“It’s not a matter of if … it’s a matter of when.”
What if a blizzard with an ice storm had you trapped in your home with no power?
What if a pandemic swept through the nation, the world?
What if a tornado wiped out your home and the city you live in?
Are you prepared?
That is the question Rick Ritter, Otero County Health Department executive director, is asking everyone in this area as he encourages the public to take steps to prepare in the event of a disaster.
Ritter is planning to host a series of community meetings to stress the importance of preparing and planning for any type of disaster because it’s a matter of time before southeastern Colorado faces this type of event. (The meetings will be held in the next few months and will be advertised in the local newspapers and radio stations).
In fact, southeastern Colorado has already faced a number of events in the past few years — blizzards, floods, the tornado in Holly, the fire in Ordway, H1N1.
But those events aren’t nearly as scary as this statistic. According to the Red Cross, of the 340 million people in the United States, only 6 percent are prepared for emergencies. That means, 94 percent are not prepared.
That number, Ritter said, is unacceptable.
“Ninety-four percent of the people in the United States do nothing to prepare for an emergency,” Ritter said. “This is unacceptable. This is completely unacceptable. It’s not a matter of if … it’s a matter of when.”
What can people do?
They need to anticipate an emergency-type situation, Ritter said. This means thinking about and planning for any type of event that could affect this area.
After anticipating the event and planning, people need to implement those actions — translating their thoughts into actions.
“The things we want/need are usually always available. But what if they aren’t?” Ritter asked a group of about 20 people recently who have been recognized as first-responders in the event of a disaster. This group included health officials, community volunteers and some business representatives.
To help get prepared, Ritter offered two sites for people to review. The sites — http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/plan.shtm and http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/basickit.shtm — as well as www.ready.gov give people a variety of resources to become better prepared for an emergency.
