SUBJECT: Launch of 2012 Resolve to Be Ready Campaign

Roughly half of all Americans make New Year’s resolutions and commit to improving their lifestyles or reaching a long-term goal. This year, why not make a resolution that is easy to keep – and can save lives and protect property. For 2012, Resolve to be Ready for emergencies by taking simple steps to prepare your family, your home, your business, and your community in the face of potential disaster.

As emergency managers we can serve as a great influence upon our family and friends and encourage them to take steps to become prepared in the face of emergencies and disasters. Now is the time to plan what you, your family, and your pets will need in advance of an emergency; how you will communicate; and what supplies you will need to keep in your home, car, or office. The more they know about what to do in an emergency, the more confident they will feel in their abilities to manage through a disaster.

You can start by taking these simple steps:
* Be informed. Know the hazards and risks in your area and learn what you need to do to get ready for them.

* Make a family emergency plan. Know how you would communicate with and find your loved ones if a disaster strikes. For example, think about how you would reach your kids at school or your spouse at work. If you had to evacuate, where would you go. Thinking this through in advance will make a big difference.

* Build an emergency supply kit. Have one both at home and in the car that includes water, food, and first aid supplies to help you survive if you lose power or get stranded in your car. This is especially important for dealing with icy roads and snowstorms this winter.

* Get Involved. Be an advocate and educator for safety and emergency preparedness within your community. Contact your local Citizen Corps.

Also the use of modern-day technology can help individuals and families prepare, adapt, and recover from disruptions brought on by emergencies or disasters.

Learn how to send updates via text and internet from your mobile phone to your contacts and social channels in case voice communications are not available. Store your important documents such as personal and financial records in a secure “Cloud” or on a flash or jump drive that you can keep readily available so it is accessible.
Create an Emergency Information Document at Ready.gov by using the Family Emergency Plan template in Google Docs or by downloading the Ready Family Emergency Plan to record your emergency plans.

FEMA is only part of our nation’s emergency management team – along with our other federal partners, state and local governments, non-profit and voluntary organizations, the private sector and most importantly the public.

So this year, as you thinking about this New Year’s resolutions, why not Resolve to be Ready. Learn how at Ready.gov/Resolve.

SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH

-A Time to Remember. A Time to prepare-
SEATTLE – September is National Preparedness Month, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has joined with more than 6,000 federal, tribal, state and local coalition members from across the country to encourage Americans to prepare their homes, businesses, schools and communities for disasters of all kinds. According to FEMA Regional Administrator Ken Murphy, this year marks the eighth annual observance of National Preparedness Month, and the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“This year’s National Preparedness Month theme is: A Time to Remember. A Time to Prepare,” said Murphy. “We focus on taking simple, but potentially life-saving steps to enhance preparedness, including: Get an Emergency Supply Kit; Make a Family Emergency Plan; Be Informed about the different types of emergencies; and Get Involved in your community’s preparedness efforts.”

“Preparing for disasters means that we must plan for the Whole Community, including people of different ages and those with various access and functional needs,” continued Murphy. “It means planning for children – and not just thinking of them as small adults. It means planning for the elderly, and planning for families without access to personal transportation. Whole Community preparedness means more than just planning for what’s easy – we have to plan for what’s real.”

National Preparedness Month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Advertising Council. For more information on National Preparedness Month activities, and how to become a coalition member, visit www.Ready.gov, www.fema.gov, or www.CitizenCorps.gov.

Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema. Social media links are provided for reference only. FEMA does not endorse non-government websites, companies or applications.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Oregon Health Authority Radiation Information

The Oregon Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program and the Radiation Protection Services are closely monitoring information on the radiation release reported in Japan after explosions at a reactor site and subsequent events.

No Health Risk to Oregon According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, given the thousands of miles between Japan and the U.S., there is minimal risk at this time that Oregon and other states will experience any harmful levels of radioactivity.
Since the explosion, there have been no elevated radiation readings detected in Oregon and air sample results remain normal. Oregon Public Health receives hourly reports of atmospheric data and will continue to monitor the situation.

How safety is monitored – air detectors

The Environmental Protection Agency has a network of radiation detectors throughout the country that continuously monitor for the presence of radiation. There are two monitoring stations in Oregon – one in Portland and one in Corvallis. The network is called RadNet. The RADNET program is designed to provide immediate and long‐term information about radiation to protect the public and the environment.

How the monitoring works

The RadNet program monitors atmospheric data as it comes in. Oregon Public Health’s Radiation Protection Services program monitors the air and precipitation coming into Oregon.

The information is updated and recorded hourly. For more information about RADNET visit: http://www.epa.gov/narel/radnet/


For More Information: State Resources

Oregon Health Authority,
Information on Radiation Protection
HOTLINE: 1‐877‐290‐6767

Oregon Public Health Current Hazards:
http://public.health.oregon.gov/Preparedness/CurrentHazards/Pages/index.aspx

Radiation Protection Service:
http://public.health.oregon.gov/PHD/OEPH/RPS

Oregon Poison Center:
1‐800‐222‐1222

Federal Resources
RadNet
www.epa.gov/narel/radnet/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Radiation Event Medical Management:
http://remm.nlm.gov/