If only there were a pill for preparedness
September is National Preparedness Month
Thankfully, modern medicine continues to have breakthrough treatments for many maladies. And not just treatments, but preventative treatments too. For instance, one may take antimalarial pills prior to traveling to a region where malaria is prevalent.
If only there were a pill for preparedness. Unfortunately, there isn’t. One must take proactive steps to prepare for disasters. Some regions are more likely to suffer from particular kinds of disasters, such as fires or floods. In those regions, attention may be paid to preparing for specific kinds of disasters.
Preparedness resources are available:
For Individuals
The American Red Cross has free resources available to read and download from their website in preparation for different kinds of disasters, and they are available in multiple languages.
For Small Businesses
If you have a small business, FedEx and the Red Cross created a disaster preparedness checklist for small businesses.
This free checklist is currently available for download here, in English and Spanish. On this site, small businesses may also find out how by completing the checklist they can become eligible for a $5,000 grant should disaster strike.
And even for airports!
On a much larger preparedness scale, through their Community-Port Resiliency Program (C-PReP), Outreach Aid to the Americas prepares airports across the Latin America and Caribbean region to be ready for disasters. With support from FedEx, they hold workshops and airport authorities from around the region participate. Workshop activities table-top and other exercises.
While we don’t yet have a preparedness pill, we do have other lifesaving resources we can “take” to be prepared.