Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 3 Jan 2017

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From YouTube: Emergency Preparedness: Be Proactive, Not Reactive

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Learn more about how to be proactive during an emergency in a discussion with Charles Tudor, Battalion Chief of Field Operations and Emergency Management of the Baltimore County Fire Department.

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Welcome back to the time of your life., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen..

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Emergency preparedness is a topic that few people consider.

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Unless an emergency occurs. here to teach us about emergency preparedness is battalion chief, charles tudor from the baltimore county fire department. welcome to the show.. Thank you for having me.. Let's begin by discussing what is emergency preparedness?.

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Well, emergency preparedness are steps that you can take now.

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To prepare yourself for an emergency --, whether it be a snow event.

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That you're going to be stuck inside the house for a while.

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Or if the need arises, you're going to have to evacuate.

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Due to an impending hazardous material incident,.

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Or a tropical storm or hurricane coming.

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Whether the situation involves weather,, utilities, or a disaster,.

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There's certain steps to prepare yourself and your family.

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For such an emergency., can you talk about critical items to consider when creating an emergency preparedness, kit?.

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Yes., we recommend that you have at least one gallon of water.

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Per person per day, and you plan to be at home for three days on your own.

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So you're going to want to have three gallons of water -- and that's going to be for drinking and sanitary. Reasons.

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Also, you want to have food., you want to have canned food,, you want to have dehydrated fruit,.

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Protein bars, things of those nature that are very easily to consume.

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You may not have heat,, you may not have any kind of electricity,.

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So you definitely want to have those items in your kit.

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Now you also want to have a plan.

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You want to have your prescriptions written down in case you need to leave.. You want to have warm clothing; if you're home,, I'm sure you're already going to have those type of things.

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But you just want to have a kit.. You want to have everything ready., along with your kit,. You want to have a battery-operated or a hand-cranked radio that has the noaa weather radio on there.

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So that way, you can continue to get the most up-to-date information.

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You also want to have a can opener --, not electric of course,, because if you lose power,, you want to be able to get into those cans., and those are just a few of the items that we recommend,.

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But you definitely should be prepared to hunker down for three days.

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As we're facing winter --, which itself can create some multitude of challenges, --, can you provide additional items that should be included during the winter months?

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absolutely.? You definitely want to have warm clothing.

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You want to have your prescriptions up to date.

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You want to have a travel kit, so to speak,, ready to go that you can just grab and take if you need to leave;.

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Water, non-perishable-type items.

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You also want to have a wrench,, so that way you can turn off your utilities. If you need to.

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And a whistle,, so that way you can whistle for help if need be.

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And those are just a few of the extra items that you should definitely have at home.

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great points to think about.

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I've also heard it's important to have a kit in your vehicle.

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Can you explain why the items are important and what they should be preparing and putting in their vehicles?.

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Well,, you definitely want to have a preparedness kit in your vehicle.

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Because if the need arises to evacuate,.

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Obviously, it's only going to be potentially moment's notice.

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So in that kit, it's imperative, again,, you have at least some water,.

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You have some food -- power, bars,, dehydrated, fruit, cans, and a can opener.

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You definitely want to have, because of the winter months,.

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You want to have blankets, something to keep you warm if the need arises when you're out there..

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You also want to have a list of your medications with you.

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And you want to have your-- like a spare set of glasses.

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You want to have a list of phone numbers to your friends and family.

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If you have a cell phone,, take your cell phone.

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and you also want to have a map,. So if you need to evacuate,.

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You're going to have an idea of where to go. and most importantly,, you want to have a plan..

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You want to have a plan that you want to discuss with your loved ones.

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To say, "if the need arises that I need to evacuate,.

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That I can call you and say this is where I'm heading.

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If I'm not able to call you..." they're already going to know where you're heading. and that could be out to --, depending on the situation, --.

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It could be to western maryland,, it could be to another loved one's house in a neighboring state.

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But at least everyone is going to know where you are going and how to reach you once you get there to know, you're safe.

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Excellent. now, pets are an important part of many families.

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How can you prepare for an emergency with your pet?.

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Pets, we find that a lot of people will not evacuate.

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If they can't take their pets. so,, it's important that you do. Take your pet.

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now,. If you're going to go to a shelter,, be certain that the shelter does accept pets.

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in baltimore county,, we do have eastern tech,.

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Which is a pet-friendly shelter.

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so,? You want to have that, but you also want to have all the up-to-date vaccinations.

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You want to have food and water for your pet as well.

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You want to take some warm blankets for them.

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And again, you want to have enough for three days, at least minimal, to get. You started for your pet.

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If you're going to a relative's house or whatever,, they may not have those items and they may be hard to get..

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So you want to be self-sufficient for three days with your pet., along with items for an emergency preparedness, kit,.

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I've read about the importance of having a plan in place..

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Can you talk about the factors to consider when creating the plan.

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And what should be in the plan? well,? Your plan should be all-encompassing.

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You can have a weather event that you may be stuck at home for three days.

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So,, how are you going to prepare yourself??

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How are you going to be able to get your medications?.

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If you're on dialysis,, how are you going to be able to get to your appointments?? So you want to have a plan in place to deal with those type of items.

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If you need to evacuate,, you need to look at the reasons for evacuation.

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Obviously,, if it would be a hurricane or a tropical storm,,.

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You're going to have to possibly evacuate at a much further distance.

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If it's a hazardous material event or something like that, --.

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We're asking you to evacuate --, you may not have to go as far.

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So your plan wants to be able to deal with both of those.

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and again, when you have a plan,, it's important that you share that plan with others,.

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So everyone understands where you're going.

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Good point. for populations with older adults and persons with disabilities,.

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Are there additional preparations that should be considered?.

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You want to make sure that a:, you have your medications,.

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Again, and you want to have a list of those medications and dosages.

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So that way,, if you need to evacuate and you go to a different pharmacy,.

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You have all that information on hand..

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The pharmacist can then contact your other pharmacy to get your prescriptions filled.. You want to have a spare set of glasses.

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And you want to have any items that you're going to need.

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That you absolutely need to get around.

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You want to have in a kit just to make things a little bit easier for yourself.

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and again,, with the plan,, in particular, with the elderly,.

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You need to make sure you share with that plan with others.

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So, everyone has an idea of where you're going to go and where you're going to be in case, the need arises.

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Thank you, battalion chief, for being with us today,.

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To share this valuable information about emergency preparedness.

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Thank you for having me. we're going to take a short break. when we return, learn about senior center travel, senior box, office,.

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And what's happening at your local senior center.

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