Entry bubble Are You Prepared for a Major Emergency?

By: Stephanie | September 04, 2009 | Category: General

pedestrians with red background “There’s smoke coming from the Pentagon!” one of my coworkers shouted. I ran to his office window where we worked at the top of the Old Post Office Building in downtown Washington, DC, to witness black ribbons flowing from the Department of Defense building. This, after just watching the Internet’s news about the attack on the World Trade Centers that morning, September 11, 2001.

We were allowed to leave work—but I was at a loss as to how to get home since I had heard that the subway was closed. I had just moved from DC to a suburb in Maryland, and didn’t know an alternate way to get home. I ended up stuck on a gridlocked bus for four hours because I didn’t have another plan.

Are you prepared for a natural disaster, potential terrorist attack, or other major crisis? September is the sixth annual National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The companion website, Ready.gov, gives you tips on what to include in a basic emergency supply kit, and suggests ways to contact and regroup with family members in an emergency. It also offers information on a variety of emergency situations, such as influenza pandemics, wildfires, chemical threats, and winter storms, and recommends preparations for businesses as well.

Interactive features help you personalize a family emergency plan, and links take you to sign up for free emergency alerts from your local government. You also can follow Ready.gov on Twitter, or take the Readiness Quotient quiz.

USA.gov offers information on preparing for emergencies for specific groups, including people with disabilities, kids, and pets, and links to federal information on disasters and emergencies.

Since 9/11, I’ve maintained an emergency supply kit and made it a point to learn a variety of ways to get home. Do you have an emergency kit and plan?

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Entry bubble Poison Help: Just a Phone Call Away

By: Stephanie | March 16, 2009 | Category: Health

skull and crossbones, with the word Poison Did you know that unintentional poisoning causes more deaths than car accidents and house fires in the United States? And that the death rate from poisoning has been rising in this country in recent years?

This is National Poison Prevention Week—and an important part of poison prevention can be found in a toll free phone call to Poison Help, a free service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Poison Help—1-800-222-1222—automatically forwards you to a poison control center in your area, where you can talk with an expert in poison emergencies.

Call Poison Help, for example, if you took a medicine incorrectly, used a strong cleaning product without gloves, ate food that was left out too long, or were bitten by a spider.

Also call if you think your child swallowed a poison such as a cosmetic or personal care product, a cleaning substance, or a part of a plant.

Don’t wait for signs of poisoning, the experts warn—they’ll help with any possible poisoning, even if you aren’t sure it’s occurred. They say that often your problem can be solved on the phone. (If a victim isn’t breathing, call 911 first.) The poison expert also might call back to check on you.

If you need a doctor or ambulance, the poison expert will tell you right away, and he or she may also call your local hospital to give treatment information ahead of your arrival.

Poison Help recommends that you keep its number near your phone (call the number to receive free magnets), or enter the number into speed dial. It also offers tips at its website on preventing poisoning, and how to help in a poisoning emergency.

Have you ever had a poisoning emergency, or called Poison Help?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: call   emergency   expert   hotline   national_poison_prevention_week   phone   poison   poison_help   prevention   stephanie  

 

Entry bubble Be Prepared for Hurricanes

By: Joanne | July 15, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

hurricane cloudLast week I wanted to talk about the sun, but this week I’ve got rain on my mind. Get out your umbrellas folks, because it’s hurricane season again. The tropical storms and hurricanes are already churning away out there in the ocean and sooner or later they’re going to hit land. Most of us think that hurricanes aren’t a threat, but the good people of New Orleans know how truly devastating these storms can be. Even if you live well inland, you need to be prepared for severe weather, because bad weather can strike anywhere.

The dangers of a hurricane or tropical storm come in a number of forms: storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding. If the big one heads your way this summer, it's important for your family and business to have a plan that covers all of these hazards.

The steps are really pretty simple:

| View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   emergency   hurricane   joanne   severe   storm   weather  

 

Entry bubble Prepare a Home Inventory – Now!

By: Sommer | January 04, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Now is the perfect time to prepare a home inventory. It can help you when planning for replacement of furnishings and equipment, purchasing insurance, filing insurance claims, determining your net worth, planning your estate, and more.Living Room

If, like me, you’ve never created a home inventory it sounds like a pretty overwhelming task, doesn’t it? There’s good news – you’ll only have to do it once! In the future, you’ll just have to update your inventory when you purchase new and discard old possessions. If you’d rather hire someone to do an inventory for you, the National Association of Home Inventory Professionals can help you find a professional.

So, where to start?  You can take several different approaches to the inventory like going room-by-room, categorizing your possessions (electronics, furniture, appliances, etc.), newest to oldest, or most to least expensive.  Next, choose the method you’ll use to record all the information.  A simple notebook will suffice, or, you can download a worksheet, take photos, make a video, or even use a computer program.

Regardless of which method you choose, record information such as brand or manufacturer, date purchased, serial number, purchase price, and estimated replacement value.  You can also check with your insurance company to see what information they'll need about your property in the event you have to file a claim.  If you’re a receipt saver like me, now’s the time they’ll come in handy.

Record information about the following items:

  • furniture, carpets, and drapes
  • antiques, artwork and collectibles
  • appliances
  • clothing and other closet contents
  • computer equipment and electronics
  • musical instruments
  • sports equipment
  • garage, attic, and tool shed contents
  • toys, books, and CDs
  • silver and china
  • jewelry and any other valuable items

Once you’ve completed the inventory, keep it in a safe place like a safety deposit box or a fireproof box.  It's a good idea to make a couple copies of the inventory and keep them in different locations. 

Post your stories about how having a home inventory (or not having one) affected your life.  They’ll help light a fire under me (and maybe others) to get one done!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [15] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   emergency   home   insurance   inventory   property   sommer