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Please reply to Lauren M – Please note minimum of 200 words. No sources citation needed.

Lauren M posted:

Preparing for natural disasters is an extremely important part of life that I think is easily forgotten or not made a priority. Once a disaster occurs it is nearly impossible to get hold of supplies needed to maintain life. That is why we must be prepared BEFORE disaster strikes. Healthcare workers such as ourselves should be especially competent in disaster training. However, that is not always the case, a study of VA hospital employees by Balut et al. (2022) showed that only 23% felt well prepared at home should a disaster strike. In Michigan where I live, the most common types of natural disasters that occur are tornados, floods, severe storms, and winter storms. Upon research of disaster preparedness, I realized that my family is not nearly as prepared as we could be. The American Red Cross (2022) reviews all the details of disaster preparedness. The two most basic necessities are food and water. While my family does have the recommended amount of non-perishable foods, we do not have the recommended amount of prepared drinking water which is one gallon per person, per day (3- day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home). We do have a flashlight, extra batteries, multi-purpose tool, copies of personal documents, cell phone with chargers, and extra cash. We do not have a deluxe first aid kit, battery powered or hand crank radio, or an emergency blanket. The Red Cross also recommends at least one adult be CPR certified which obviously as a nurse, I am.

Besides having a fully stocked kit, having an emergency plan is the second important part of disaster preparedness. The plan of action should include escape routes from the home, what to do if separated, evacuation plan with meeting place outside of your neighborhood, routes and alternate routes to get there. Each family member should have designated responsibilities (American Red Cross, 2022). My family currently has no documented emergency plan. I am honestly not very surprised at my level of readiness because my husband and I were actually just discussing this recently when he mentioned he wanted to buy a survival kit online. Steps I will take to improve our disaster preparedness include buying the missing supplies listed previously, gathering everything into one area for easy access, and creating a written disaster plan. To share this information with the community, I can access local Facebook groups and share information from the Red Cross website. This way I can easily access large groups of people in my surrounding areas and share the importance of disaster preparedness. I will also use word of mouth, sharing this information with my close friends, family, and co-workers and asking them to share it with other people in their lives. Just by doing these two things, it could potentially save many lives.

References

American Red Cross. (2022).  How to prepare for emergencies.  https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies.html

Balut, M.D., Der-Martirosian, C., Dobalian, A. (2022). Disaster preparedness training needs of healthcare workers at the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs.  Southern Medical Journal, 115(2), 158-163. doi:10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001358.

Please reply to Renee W – Please note minimum of 200 words. No sources citation needed.

Renee W posted:

     I live in Virginia, about an hour west of D.C. As far as natural disasters, the main ones would be floods and flash floods, wildfires and winter storms.  We have had terrible flooding in the past.  The first year we moved into our house, we had flooding so bad it covered all the roads that lead to our house that I could not get home.  I had worked my 4th night shift in a row, and could see my house sitting up on a hill, but could not get there without buying a kayak or boat.  I was so tired and frustrated and just wanted to go to sleep.  There have been more flash floods since then, but none as bad.  We have had many winter storms, with lots of inches of snow.

     Watching the Red Cross Video on Emergency Preparedness and looking over their website makes me realize I do have some work to do.  I am quite familiar with what needs to be done in case of an emergency, as I have taken Emergency classes through the Red Cross.  I also was responsible to Emergency Preparedness as the Nurse Manager of a small non-profit clinic.  This brought my attention to things that I do not think about as a staff nurse at a large hospital.  

     The video hi-lighted 3 important tasks to be prepared during an emergency: 1) Prepare an Emergency Kit: Make sure this kit includes a flashlight, food for several days for the amount of people in your family, several day supply, cash, and batteries.  2) Disaster Preparation Plan: Have a meeting spot that the entire family know to go, have an evacuation plan for the home and for the neighborhood.  3) Be Informed: Know what disasters are likely to occur, have someone learn CPR and First aid (How to Prepare for Emergencies, n.d.).  

     After reviewing what is needed for an emergency plan, I realize I have the supplies available at my house.  I have a well stocked first aid kit.  All the vehicles have good first aid kits as well as CPR masks and I always equip my high school and college age daughters with very advanced first aid kits and pulse ox for school as well as CPR masks.  We also have a good supply of canned goods and water as well.  We have a generator in the event we loose power. All family members are trained in CPR and First aid. We have cat carriers for the 2 cats and the dog can ride in the vehicle to be taken to safety. The lack of planning is a meeting place in the event of an emergency as well as evacuation plan for our miniature donkeys as we do not have a horse trailer.  We could fit them in the SUV or truck if we absolutely had to.  

      In order to better prepare for an emergency, I plan to talk with m family about a meet up place.  I also plan to have drills once a year in the summer when my daughters are home from school.  I also plan to see if I can find transportation for the miniature donkeys in the event of a flood, so they can be safe. 

     Now that we have access to social media, sharing Emergency preparedness has got so much easier.  This can be done through several avenues.  We can share through different social media apps and groups and make sure everyone has updated access to information that will keep them safe in the event of an emergency.  This can also help real time when the actual event is happening to keep people updated on events and where to obtain help and supplies. 

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References

How to prepare for emergencies. (n.d.). www.redcross.org.  https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies.html