Date: 04/14/06
Contacts: Lori Wirth - City of Madison Fire Department, (608) 266-5947
Dr. Marvin Birnbaum – UW Hospitals EMS, (608) 263-9641

Most communities are prepared for a wide assortment of emergencies, but when a large-scale disaster strikes, resources are likely to be stretched to the breaking point. In the event that a community must be evacuated, it is important that individuals have a plan in place that helps them protect their families and loved ones.

City of Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz says individual preparedness is an important component of emergency planning.

"While the City of Madison is prepared for emergencies with response plans and disaster management in place, it is also important that individual community members become partners in preparedness by developing family and neighborhood plans to protect themselves and their loved ones in the first stages of an emergency," he said.

PREP is recommending that, as a starting point, individuals should build a plan around the “3 ‘P’s”: Purse, Pets and Prescriptions. If you begin with these as your framework, you’ll be well on your way to achieving the most important ‘P’ of all: Preparation.

Your family may not be together when an evacuation order is given, so it’s important to plan how you will contact one another and review what you will do in different situations.

In recent disasters, the heartbreaking aftermath has centered on victims of disaster searching for lost loved ones. A well thought out communication plan can ease that task.

Ask about plans at the places where your family spends the most time: work, school, and other places you frequent. If non exist, consider volunteering to help develop one. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones during an emergency if you think ahead, and communicate with others in advance.

If you are a parent, or guardian of a student, or an elderly or disabled adult, make sure schools and daycare providers have emergency response plans.

• Ask how they will communicate with families during a crisis.
• Ask if they store adequate food, water and other basic supplies.
• Find out if they are prepared to "shelter-in-place" if need be, and where they plan to go if they must get away.

If you haven’t yet assembled a home emergency kit, start now. The list of things to include is available on the new PREP website at www.prepmadison.org

For many Americans, Hurricane Katrina has served as a wake-up call. After viewing the devastation and displacement that followed the hurricane, residents across the country are asking what they need to do—and not do—to prepare for the worst (even while hoping for the best). "It's psychologically healthy to prepare. A resilient mindset is a mindset that allows you to think logically, to communicate, to problem-solve, to confront the challenges that face you rather than hiding and avoiding them," says University of Utah psychologist Sam Goldstein, coauthor of "The Power of Resilience" (McGraw-Hill). "Accept that the world is a place in which things are going to happen that are beyond my control, for which it pays for me to be prepared."

The objective of PREP is behavioral change – individuals taking responsibility to protect and prepare themselves, their families and their property for safety in a disaster or emergency.

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