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Community members can contact their local fire departments and emergency management organizations to find out about possible emergency preparedness training. Family members can take Red Cross first aid and CPR classes. These critical skills can save lives during disasters.

Emergency preparedness training will teach family members how to respond during disasters. They can learn the best possible escape routes from your home during a fire or other emergency. Family members may also want to learn how and when to turn off water, gas, and electricity at the main switches and valves of the home.

Emergency preparedness training can teach community members the importance of emergency preparedness supplies and equipment. They can also learn how to install and maintain smoke alarms on each level of their homes. Smoke alarms can warn them about smoke and combustion gases that are in the air.

Useful Emergency Preparedness Training
Training for a disaster can include practicing and maintaining your family disaster plan. Smoke alarms should be tested once a month. Stored food and water needs to be replaced about every six months. Children should be quizzed for telephone numbers, safety rules, meeting places, and other valuable information. Fire extinguishers should be checked frequently to ensure that they are working properly. Family members can learn warning signs about various types of disasters that may occur.

Emergency survival kits have items that will help your children if they are injured in a household chemical injury. These disaster kits contain water and bandages that you may need to use. If your child eats or drinks a substance you will need to find the container immediately and call for emergency advice. There will be information on the containers that will help the medical professionals to assist you.

You can call 911, and emergency room, poison control, or emergency medical services for assistance. They will provide you with advice about what you can do while you are waiting for response teams to arrive. You will not want to give your child anything to drink until the medical professionals advise you to do so. If your child has chemicals in his or her eyes you will want to flush them immediately. You can flush the eyes with clear water for a minimum of 15 minutes. Continue to flush the eyes until the pain stops. Your emergency survival kits may provide you with additional first aid supplies that you may need.

You may need items from your emergency survival kits to cover any chemical burns. You can loosely wrap burns with sterile or clean dressings. You want the dressings to be loose so that they will not stick to the burns. You will have plenty of supplies in your safety kits for this purpose.

Emergency Survival Kits and First Aid
Immediate first aid can help your family members. When injuries are treated quickly, there may be less damage done. After you call 911 for help you should remove any clothing or jewelry that is around an injury. You can flush the burns until help arrives and cover burns to stop contamination. Victims of these injuries need professional medical treatment as quickly as possible.

An evacuation kit will contain the basic items that are kept in a disaster kit and also include many other items. The basic items include battery powered radios, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, signal flares, maps, and special need items. Additional items will provide your family with things they may need while they are away from home for several days.

In addition to the basic items stated above, an evacuation kit should contain a three day supply of non perishable food and several gallons of water for each person. You may also want to have a change of clothing and sleeping bags for each family member. Survival kits, to be used during an evacuation, can also include kitchen accessories and small tools.

The kitchen accessories for an evacuation kit may include paper cups, plastic silverware, cooking fuel, liquid bleach, and other items. Your supply of tools may include paper, pencils, shovels, fire extinguishers, and other helpful items. You may also need an emergency preparedness manual.

Additional Items for an Evacuation Kit
When planning your kit, you may want to consider sanitation and hygiene items, entertainment items, and special items for the elderly. Hygiene items that will be needed are toilet paper, towelettes, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. You may also want some supplies that will allow you to prepare for a makeshift toilet or latrine. Your children will want some books or small toys for entertainment. Elderly family members may want supplies for denture needs and hearing aid batteries.

As the frequency of hurricanes continues, the importance of hurricane preparedness is becoming more evident. Damages and injuries continue to mount each year. Some states practice mandatory evacuations while others do not. When the evacuations are not mandatory, some people choose to remain in their homes and ride out the storms. This decision can be very tragic or deadly.

A lack of hurricane preparedness can result in death or very serious injuries. Hurricanes can pack winds of 111 miles per hour or more. The eye of the storm may be 20 or 30 miles wide. The entire storm may have a diameter of 400 miles or more. Preparing for the winds and storm surge can boost hurricane safety.

An important part of hurricane preparedness is to stay aware of the warnings and watches that are provided. A watch is issued if a hurricane may approach an area during a 24 to 36 hour time period. If the storm is expected in 24 hours or less, a warning will be issued.

Hurricane Preparedness Tips
Communities that are at risk can reduce the potential for property damage and personal injuries by planning for hurricanes. People can prepare hurricane survival kits that will help them to get through the storm and the aftermath. They can purchase supplies that will help them to protect their homes from flood waters. They can also increase their awareness of evacuation routes, nearby shelters, and what conditions make evacuation necessary in their areas. Each family in the community can establish their personal evacuation plan so that family members do not panic when a storm is approaching.

Knowing what to do during a hurricane watch will enhance hurricane safety. When a watch is broadcasted, people can continue to listen for updated information on a Dynamo solar radio, televisions, and other types of communications equipment. As hurricanes progress, they may strengthen and change speed and direction.

Practicing evacuation procedures will increase hurricane safety. During evacuations people should avoid flooded streets and damaged bridges. News broadcasts keep people informed of streets that are closed due to high water or dangerous conditions. Paying attention to this information will increase the chances of hurricane survival. If people decide to stay in their homes, they can increase their hurricane safety by securing lawn furniture, trash cans, or other items that may be thrown around during the storm. They also can secure their boat with chains and ropes or move it to a safer place.

Gas tanks in cars should be filled up in advance in case the car is needed for evacuation. Many gas stations may run out of gas just prior to a storm. People do not want to wait until the last minute and find themselves unable to leave because of a shortage of gasoline. During evacuations, heavy traffic and long lines of cars leaving the area can cause you to run out of gasoline before you can reach safety.

Additional Hurricane Safety Information
During the hurricane watch, people may want to stock up on prescriptions and supplies for disaster kits. They also can review their evacuation plan. Personal papers can be stored away in waterproof containers. Turning off propane tanks will reduce the potential of a fire if the tanks are damaged during the storm. People can learn more about disaster safety from their local emergency management office.