Here are just a few suggestions of things you can do to prepare for emergency situations. Please let us know if you have other suggestions!
Check out our NEW emergency preparedness events calendar! We've launched an Events Calendar on our 'blog - check it out and let us know what you think! It's a work-in-progress that we envision will be useful, especially during the busier months. Individual items are not yet hot-linked, but we hope to have that functionality in the near future.
Stay informed about preparedness! The Seattle Office of Emergency Management publishes The Monthly Connection newsletter that includes details about upcoming SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) classes, special workshops such as Leadership training, and other useful preparedness information. To sign up for the e-newsletter version of the Monthly Connection, email subscribe-request@talk2.seattle.gov!
Build your skills with SNAP Program classes & Skills Training! Registration for spring classes has begun! Check this 2011 SNAP Program and Skills Training calendar and keep in mind that it is frequently updated as new classes are added. In-person SNAP Program classes are offered at various times throughout the year, as well as Skills Training classes such as: Fire Extinguisher and Utility Control (turning off gas, water, electricity); Disaster First Aid; Light Search and Rescue; Earthquake Retrofit, and Home Hazard Search. Many of these are FREE classes and they tend to fill up quickly.
Attend Leadership classes! The Office of Emergency Management has added several new training sessions to their website at http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/. Highlights include a continuing education workshop, "Effective Drills and Exercises" and a series of three Leadership Academy sessions in October.
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training Program: Get training in needed life-saving skills with emphasis on rescuer safety: https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/about.shtm. The nearest CERT training is offered in SeaTac/Burien; the City of Burien website has more information.
Take Basic First Aid & CPR classes: Offered by various organizations including the Red Cross, the Office of Emergency Management, CPR Seattle, various fire stations, and some area hospitals. CPR certification is included in SNAP's Disaster First Aid class mentioned above.
Mountaineering-Oriented First Aid (MOFA) & Alpine First Aid (AFA): Offered via the Mountaineers.
Learn Pet CPR & First Aid: Local sources for CPR and emergency preparedness classes for your pets include: King County Red Cross, Seattle Humane Society and Dogtime.com.
Learn about Psychological First Aid: Get information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website about maintaining a healthy state of mind in a disaster. Two additional excellent resources are the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder's “Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide” and the American Psychiatric Association's article “When Disaster Strikes”.
City of Seattle's online disaster training
http://www.iriseducation.org/disasterprep/
King County's emergency preparedness informational site
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/disaster.aspx
Includes fact sheets about finding clean water, preventing hypothermia, etc., in several languages.
Safety videos on the Seattle Channel: Excellent materials in English and nine other languages!
http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/watchVideos.asp?program=emergencyPlanning
Earthquake retrofit classes
http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/events/
http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/prepare/personal/home.htm
For information on dates, locations and registration call 1-877-2-BOLT-IT. Note that some of these classes are free and some have a nominal cost.
Learn all about earthquakes! USGS has created this very informative site...for kids, teachers and you.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/.
Annual Communications Academy - Learn about ham radios and other emergency communications at
http://commacademy.org/! Visit our Other Communication Sources page for related organizations.
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