National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month and, if you haven't thought about it yet, there's still time to think about what you need to do to prepare. Maybe you have a plan for your business and your home; if not, below are some articles to help you increase your readiness for a disaster - and your ability to recover from one.

Take a look at the 2012 Ready toolkit from FEMA for all you need to know to participate in National Preparedness Month. (Item #1)   Here's a quick rundown of what businesses need to think about in developing a preparedness plan. (Item #2)   Think all you have to do in an emergency is call 911? Think again. (Item #3)  

Do you know what documents you would need in your 72-hour supplies? (Item #4)   The most critical step in being able to recover from a disaster is being prepared for one in the first place. (Item #5)   Shock and denial are typical responses to traumatic events and disasters, especially shortly after the event; how do you deal with them? (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Resolve to be Ready in 2012

The 2012 Resolve to be Ready Toolkit from FEMA covers a range of topics, including ideas organizations can use to encourage readiness among employees, clients, customers, etc., as well as how to use social media to encourage readiness.
http://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/2012_R2BR.pdf

2. Preparedness Planning for Your Business

Businesses can do much to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today's world including natural hazards like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and widespread serious illness such as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic. Ready Business will assist businesses in developing a preparedness program by providing tools to create a plan that addresses the impact of many hazards.
http://www.ready.gov/business

3. The "Disaster Dozen:" Top Twelve Myths of Disaster Preparedness

Previous disasters have given us a series of emergency preparedness wake-up calls. Do we pay attention now or hit the snooze button again? Let's wake up and look at the most important part of a comprehensive emergency readiness plan, which is the preparedness levels of individuals and families.
http://www.disasterprep101.com/documents/DPMyths.pdf

4. Preserving and Proving Your Identity and Worth in an Emergency

There are four areas of documents that you should consider when planning your 72 hour supplies. Those are a record of material possessions in the home, identification, cash and irreplaceable family mementos. Following a brief explanation of each of these subjects is a complete list of documents you should consider storing in your 72 hour kit.
http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=48<&name=Preserving%20And%20Proving
%20Your%20Identity%20And%20Worth%20In%20An%20Emergency

5. Disaster Preparedness: Planning Ahead

While disaster recovery will always involve some on-fly decision making and adapting to realities on the ground, both of these can be made orders of magnitude easier by having contingency plans and systems already in place, and staff who are already trained how to implement them.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408092,00.asp

6. Managing traumatic stress: Tips for recovering from disasters and other traumatic events

Disasters are often unexpected, sudden and overwhelming. In some cases, there are no outwardly visible signs of physical injury, but there is nonetheless a serious emotional toll. It is common for people who have experienced traumatic situations to have very strong emotional reactions. Understanding normal responses to these abnormal events can aid you in coping effectively with your feelings, thoughts and behaviors, and help you along the path to recovery.
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/recovering-disasters.aspx