Conclusion

Hello everybody!

Thank you for keeping up with my posts on Your Emergency Preparedness Blog for the past 3 months.

Posting every week about emergency preparedness has been a really enjoyable experience!
I am glad that I was able to be committed to finishing a goal I have started by finishing this blog.

I would like to remind everyone that, although this blog is for YOUR convenience, it does not have all the material necessary for a more complete emergency preparedness.

Most of my posts on this blog are drawn from the LA Fire Department Emergency Preparedness Booklet, so please make sure to look at the full booklet for further emergency readiness.

I hope that my blog has been a source of help to you in your emergency preparation!

Until next time,

Nahyung


Be ready. Now.
Your Emergency Preparedness

Last Post: Week 12

How to Extinguish Fires on your Body

Have you ever hear of the phrase "Stop, Drop, and Roll"? 
This method of rolling on the floor to extinguish flames on your body is actually effective for most fires.

Although your initial reaction when your body gets caught on fire may be to run to grab a fire extinguisher (or simply panic), flames can actually travel across your body in seconds. 
By the time you have began running towards a fire extinguisher or for help, it may be too late.

image source: Arizona Firewise

So, why Stop, Drop, and Roll?
If you've ever wondered why we should do that instead of grabbing for a fire extinguisher,
Here are 3 reasons why Stop Drop, and Roll is quite effective:

1) Remember the Fire Triangle that I posted a few weeks ago, and that fire needed oxygen to burn on? You must Stop because if you are running when your body is on fire, that running motion will only give the fire more oxygen (making the fire bigger).

2) Dropping down to the floor in a horizontal position changes the direction of
 the fire. Fire burns up vertically, which means that it is likely to head for your lungs or your face, which are the most sensitive parts of your body. But if you lie down horizontally, you have twisted the direction of the fire so that it will be slower to reach your face or lungs.

3) Rolling is using the same principle of the Fire Triangle (that fire needs oxygen to burn on). By squishing the fire with your body through the rolling motion, you prevent the fire from feeding unto more oxygen in the air. Thus, the rolling motion allows your to put out the fire effectively.

The Stop, Drop, and Roll method is quite effective both when you are alone, or when you cannot get immediate help from a third party to extinguish the fire.

(Extra)
Thank you everyone for keeping up with my posts these past 3 months. Next week, I will conclude Your Emergency Preparedness Journal with a conclusion!

Get ready. Now.

Your Emergency Preparedness

Week 11

Emergency Preparation at your Workplace

Hello everyone. It's already been almost three months since I started posting for Your Emergency Preparation Journal every week!  One more post to go!
Until then, let's keep it up!

Since we've talked a bit about emergency preparation at home, let's talk about emergency preparation at work.

We've already talked about storing water and preparing an emergency backpack (although, the emergency backpack can also be used at your workplace). Storing flashlights (not candles or matches, since they can cause fires) in a reachable spot should also be a must.

The checklist below shows the types of items that could be used as survival tools at your workplace. It is basically the same as the list for your emergency backpack, except that when you're preparing for an emergency at your workplace, you should be aware that you may be trapped inside a building for long periods of time (up to 3 days), and so you should be prepared for this.

So here is the checklist:

Again, like most of my sources, this checklist is drawn from the LA Fire Department Emergency Preparedness Booklet. To access the full booklet, here is the link:
http://www.cert-la.com/EmergPrepBooklet.pdf

Get ready. Now.

Your Emergency Preparedness

Week 10

What's the Most Important of All? Water.

Hello, it's me again.
Like the title of this post says, this week, I'm going to talk about the importance of storing water.

We always hear everywhere that you have to store water. That's because without water, you can't live.

According to the LA Emergency Preparedness Booklet, a "rule of thumb" for the amount of water that should be stored is: 5 Gallons per person, MINIMUM.
(Your pets should be thought of as family members when storing water).

Also, many people don't know this, but if you are storing water with plastic water bottles,  do not place them on top of concrete. 

image source: cosmos.ucdavis.edu

This is because the chemicals from the concrete can enter the water through the thin plastic and contaminate it.

So those are just some facts about storing water for emergency preparation.

See you again next week!

Get ready. Now.

Your Emergency Preparedness

Week 9

Emergency Preparedness with Your COMMUNITY

Last week I talked about the basics of preparing for emergencies with your family.
This week will be a continuation of that post -- being prepared with your community around you.

It is good to be connected with your neighbors (even if you don't like them) for times of emergencies.
This is because your community can provide you with food, shelter, and water during urgent times.
For example, your local high school building can become the temporary shelter to people who have lost their homes during an earthquake. 

A good tip to prepare for an emergency with your community is to: contact your local and state of Office of Emergency Services to find out the emergency plans in your area and where the emergency shelters are.

(Bonus)
Another tool I was introduced while I was at the CERT boot camp is Nextdoor.
Nextdoor is a phone app that connects you with your neighbors and makes communication easy.
It's totally free, and a good way to inform your neighbors of needs or dangers in your community.
It "reports suspicious activities, help[s] prevent crime, and receive[s] updates from [your] local police"!

So hey, just a good thing to try out. After all, we're living in the age of technology, right? Might as well make good use of it.

Here's the link to the NextDoor homepage: https://nextdoor.com/


Get ready. Now.
Your Emergency Preparedness

Week 8

How to prepare for an emergency with your FAMILY

Hello! Last week I talked a bit about what action to take after an earthquake has taken place.

This week, let's discuss a bit about how to prepare for an emergency with your family.

After all, having a family member separated or injured from a natural disaster is terrible.

So, to prevent something like that happening, here's how to prepare for an emergency with your family (the basics):

1. Decide a meeting place together. That way, even if you are separated and there's chaos going on, you know where to find your family.

2. Prepare a backpack with equipments necessary after a natural disaster (such as first aid, toilet paper, water, flash light, working gloves, emergency blanket) and put it in a reachable spot around the house.
That way, when an earthquake (or any other disaster) happens, you can just grab the backpack and go. 

3. Look around the house to check for anything that can fall, break, or cause a fire during a disaster (or any other dangers), and remove if possible.

Of course, these are just the basics. 
For more information on emergency preparedness with your family, visit the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department: http://www.emergency.lacity.org/Readiness/FamilyReadiness/index.html  


Get ready. Now.
Your Emergency Preparedness

Week 7

What do You do AFTER an Earthquake?

Last week, I talked about different methods of evacuation in different settings, such as outdoors.

This week, I would like to present what action to take after an earthquake has passed by.

Since earthquakes are so unpredictable, you may feel dazed or scared after an earthqake happens; and this is completely natural. 

But once your head becomes clearer, it's time to take a look around you to see what has happened, and if there are any new dangers around you, such as fires or broken debris that may have resulted from the earthquake.

Below is a checklist of things to make sure right after an earthquake has just happened.
Some of the check marks may be unnecessary, depending on where you are at the time of the earthquake. For example, if you are not at home during the time of the earthquake, you may be unable to to check for gas leaks at your home or to replace all telephone receivers for emergency only.

But here is the checklist:

The checklist is from the LA Fire Department Emergency Preparedness Booklet. Here is the full booklet online: http://www.cert-la.com/EmergPrepBooklet.pdf 


Get ready. Now.
Your Emergency Preparedness