Much of the greater Seattle area felt the 4.6 magnitude earthquake in some form early this morning. Although I personally did not wake up to a shaking house, the dogs let us know that something was up, and I was immediately reminded that I do NOT have an emergency preparedness plan in place.
Today, I started doing my research on what a plan should consist of, and I wanted to pass my findings along so that we can all be ready in the event of an emergency. The American Red Cross breaks it down into three easy steps:
Your Emergency Plan should be easy to remember and simple, using a familiar place as a safe location to meet. As an example, the neighbor's in case of a house fire. Or for a more substantial emergency, the fire department down the street where your family can plan to meet up. Roles should also be established within your home, for instance assigning one person to round up the kids and/or pets while the other person grabs the Disaster Supply Kit and/or Emergency Checklist, and head to the established meeting location.
Having an Emergency Food Storage supply is also critical, especially if you live in an area that could be difficult to reach in an emergency (this applies to me!), so consider keeping canned goods and non perishable food items plus a supply of bottled drinking water on hand.
For more information, visit RedCross.org.
Be safe, be prepared and practice your plans, Rockaholics!
Happy Adventuring,
Taryn Daly
