National Preparedness Month
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Throughout the month of September, CDC and more than 3000 organizations—national, regional, and local governments, as well as private and public organizations—will support emergency preparedness efforts and encourage Americans to take action.
For Preparedness Month 2015, the National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) supports the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response’s (OPHPR) plans to focus on communities of preparedness. Each week, CDC will focus messaging and products on the following unique areas:
Week 1: Family – Disaster preparedness starts with personal preparedness for you and your family.
Week 2: Neighborhood – Those in closest proximity to you during an emergency are most likely to be the first to offer help.
Week 3: Workplace and School – Whether you are at work or home or your child is in school it is important for individuals to know specific threats and hazards in their area, emergency signals, evacuation routes, and locations of shelters in their community.
Week 4: Global – Global health security is an ongoing priority that requires individuals to be aware of their health and safety when they are travelling abroad.
PrepareAthon
Also in September, all federal agencies will come together to promote the fall PrepareAthon. The PrepareAthon is a nationwide, community-based campaign for action to increase emergency preparedness and resilience through hazard-specific drills, group discussions and national level exercises conducted each fall and spring. The month will culminate in the National Day of Action on September 30.
PrepareAthon messages will focus on specific hazards this fall: winter weather, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and flooding. For more information, visit www.ready.gov/prepare and http://emergency.cdc.gov/.
Join the Movement
- CDC will host a Twitter Chat on Wednesday, September 16 at 2pm EST on preparedness and community resilience. Follow @CDCemergency and @CDCEnvironment. Use #CDCprep to join the conversation.
- Support CDC’s Thunderclap! Thunderclap is a social media tool that allows supporters to sign up in advance to share a unified message at a specific time via their individual Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr account. The collective action creates a wave of support – or “thunderclap” – across social media. The thunderclap will go live on September 30 at 12PM EST and encourages individuals to meet their neighbors and start building a strong, healthy community.
Learn more about CDC’s National Preparedness Month activities
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It is important to take part in initiatives like this. As the world we live in is continually at risk from natural and man-made threats, it is vital that we are prepared for emergencies. Hopefully we will never need to act on our plans, or use our emergency stockpiles, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, as the saying goes.