September is National Preparedness Month

Preparedness Starts at Home.  September is National Preparedness Month and there is no better time than now to prepare yourself and family by taking a few steps to help your family, pets, neighbors, and communities.

The goal for preparedness begins with four key actions:
-Know the different types of emergencies you may encounter and what would be your response
-Make a family plan
-Build an emergency supply kit
-Get involved in your community by taking action to prepare for emergencies

When setting up your plan, consider any unique needs, where you live, where your family spends a lot of time (school, work, etc), do you have pets, routes of possible travel, how to evacuate from your home, do you take special medication, any other special needs.

Your plan should include:
-Family emergency plan(s) that includes important information, such as: contact information, medical providers/doctors, medications, insurance information, location to safeguard this information, communications plan
-Know where you could go before something happens, such as a meeting location(s) depending on the situation, how are you going to communicate with each other on your plan
-Have a home escape plan and meeting location in case of a home fire
-Pets are part of our family, include them in your family plan
–Build a go-kit. You kit should include enough supplies to support your family for several days: water, food, medicine, a comfort toy for your child, radio, flashlight, etc.
-When emergency strikes, have multiple ways to get alerts, include items such as a NOAA radio, National Weather Service (NWS) phone apps, local news links, the Lake County Emergency Alerts program (click here to register).

To assist you on your planning, please visit READY.GOV right now and follow the Lake County Emergency Management website (soon under re-development).

If you have any immediate questions, please contact Warren LaPlante, Lake County Emergency Management Director, email: warren.laplante@co.lake.mn.us