Disaster Readiness and Emergency Preparedness

By Ron Hilliard, MSN, RN

September was Disaster Preparedness Month. Although the month has passed, preparedness should be regularly maintained year-round, so that you may be ready to carry out your role as a health care provider in any situation.

Disaster preparedness has been a focus of health care and health care providers since the events surrounding the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax letters. The topics emphasized in the past to enable nurses to respond are: having a plan that assures their family is safe, being able to communicate with their coworkers and loved ones, and knowing how to deal with evacuation or sheltering in place.

Disaster Experiences

Texas usually leads the nation in large scale disasters. We are accustomed to the mega-evacuations associated with hurricanes and have experienced the emergent evacuations ahead of large-scale wild land fires. In Texas, there is the constant threat of flooding that frequently impacts whole communities.

More recent events have put a different spin on preparedness. The winter storm of 2021 made everyone painfully aware that being stranded at home or work without electricity, heat, food, and water was an unprecedented disaster. The entire State of Texas was under a disaster declaration.

The COVID-19 pandemic shared similar issues with the winter storm, but it has extended over a much longer duration and continues to affect our communities and critically impact the health care system.

Financial Essentials

Ready access to personal financial, insurance, medical and other records is crucial for surviving a disaster and starting the recovery process. Gather financial and critical personal, household, and medical information and have it where it is easily accessible. It is best to have originals of these documents in a protected storage space, such as a safety deposit box or a fire and waterproof safe, and to carry copies to save time and energy when they are.

The Ready.gov web site has detailed resources on financial planning, including helpful tips in the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit . Having an emergency savings account for use in a crisis will assure that there is access to much-needed cash in a disaster. Maintaining a small amount of cash at home in a safe place can be useful for immediate essentials.

ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster when you need money the most. Signing up for direct deposit and electronic banking through a financial institution will allow access to bank accounts and make it possible to submit electronic payments and transfers anytime and anywhere if you have internet access.

Insurance Protection

Insurance is an important commodity that needs to be considered in the planning process. Property, health and life insurance can be of great assistance and provide some sense of security in the event something happens. Be aware that not all insurance policies are the same. Periodic review your policies assures the amount and types of coverage you have will meet those requirements when needed the most.

For example, your homeowner’s insurance may not cover flooding, which is a critical issue if you live in Texas. If that is the case, you may need to purchase additional flood insurance. The same may be true for other types of natural and man-made disasters.

If your domicile is rented, it is just as important to keep these inventory records. Be aware that the landlord’s insurance will not cover damage to personal possessions in the event of a disaster. Renters’ insurance is an affordable expense and helps compensate if personal property is damaged, destroyed or stolen. It can also provide liability coverage and cover physical damage to the interior of the rental property.

Taking Inventory

The American Red Cross provides a great deal of valuable information on disaster planning. They stress that to protect what you own, there must be an accurate record of your assets and possessions—including furniture, electronics, appliances, tools and keepsakes— on which to base proper insurance coverage. These types of possessions are just as important to protect as your house and vehicles.

The way to accomplish this task is to have a comprehensive household inventory. Make a list of your possessions and include model and serial numbers when appropriate. Place this inventory list with your other important papers in a safe place. Keep this inventory current.

Having a photographic record is a good way to support the inventory and confirm ownership if necessary. Items to consider for a photographic record include the property’s exterior; vehicles; large furniture; collectibles; jewelry; artwork; and the contents of the garage, closets and attic.

It is a good idea to save receipts for valuable items and get professional appraisals for jewelry, collectibles, and artwork. Items that have unusual value should be insured with a carrier since significant changes in market valuation of those items can occur.

Tech Support

We live in a technology driven world. Access to information has made it easier than ever to be prepared for emergencies. Through local media sources and social media sites, the public can stay current on what is happening and receive advanced warnings when there is a pending disaster. To maintain access to these tools, keep your devices protected and always charged.

However, that technology cannot always be relied upon. As we have learned from several large-scale disasters in the past, mobile networks can become non-functional or overwhelmed, making it hard or impossible to make and get phone calls. Text and email require less bandwidth, making it possible to transmit more reliably in disaster environments where scores people are attempting to simultaneously use their devices.

Social media applications, such as Facebook and Twitter, are also a viable way to effectively update family during emergencies. Facebook’s Safety Check and the Red Cross’s Safe and Well allow users to easily post a status update indicating that they are safe during a time of disaster. These sites allow family and friends to search to find their loved one’s name and will respond with a message from you.

Important documents can be stored on secure, password-protected portable drives or in the cloud. These methods are extremely portable and adaptable. The phone’s camera can also be used to capture digital records of documents keep them readily accessible.

Conclusion

Disaster preparedness requires effort and care to be able to respond quickly and decisively to an unforeseen situation. Plans, inventories, documents and technological devices must be kept current and ready. When you make that effort, you can respond quickly and comfortably in a disaster situation, with the knowledge that your family is safe, cared for, and can stay in contact while you are away providing essential health care to those affected by a disaster