Emergency Planning Made Easy

Whether on the job, on vacation or on the couch, it’s wise to follow the scouting motto: Be prepared.

The Web offers some insight into emergency preparations both for planners and paranoids for everything from the summer’s predictable heat and fires to the seeming randomness of earthquakes and hurricanes.

Before or during a state of emergency, check the governor’s Office of Emergency Services site at https://www.oes.ca.gov for information on current situations, emergency-preparedness information and links to related agencies.

Summer is a time for getaways, but you can’t always escape trouble. Ever hear of the Titanic? OK, maybe icebergs are the least of your worries, but other problems may arise. Before you leave, you can check on any health concerns at your vacation spot and whether your cruise ship passes muster.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a section on travelers’ health at https://www.cdc.gov/travel. It lists necessary vaccinations and current outbreaks. Of course, the section on illnesses from food and water could leave you starving and parched most of your journey. To find out whether it’s likely to be smooth sailing health-wise on your cruise, check https://www2.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/vspmain.asp for ship sanitation inspection grades.

If you’re worried about anything from natural disasters to nuclear meltdowns, there are several sites that offer information on what you need:

* The Red Cross, https://www.redcross.org/disaster/safety, has emergency procedures and links to local chapters.

* The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers planning tips at

https://www.fema.gov. The site also has a helpful library on several emergency-related topics.

* For atmospheric and geologic hazard information, check out

https://www.naturalhazards.org.

* You can get planning guidelines, contacts, maps, forecasts and disaster data at https://www.lifelink.com.

If you’re not already shaking in anticipation of some unforeseen event, California’s fault system might give you some unwanted help in that department. Earthquakes are a fact of life here, so planning for them is imperative.

The U.S. Geological Survey offers some tips and information at https://quake.usgs.gov/hazprep.

For children and older family members, there’s often extra planning needed for large and small emergencies. An Arizona-focused site,

https://www.sosnet.com/safety/safety1.html, offers some good safety tips for people who look after children. It includes a baby-sitting guide, pool and yard safety, recent product recalls and safety bulletins.

For seniors, https://www.safewithin.com/seniorsafe has tips on what to be aware of such as fraud. The site also covers travel and personal safety.

When making emergency preparations, don’t forget the four-legged or no-legged family members. They’ll need food, records and a plan too.

* In addition to details to consider,

https://www.hsus.org/disaster offers links to help find pet-friendly lodging should you have to leave your home.

* https://www.familysafety.com/safety/disast.shtml offers links to pet first-aid tips.

* FEMA offers an instructional video at

https://www.fema.gov/fema/aprep.htm.

Some folks need to-do lists to function. For those planners, check out:

* At https://www.amherst.edu/~cdsulliv/bruss/emer/menu.html, you can find details of how to treat various injuries.

* https://www.ghc.org/health_info/self/emerg1.html helps you to construct a plan and put it into writing.

* Pick your disaster of choice at https://www.mrssurvival.com/disasterpreparedness.html to find the appropriate preparation suggestions.

* As you’re putting together your disaster kit, you can use the checklist at https://www.msnews.org/putting.htm to make sure you have everything you need.

* https://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/babysitter_list.html helps parents compile a list of important numbers and information for baby-sitters.

Of course, after you’ve made all these plans and rehearsed your escape, the sky probably won’t fall for another 100 years.

*

Got a topic you’d like us to explore or avoid? E-mail [email protected].