(NAPSI)-Severe storms, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes can bring about several problems-such as power outages-that your family can be prepared to handle.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Energizer and 6,100 fire departments urge families to get ready for severe weather by preparing emergency power kits.
"An emergency power kit can literally be a beacon of light in a storm," says Chief Larry J. Grorud, CFO, MIFireE and President of IAFC. "It's very important to have flashlights on hand during power outages; they are always safer than candles in these situations and can significantly reduce a family's risk of injury."
Important Tips for Building a Power Through It All™ kit:
• Include at least one flashlight for every member of the household.
• Include a battery-powered lantern for illuminating larger spaces and rooms, such as an Energizer Dual Power Lantern.
• Include a battery-operated weather radio to track the storm.
• Include extra batteries in a variety of cell sizes for extended power outages, specifically Energizer MAX Batteries (AA, C and D), as well as specialty batteries for critical devices such as glucose monitors and hearing aids.
• Include battery-operated cell phone chargers like an Energizer Energi To Go and extra lithium batteries, to keep your family safe and connected during severe weather.
Other Important Items
After your power kit is complete, here are some additional items to consider when preparing for severe weather:
• Blankets and pillows
• Clothing: seasonal / rain gear / sturdy shoes
• First-aid kit, including medicines and prescription drugs
• Cash (with some small bills): banks and ATMs may not be open or available for extended periods
• Keep important documents in a waterproof container or watertight resealable plastic bag: insurance papers, medical records, bank account numbers, Social Security card(s), etc.
• Put the kit in a spot that is easily accessible to every family member.
Each year, when you change your clock in the spring and fall, check the batteries in your flashlights and emergency power kit.
Flashlights Instead of Candles
According to the National Fire Protection Association, candles are the third-leading cause of injuries from home fires, following cooking and heating. On average, one home fire caused by candles is reported every 34 minutes. Therefore, the IAFC encourages families to use only battery-operated lighting devices when a power outage occurs.
"All too often, home fires are ignited by candles used for light when the power goes out. We are reminding families to stay prepared for blackouts by preparing emergency power kits that include flashlights for every member of the family, battery-operated radios, portable cell phone chargers and extra batteries," says Grorud.
In addition to having an emergency power kit, there are other steps you can take to get your home and family prepared.
Other Ways to Stay Safe at Home in a Power Outage
• Turn off electrical equipment you were using when the power went out. Just leave one light on in the house so you'll know when the power comes back on.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to prevent food spoilage.
• Do not run a generator inside a home or garage.
• Know how to shut off water valves.
Keep Safe. Keep Going®
Building an emergency power kit is part of the Energizer year-long, family preparedness Keep Safe. Keep Going® disaster preparedness program and the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery fire preparedness program.
Learn More
For more tips on preparing for storms and home fire safety, visit www.energizer.com/preparedness and www.iafc.org.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Are You Ready? Storm Safety For Your Family
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
New Trauma Center Locator Map Shows If Georgia Counties Are Within the “Golden Hour”
A new interactive trauma center locator map shows whether you, your family and your friends can get to a Georgia trauma center within the “golden hour.”
A trauma patient's chances of survival increase dramatically if he or she receives care within the "golden hour" immediately following injury. Rapid response by emergency medical technicians in ground and air ambulances is critical. So is the distance to the nearest trauma center - a special hospital facility with the resources and medical specialists to handle the most severe injuries.
The trauma center locator map, which is part of the http://www.georgiaitsabouttime.com/ trauma awareness Web site, shows how far each county is from the nearest Georgia trauma center. You simply click on a county to see if it is within an hour of a trauma center.
The map shows that all or parts of more than 50 counties in South Georgia are not within the golden hour.
The golden hour is defined as within 50 miles of a trauma center. Distances are estimates and do not account for traffic delays.
Georgia is served by only 15 trauma centers – about half the number needed, according to state health officials – and many areas of the state currently lack access to adequate emergency transportation. As a result, trauma death rates are significantly higher than the national average. If Georgia’s death rate improved to the national average, it would mean a difference of as many as 700 more lives saved every year.
The trauma center locator map is part of the Georgia It’s About Time trauma awareness campaign which is funded through a grant from Healthcare Georgia Foundation. The campaign is aimed at helping to establish a statewide trauma system that will serve all Georgians, including many in rural areas of the state that are currently lacking access to adequate emergency transportation and trauma care.
