Do You Know?

DO YOU KNOW:

HOW to determine if an injured person can be moved without causing a more serious (even paralyzing) injury to them?

HOW to lift a heavy object (like a wall) off of your loved one who is trapped underneath?

HOW to use a fire extinguisher or turn off the main valves to your utilities so that your house doesn’t catch fire or something even worse?

HOW AND WHEN to apply the principles of triage for broken bones or identify and treat someone in shock?

If you said no to any of the above questions…PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read on:

These are just some of the things that I learned during a 21 hour workshop that I attended this past October. I walked away from this training feeling “empowered” having replaced fear with knowledge and having an assurance that I am better prepared to take care of my family in the event of a disaster. I now know that I have skills that will allow me to offer a valuable service to my family and my neighbors in our moment of need.

We never know when a disaster is going to happen HOWEVER – living 2 mi from an earthquake fault we can be sure that something will happen at some point! As individuals we can prepare our homes and families to cope during that critical period. But can you imagine how many lives might be saved if our neighborhood would come together and have a plan and become trained to deal with the immediate situation at hand? Proper training would help reduce injuries, the loss of lives and minimize property damage!!! We’re not talking about generalizations – we’re talking about the people and homes ON OUR STREET!

I spoke with the emergency preparedness director for the City of Lehi who told me that outside of the 3 step program that they have adopted (http://www.lehi-ut.gov/emergency.php) there really will be no emergency services available to our community for several days or maybe even weeks. They simply don’t exist to make them available plus, there is a specific order to who gets what services first and individual homes are WAAAAAAY down on the list! We have to consider that places like the hospitals will be overwhelmed and so there will be a “picking” order that says most severe ones first. So I asked him what we as citizens of this community should do. His answer: Prepare as neighborhood groups.

Studies of behavior following disasters have shown that groups working together in the disaster period perform more effectively if there has been prior planning for disaster response.

The Lehi City plan says: When disaster strikes, you should not rely on the government to help you. Here are some reasons why YOU must prepare:

1. You may be on your own.

2. Government may not help – Local officials and relief workers…cannot reach everyone immediately.

3. Services may be down – such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and phones.

4. You may have to evacuate.

5. You’ll find Peace of mind.

6. You may save a life.

Being prepared is as easy as 1-2-3

1. Make a Kit

2. Make a plan

3. Be informed

Well I could go on and on but won’t. I hope you’ll click on that City link and see for yourself what they have outlined for us. Then I hope you’ll consider taking the training that I took. Right now we have 5 people on 2375 N who have gone through the training. Can you imagine how much better it would be to have that many on each of our 3 streets in our neighborhood? What a difference it would make. The $45 registration fee buys you equipment / Hard hat, goggles, vest, gloves, dust mask and instruction booklets. The best part of all is that it’s presented by a well informed, interesting instructor.

If you are interested in attending a training, check the bottom of this blog for a list of upcoming seminars or call me (neighborhood phone list) or drop me a note at ritarawlins@yahoo.com and I will submit your name.

Thank you so much - Let's not be a Henny Penny group where no one wants to do the work (training) but everyone wants to eat the bread (recieve the benefits!).