Dear fellow Hanoverians:
The following is Part Two of our Hurricane Preparedness Series from
Chief Jeffrey Blanchard of the HFD. In this e-mail, the chief passes
along some information from the Massachusetts Emergency Management
Agency. Thanks, again, Jeff!
For many of the citizens in Massachusetts who have physical, medical,
sensory or cognitive disabilities, as well as the elderly and others
requiring additional assistance, emergencies such as hurricanes
present real challenges. Therefore, the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency (MEMA) offers a number of important steps to help
ensure the safety of yourself and all of our friends, neighbors, and
family members.
“MEMA has listed a number of tips, covering a variety of issues
which those individuals who require additional assistance should
consider, as they prepare for the hurricane season,” stated MEMA
Director Kurt Schwartz. “This planning is important, not just in
preparation for hurricanes, but year-round, for any type of
emergency.”
· Create a ‘Personal Support Network’ or ‘Self-Help Team’.
They can help you identify and acquire resources; as well as assist
you before, during and after the hurricane has passed. Your Team
should include roommates, relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers
because disasters might strike at any time, when you are at home,
school, the workplace, a volunteer site, or wherever you spend a lot
of time.
· Complete a Personal Assessment of what you can do for yourself and
what assistance you may need to respond to the challenges of a
hurricane, based on the environment during and after the storm, your
capabilities, and your limitations.
· Become informed. From your local Emergency Management Director,
learn your area’s vulnerabilities in a hurricane, as well as your
community’s Emergency Management Plans, including potential
evacuation routes and shelter locations.
· Find out about your community’s Alerting/Warning Systems. Learn
what methods are utilized in your community. They could include:
outdoor sirens or horns, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) which
provides information over the radio and television, the NOAA Weather
Alert Radio, one of a number of automated telephoning system for
sending recorded messages such as ‘All Call’, ‘Reverse 911’ or
‘Code Red’, commercial News Media, Residential Route Alerting,
which dispatches Public Safety vehicles through neighborhoods
announcing messages with public address systems or literally
‘knocking on doors’, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Broadcast, and
Teletypewriters (TTY).
· Contact your local Emergency Management Director to learn of
potential ‘Special Needs’ Notification, Transportation and/or
Assistance Programs in your community. Your specific information will
be treated with confidentiality.
· Develop the standard Disaster Supply Kit for your home, with
supplies to accommodate you for up to 3-5 days. Also, from that you
can pull key items for a ‘Portable Kit’ if asked to evacuate.
Depending upon your needs, you may want to include extra eyeglasses,
hearing aid batteries, wheel chair batteries, oxygen, the style and
serial number of your medical devices, a list of your medications
including dosage, a list of your allergies, medical insurance
information and medical cards, and if you utilize a wheelchair include
heavy gloves to help make your way over glass and debris.
· Make an Emergency Plan. As part of your overall planning, include a
Family Communication Plan to best inform others of your condition and
whereabouts. If you receive regular services, make a plan with each
provider about their disaster plans and how to contact them. Work with
them to identify back-up services.
· Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to help identify your
disability.
· Teach others on your Team to operate any special equipment you
might utilize, as well as where you keep your emergency supplies.
· Label with your contact information any special equipment including
wheel chairs, walkers or canes.
· If asked to evacuate, inform your Team where you are staying,
because it may not always be the first choice in your Plan. (a public
shelter, relative, friend, hotel)
· Find the location of the main utility cutoff valves and switches in
your home, and how and when to safely disconnect them during an
emergency, either by yourself or a Team member.
· Prepare an Emergency Kit for your service animal and pets; include
collars & leashes, a three-day supply of food, a manual can opener,
plenty of water, bowls, litter boxes, photographs, and a week’s
supply of your pets’ medications and instructions in case you and
your animals are separated.
· Service animals may become frightened or confused during or after a
hurricane. Be prepared to calm your animal and keep it confined or on
a leash or harness. Make sure your service animal is familiar with
your Team members, who may be asked to help care for them following
the storm.
· Keep pictures of you with your pets or service animals for
identification purposes, in case you are separated.
· In case your service animal is unable to assist you, be prepared to
use alternative ways to negotiate your environment.
· Most people should be able to function well at a regular public
shelter, although people with more serious needs might be directed to
an ‘additional assistance’ shelter where medical issues can
receive appropriate attention.
· When needed, be sure to ask for an accommodation from disaster
personnel.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is the state
agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, voluntary
and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MEMA provides leadership to: develop
plans for effective response to all hazards, disasters or threats;
train emergency personnel to protect the public; provide information
to the citizenry; and assist individuals, families, businesses and
communities to mitigate against, prepare for, and respond to and
recover from emergencies, both natural and manmade. For additional
information about MEMA and Hurricane Preparedness, go to
http://www.mass.gov/mema
. Also, follow MEMA on /Facebook/ and /Twitter./
For “Around Town on the Web”,
Cathy H-B
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