| p>September is Emergency Preparedness Month, | | | | may leave shattered glass on the ground. |
| and for many of us, it's a time when we think | | | | ICE it. If you're incapacitated, it's important that |
| about all the things we haven't yet done to get | | | | emergency personnel know who they should alert. |
| ourselves, our families, and our businesses | | | | Emergency personnel are trained to look for a |
| prepared for an emergency. After all, just like any | | | | special entry on your cell phone called ICE, which |
| organizing or productivity project, getting | | | | stands for In Case of Emergency. In your phone's |
| prepared for an emergency takes time and | | | | address book, create a new entry for ICE and |
| effort - or does it? | | | | put in all the people and phone numbers you'd |
| Know that like getting organized, being prepared is | | | | want called if there were an emergency and you |
| a process - sure, you can go to the store and | | | | couldn't call yourself. |
| gather all your supplies, but there's always more | | | | Call 911 - or not. 911, the go-to number for |
| that can be done, always more to prepare. Don't | | | | emergencies of every stripe, will probably be |
| worry about getting things perfect - just get | | | | completely overwhelmed in a catastrophic |
| started. In fact, there are a number of things that | | | | situation, so relying on 911 may not be your best |
| you can do RIGHT NOW to start the process of | | | | bet. Every police station, fire station, and hospital |
| being more prepared. | | | | has a regular, non-911 phone number that will likely |
| Text to connect. In a major disaster, cell phone | | | | be much easier to get through to in a wide-scale |
| service may be down or networks may be | | | | emergency. Look in your phone book or call your |
| completely overwhelmed. Text or call your local | | | | local stations, and then enter the non-911 phone |
| relatives, loved ones, and friends to set up a place | | | | numbers for police, fire, and ambulances in your |
| to meet in the event of an emergency. This | | | | cell phone. |
| should be a spot that's easy to access via foot, in | | | | In total, these three steps should take you less |
| the event that you're unable to drive or if public | | | | than 10 or 15 minutes. Of course, these are not |
| transport is unavailable. It would be a good idea to | | | | everything you need to do to get prepared for |
| choose a spot that isn't near tall buildings, as they | | | | an emergency - but they are a start! |