What If...

What if . . . the recent 4.7 earthquake at the border of Utah and Wyoming had been the catastrophic 7.0 quake we have been warned will come near Utah population centers? Would you have known to DROP, COVER and HOLD-ON as soon as the shaking started?  

The steps are simple:  DROP carefully to the floor, crawl to the nearest desk or table for COVER and HOLD- ON to it because shaking can move it, leaving you exposed to falling and air-borne objects.

Have you and your family actually practiced it at home, in various rooms, and at your workplace -- each and every year?  It needs to become an ingrained habit so it will kick- in when the danger starts and stress takes over. 

No exaggeration: This action, if done instantly, could spare you and your loved ones in a high magnitude quake.  Register here as an individual, family or group to support our state Department of Emergency Management. Make the commitment to do the drill.

Civil Defense: The time is NOW

Ever since 9/11, It has been suggested that groups hostile to our nation are embedded within the US and may possess small nuclear devices, often referred to as “suitcase bombs”, capable of causing threat-to-life in localized areas. 

If such an event were to happen near you, would you know how to respond effectively to protect life and health?

Our nation is primarily uninformed and unprepared about all things nuclear.  National civil defense education and response were abandoned many decades ago.   

The notable exception is The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA.org), formed in 1962, headquartered here in Draper, dedicated to Emergency, Disaster and Nuclear Preparedness.  

Networking & Preparation

Who will help us When Disaster Strikes? And a related topic:  Why We Must Be Prepared to Meet Our Essential Needs for the first 96 hours.

You and I, as a group are vulnerable due to our health, but we may also be at risk because of advanced age.  And we may have the additional vulnerability of poverty.  Any one of these three factors -- health, senior age and living below the poverty line – put us in a category of disproportionate risk for injury or loss of life.  That is why we may very well need the help of others.  But it is up to us to ask.

Senior Residential and Assisted Care Living

Is senior residential living or assisted living in your future?  Please put Emergency Planning on your list of features you expect from such a facility. They are required by state law to have a Plan and practice it annually. You can ask a facility’s marketing manager “Does this facility have an Emergency Plan?  May I see it?”  Better yet, ask for a copy you can take home and read leisurely.  Let the marketing manager know that the emergency preparedness of their facility is every bit as important to you as apartment lay-out, meal quality and activities.  

Emergency Plans

We each need a Plan to inform our appropriate preparation, manage our involvement and gain/share know-how.  Do you/your household have an Emergency Plan?

In addition, your neighborhood, congregation, council area, or city may have an Emergency Plan. Find out. Take an interest; ask to see it. You are not asking for the purpose of challenging anyone, but to show genuine interest. 

Does the Plan address your needs as a senior or someone with Access & Functional Need?  Is the Plan regularly practiced?  If your needs are not included in the Plan, it is unlikely they will be practiced in a drill.  And if not practiced, how likely is it that your needs will be addressed in an actual emergency?  

If you are able, consider asking how you can help with the planning and the next practice.  Getting involved is a way to lend a hand and to assure your needs are included. 

Networking is Vital

Regardless of the type of emergency event, or what response it requires of us – On-Foot Evacuation, Auto Evacuation, or Sheltering at Home -- NETWORKING is vital for us.  It builds warm, wonderful relationships in our everyday life and in a crisis it saves lives.  

Do you have rapport with some of the younger, stronger neighbors on your street?  Neighbors you could approach about your vulnerabilities and concerns regarding a large-scale disaster or even a local emergency?

If you lack that rapport, now would be a perfect time to cultivate genuine neighborly friendships.  Do you bake?  Make soups?  Repair things?  Babysit?  Do you have a veggie garden that allows you to share your harvest?  Give it some thought.  How could you make genuine outreaches? 

Information Resources

I want to urge you to be a frequent visitor to the Utah Commission on Aging website.  It is weighted with marvelous information and resources that aid and inform every part of an aging life and it is useful for Access & Functional Needs matters.  You will want to go back to this resource time and time again.  The website is “Utahaging.org”.  

Our state has an extensive Emergency Preparedness library: “BeReadyUtah.gov”. They have a website and a You Tube channel.  Be certain to checkout their BUZZ series of very short (less than 90 seconds) and entertaining Tips.  

The American Red Cross also has Preparation, Response and Recovery information.  

Check out my BLOG for a variety of short, educational articles:  PrepareToRespond.blogspot.com