Prepare to Shake, Rattle and Roll

The Great California Shakeout recently took place on October 20, 2016 which is coordinated by Caltech, a leading research institution and home of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Caltech has held this event for several years with the intent to encourage families and businesses to “practice how to be safer during big earthquakes”. This orchestrated earthquake drill is intended to prompt review of emergency readiness and recovery plans, to inventory emergency supplies and to give overall awareness to how to react in natural disaster situations. It’s not too late for your organization to get ready and be prepared. Here are some helpful tips from the desk of Norma White, United Staffing Associate’s Director of Health & Safety on how to get prepared:

• Keep at least 3 days of emergency food and water
• Have an emergency generator and fuel
• Keep a landline that you can use to contact employee’s friends, family and emergency services
• Create a safe meet up point for employees to go to
• Check out alternative routes to get to the meeting point
• Have a stocked first aid kit
• Set aside camping supplies (tents, propane cook tops, coolers)
• Get a battery operated AM radio and set it to the emergency broadcast station channel
• Perform an annual drill so that everyone knows exactly what to do and where to go
• Have emergency supplies of medication set aside (i.e. Insulin, epi pens, Nitroglycerin Pills)

Don’t wait till disaster strikes! Prepare now and make sure your organization is ready to handle an earthquake.

Please seek additional guidance from your local Emergency Management team which can be contacted through your City or County government. Also, for more information on California earthquake trends and data, visit www.caltech.edu.