About the Trauma Awareness Campaign and the Georgia Statewide Trauma Action Team
(GSTAT): The trauma awareness campaign is designed to educate Georgians about the need for a statewide trauma system. It is funded through a grant by Healthcare Georgia Foundation (www.healthcaregeorgia.org.) The Georgia Statewide Trauma Action Team (GSTAT) is a coalition of hospitals, EMS providers, physicians, nurses, local government officials, business leaders and others interested in creating a statewide trauma system. For more information, please visit www.georgiaitsabouttime.com.
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Norfolk Southern Whistle-Stop Train Delivers Safety Training to Emergency Responders in Georgia, Carolinas, and Virginia
PRNewswire/ -- A special train will travel to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia Sept. 15-19 to provide emergency preparedness training to first responders as part of the 2008 Norfolk Southern TRANSCAER Whistle-Stop Tour.
TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a nationwide program that assists communities in preparing for and responding to a possible hazardous material transportation incident.
"The Whistle-Stop Tour brings emergency preparedness training to response organizations and educates communities near major rail routes about rail equipment, chemical transportation, and the importance of planning for potential hazardous material transportation emergencies," said Chuck Wehrmeister, Norfolk Southern's vice president safety and environmental.
The tour kicks off in Austell, Ga., and makes stops in Greenville, S.C., Charlotte, N.C., Greensboro, N.C., and Roanoke, Va. More than 1,200 emergency responders are expected to participate in the training programs taught by chemical and rail transportation experts.
At each location, state and local emergency planning committees, emergency responders, and government officials can participate in hands-on drills and training sessions. Railroad training tank cars, specialized emergency response vehicles, and over-the-road tank trucks will be on display. More than 250 participants are expected at each stop.
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Friday, August 1, 2008
Andrew Young School Forum Will Examine State, Regional Trauma Systems
During the second of three scheduled forums on trauma care hosted by the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, the focus will move outside of Georgia.
As policy makers grapple with how to coordinate and fund a statewide trauma network, the Andrew Young School forum will feature presentations by trauma experts from Maryland and Richmond, Va., where coordinated services are already in place.
The forum is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Aug. 6 at the Andrew Young School, 14 Marietta Street.
Expected attendees include health care professionals and advocates as well as state lawmakers.
“We want to make sure we give them information that’s relevant and facilitates discussion among the various groups,” said Tom Wade, director of program development for the Public Performance and Management Group of the Andrew Young School, who chairs the steering committee organizing the forums.
Scheduled presenters include Mary Beachley, the chief of the Health Facilities and Special Programs division of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems; and Jerry Overton, the CEO of the Richmond Ambulance Authority in Richmond, Va.
Also scheduled to speak are Dennis Ashley, the chairman of the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission; state Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services committee; Gage Ochsner, the chief of trauma services at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, and Dan Miears, a trauma survivor and advocate.
The Trauma Care Network Commission, which was established to oversee the coordination of trauma care efforts, recently doled out a one-time appropriation from the General Assembly of about $57 million. It’s expected that lawmakers will continue looking for a permanent funding source for the trauma network when they convene next year.
“I do think that it is a mistake to say we don’t have a [trauma] system,” Patrick O’Neal, the director of preparedness for the Georgia Division of Public Health, told the group at the first forum in June. “We do have somewhat of a system, but it’s anything but what we need in terms of an optimal system.”
Health advocates say a permanent funding source is needed to ensure cohesion and coordination in the network, and the Institute of Medicine, in a series of reports issued earlier this year, recommended a coordinated and regionalized trauma system.
In a brief prepared for the Georgia Health Policy Center, Patricia Ketsche, an associate professor of health administration at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, discussed the Institute of Medicine recommendations.
“In many regions of the country and in Georgia, a variety of agencies and organizations comprise the trauma system,” she wrote. “These distinct organizations lack a formal mechanism to ensure the exchange of information between those who receive the initial call, providers of EMS care and transportation, hospital emergency departments and trauma centers, and public health agencies.”
A 2007 report by a joint House-Senate study committee on trauma care in Georgia noted that only 30 percent of trauma cases are treated in designated trauma centers, contributing to a trauma-related death rate 20 percent above the national average. Meeting the national average, the report said, would save 700 or more lives every year.
Fifteen of the state’s 152 acute care hospitals are trauma centers, and only four of those – facilities in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon and Savannah – are Level 1 centers able to provide the highest level of care.
