Preparedness is not just for People

May 8^th is National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day. According to the American Pet Products Association 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey, thirty-nine percent of U.S. households own at least one dog and thirty-three percent own at least one cat. That translates to approximately 78.2 million owned and 86.4 million owned cats in the United States.

Emergency situations that require any type of evacuation require advance preparation by pet owners. It is important to note that not all Red Cross disaster shelters accept pets, so it is imperative to determine where to bring pets ahead of time. Most boarding kennels, veterinarians and animal shelters will need medical records to make sure all vaccinations are current. The ASPCA recommends keeping a copy of all medical records along with a photo of the pet in a “pet survival” kit.

Microchip identification is one of the best ways to ensure that a pet will be reunited with its owner. Microchip registrations should include at least one emergency number of a friend or relative who resides out of the immediate area.

A Rescue Alert Sticker can be placed in a front window of the home to let rescue workers and others know that pets are inside. The sticker should include the types and number of pets inside and veterinarian contact information.

Read more:

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/disaster-preparedness/

http://www.humanesociety.org/about/departments/disaster_preparedness.html

Tornado Warnings Get Scary to Save Lives

It is an unfortunate reality that when people are exposed to near constant tornado warnings, they begin to ignore them over time. If every warning is the same, and a majority of storms never materialize as predicted, then it becomes difficult for residents to decide on a course of action to protect themselves.

To combat this problem, five weather offices in Kansas and Missouri will be testing a new weather warning system that uses vivid language to describe the threat such as “mass devastation,”  “catastrophic” and “unsurvivable.” These new warnings are designed to better communicate the dangers of an approaching storm.

The new test system will have two tiers of warnings for thunderstorms and three tiers for tornadoes, made possible through a new type of Doppler radar called dual polarization, which measures both horizontal and vertical properties of a storm and helps to gauge its destructive tendencies. Tests will continue through the fall while a research team in North Carolina will analyze the results and help the weather service decide whether to expand the new warnings to other parts of the country.

According to a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, a new warning could look like this: “THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO WITH COMPLETE DEVASTATION LIKELY. … SEEK SHELTER NOW! … MOBILE HOMES AND OUTBUILDINGS WILL OFFER NO SHELTER FROM THIS TORNADO — ABANDON THEM IMMEDIATELY.”

The new warnings will be issued to local radio and television stations, local emergency management personnel who activate sirens and dispatch emergency services, and the National Weather Service radio. The hope is that these strongly worded warnings will reach those who tend to wait for a tornado siren before seeking shelter.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/31/new-tornado-warnings_n_1393994.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-usa-tornado-warnings-idUSBRE8300JX20120402

Grand Jury Warns Against Overly Cautious Emergency Communication

There have been several recent incidents involving emergency communications that were too little too late. Illustrating this rising problem, the Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury in California recently expressed its concern regarding limitations of an automated telephone call-out system and the internal communications required prior to an emergency notification being issued.

After Santa Barbara County faced a series of devastating wildfire emergencies in the last five years, the 2010-11 Santa Barbara County Civil Grand Jury conducted an investigation.

According to the Grand Jury “many officials in the various emergency information organizations seemed reluctant to release information to the media and public because of ‘verifiability’ issues.”  In addition, the Grand Jury expressed concern that the verification process “significantly slowed alert and follow-up information needed by the public – in some cases from 30 to 60 minutes.”

As for the potential cause of these communication problems, the Grand Jury cited “an overly cautious culture when it came to communication among emergency agencies” as well as jurisdiction issues.

Recommendations from the Grand Jury included encouraging county and city officials to require emergency agencies to pass emergency information to adjacent jurisdictions and the County Office of Emergency Services without delay and specifying that the OES should be placed in charge of emergency education development and distribution, and should receive funding for such.

Read the entire report here: http://www.sbcgj.org/2011/EmergencyAlert.pdf