

Seattle Office of Emergency Management,
http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/



King County Office of Emergency Management
http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/prepare.aspx
A great and expansive list of events the King County OEM considers disasters, information about regional plans, drills, and preparedness exercises, links to info about how many different governmental entities respond in disasters.
http://3days3ways.org/




http://www.seattleredcross.org/show.aspx?mi=4007
Do you and your group have a disaster preparedness plan for when the “big one” hits the Northwest? How will you help an older adult evacuate a building in the event of a fire? Do you know how to explain your disaster preparedness plan to children? As a leader in community preparedness, the American Red Cross can help you.

If you have a group of ten (10) or more people, the Red Cross will come to you and give a free preparedness presentation tailored specifically for your needs. Most presentations take about 60 minutes.

Topics include general preparedness, earthquake preparedness, pandemic flu, how to use 9-1-1, how to build an inexpensive and effective disaster kit and much more. We work with all types of community groups including:
• PTAs
• Community organizations
• Housing associations
• Senior groups
• Senior care givers
• Childcare providers
• Caregivers for people with special needs
• Faith-based groups
• Refugee associations
Bilingual speakers are available and thanks to the generosity of individuals, companies and foundations, all community disaster education is free of charge . For more information or to set up a disaster preparedness presentation, contact us at 206.709.4528 or 206.377.3761

The Red Cross also offers specialized disaster education materials for children, students and youth groups. For more information, contact us at 206.323.6565 ext 10211, 360.377.3761 or youth@seattleredcross.org.

If you are a business or non-profit agency that is interested in workplace disaster preparedness or business continuity planning please click here.






 
http://arc-seattle.axxiomportal.com/article.aspx?a=8435

SEATTLE, March 16, 2011— The devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the tsunami in Japan has affected hundreds of thousands people both in the Pacific and in the United States. In the aftermath this disaster, the American Red Cross encourages Western Washington residents to evaluate their own personal earthquake plan and take steps to be better prepared for a disaster
“Our hearts go out to the people of Japan, many of whom have lost loved ones, and homes,” said Randy Hutson, CEO for the American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties. “The earthquake in Japan is an important reminder that people need to look at their own personal preparedness and take steps to make sure they know what to do if an earthquake or other disaster occurs in this area.”
In the days ahead, the Red Cross will continue to work with state and federal response partners to further refine and assess our response plans for future disasters.
Earthquake Preparedness Tips:
• Become aware of fire evacuation and earthquake plans for all of the buildings you occupy regularly.
• Pick safe places in each room of your home, workplace and/or school. A safe place could be under a piece of furniture or against an interior wall away from windows, bookcases or tall furniture that could fall on you.
• Practice drop, cover and hold on in each safe place. If you do not have sturdy furniture to hold on to, sit on the floor next to an interior wall and cover your head and neck with your arms.
• Keep a flashlight and sturdy shoes by each person’s bed.
• Make sure your home is securely anchored to its foundation.
• Bolt and brace water heaters and gas appliances to wall studs.
• Bolt bookcases, china cabinets and other tall furniture to wall studs.
• Hang heavy items, such as pictures and mirrors, away from beds, couches and anywhere people sleep or sit.
• Brace overhead light fixtures.
• Install strong latches or bolts on cabinets. Large or heavy items should be closest to the floor.
• Learn how to shut off the gas valves in your home and keep a wrench handy for that purpose.
• Learn about your area’s seismic building standards and land use codes before you begin new construction.
• Keep and maintain an emergency supplies kit in an easy-to- access location.
• Have an out of area contact because local lines can be difficult to access during a disaster. During a disaster, family members can call the contact person from out of state to report on their own status and check on others. A SMS text messages from a wireless communication device will often work if even if a cellular signal is not strong enough to make a voice call.
To learn about what do during or after an earthquake please go to www.seattleredcross.org or www.redcrosswashington.org. For more information or to set up a disaster preparedness presentation for a community group, contact us at (206) 709-4528 in King County or (360) 377-3761

 
RantWoman will be VERY surprised to do more than buzz near most of these topics but will be interested to see how the group is led.

This event is also a RantWoman effort to share with her Meeting a large number of blessings from a small slice of what RantWoman sometimes calls the Yucky Topics Festival that currently is her life. RantWoman is unclear that everyone is going to feel blessed by RantWoman's generosity. Tough. Cope! RantWoman suspects that will prove more rewarding than it may seem at first glance. Plus RantWoman is not inclined to sugarcoat the "eat your oatmeal, it's GOOD for you" aspects of her ministry! RantWoman hopes that God and the hearts of Friends will make the experience bearable and enriching in spite of RantWoman's ill humor.