“In 2003, American hospitals told a half-million in-bound ambulances, ‘don’t go to me, go someplace else.’ They were diverted,” Arthur Kellermann, associate dean for health policy at Emory School of Medicine and a Grady doctor, told the first forum. “The reason is a mismatch of supply and demand,” he said.
Kellermann compared a scarcity of bed space and bursting-at-the-seams emergency departments to the proposition of parking planes on the runways of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and diverting all incoming flights.
“That’s what we do when we pack people in the ER. We’re the runway of the hospital,” he said.
The third and final forum in the series will be scheduled this fall, and delve into the financing of a statewide trauma network and making such a network accountable for dollars spent.
Monday, July 7, 2008
NTSB to Investigate Incident Involving Midwest Airlines Plane Carrying Senator Obama
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in which a chartered Midwest Airlines airplane carrying Senator
Barack Obama made an uneventful precautionary landing due to a suspected flight control anomaly.
At about 9:30 a.m. CDT this morning, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 airplane (N804ME), operated by Midwest Airlines as Flight 8663, diverted to St. Louis, Missouri, during a flight from Chicago, Illinois to Charlotte, North Carolina. There were no injuries to the 48 passengers and crew.
NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker has designated Todd Fox as the Investigator-in-Charge for this incident. Fox is expected to arrive on scene this afternoon.
Post-flight inspection of the airplane revealed an in-flight deployment of the aft emergency exit slide within the tail cone.
Preliminary information indicate that the crew disconnected the autopilot during climbout from Chicago, while being vectored around thunderstorms, when they reportedly felt
elevator control forces that were heavier than normal. They therefore elected to make a precautionary landing at St. Louis. After landing, it was learned that the aft emergency exit slide had deployed within the tail cone. The tail cone did not separate from the airplane.
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Georgia
The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Georgia and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and tornadoes during the period of May 11-12, 2008.
The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Bibb, Carroll, Douglas, Emanuel, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, McIntosh, and Twiggs.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and tornadoes in the counties of Bibb, Carroll, Crawford, Emanuel, Glynn, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, McIntosh, Treutlen, Twiggs, and Wilkinson.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Jeffery L. Bryant as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Governor Perdue Declares State of Emergency for Cherokee County
Today(May 21, 2008) Governor Sonny Perdue issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for Cherokee County after the area was struck by a tornado, high winds and hail last night. Governor Perdue toured damaged areas in Cherokee County this afternoon.
“I am always amazed at the extensive damage caused by these storms, but we are proud to see our communities pull together as neighbors help neighbors recover from this type of situation,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “GEMA will continue to work with our local and federal partners as they assess the recovery effort.”
The executive order allows for state resources to be available to local governments for response and recovery activities, and calls for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) to activate the state’s Emergency Operations Plan. It also allows for joint local, state and federal assessment teams to survey the affected areas and allows for state resources to assist with debris removal. The executive order also enacts the state’s price gouging statute.
GEMA will continue to monitor the situation and provide any necessary assistance requested by the affected county.
GEMA is the lead state agency for coordination of emergency and disaster response activities. For more emergency information and updates, contact GEMA at 1-800-TRY-GEMA (1-800-879-4362) or visit www.gema.ga.gov.
The text of Governor Perdue’s executive order is below:
Whereas: On May 20, 2008, a severe weather system moved into the State of Georgia producing severe thunderstorms resulting in excessive rain, hail and tornadoes which caused extensive damage in Cherokee County; and
Whereas: The assistance of the government of the State of Georgia is necessary to protect the public health, preserve the public safety, keep property damage to a minimum, and restore the social and economic welfare of these counties; and
Whereas: In light of these circumstances the exercise of the authority vested n the Governor pursuant to Article 3, Section 38-3-51, of the Georgia Emergency Management Act of 1981, as amended, is warranted to issue reasonable orders, rules and regulations as are deemed necessary to preserve public health, safety and welfare, and to bring the emergency situation under control within the acknowledged limitations of the powers of the Governor.
Now, therefore, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Georgia, it is hereby
Ordered: That a State of Emergency exists in Cherokee County.
It is further
Ordered: That personnel and equipment resources of the State of Georgia be made available to assist in the response and recovery activities currently being undertaken in Cherokee County and that the Georgia Emergency Management Agency activate the Georgia Emergency Operations Plan.
This 21st day of May, 2008.
Governor Sonny Perdue
