September is National Preparedness Month: Are You Ready for an Emergency?
Wisconsin Safety Council to Host Emergency Preparedness Training on Sept. 19
MADISON – This September is National Preparedness Month and Wisconsin Safety Council (WSC) is partnering with the National Safety Council and other organizations to bring awareness to Wisconsinites about how everyone can be better prepared for an emergency.
WSC – along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Ready.gov – will use National Preparedness Month as an opportunity to share tips about what to do in an emergency and help Wisconsinites learn the life-saving skills that might be needed during a flood, tornado, fire or other emergency situation.
Check out these tips from Ready.gov to be better prepared for potential emergencies:
- Floods
- Do not walk, swim, or drive through flood waters.
- Just six inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.
- If told to evacuate, do so immediately. Never drive around barricades. Local responders use them to safely direct traffic out of flooded areas.
- Tornadoes
- If you can safely get to a sturdy building, then do so immediately.
- Go to a safe room, basement, or storm cellar.
- If you are in a building with no basement, then get to a small interior room on the lowest level.
- Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You’re safer in a low, flat location.
- Active Shooter
- Run: Getting away from the shooter or shooters is the top priority.
- Hide: Get out of the shooter’s view and stay very quiet if you cannot escape.
- Fight: As an absolute last resort, you may need to aggressively act against the shooter by using makeshift weapons, ambushing them with others around you and potentially causing a severe or lethal injury to them.
- Fire
- Crawl low under any smoke to your exit – heavy smoke and poisonous gases collect first along the ceiling.
- Before opening a door, feel the doorknob and door. If either is hot, or if there is smoke coming around the door, leave the door closed and use your second way out.
- If you can’t get to someone needing assistance, leave the home and call 9-1-1 or the fire department. Tell the emergency operator where the person is located.
More tips are available by visiting Ready.gov.
WSC encourages everyone to have a plan in place for emergencies and to practice that plan regularly. While many unexpected events happen inside the home, a large number also happen at work. That is why WSC works regularly with businesses to help keep their employees safe. Either at home or at work, a plan will better prepare your family or employees for when an emergency actually happens.
As a part of National Preparedness Month, WSC is hosting an Emergency Preparedness training course on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at their headquarters in Madison. The course will discuss how to keep employees safe during inclement weather and natural disasters, what to do in a workplace violence situation (including active shooter) and how to develop a communications plan before, during and after an event.
Registration for WSC’s Emergency Preparedness training course is available by clicking here.
For more information, please contact:
Nick Novak, 608.258.3400
