Online Resources for Emergency Planning
- The American Red Cross
- Ready.gov
- The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency
- The Safety Library
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Online resources for emergency planning can help people create emergency plans and prepare for emergencies before they even occur. Nobody wants to be faced with a disastrous emergency, but effective emergency planning and preparation can mean the difference between surviving a disaster or succumbing to it. There are many terrific resources online that provide information on emergency planning, and the following five resources are among the best.
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1. The American Red Cross
One of the best online resources for emergency planning is the American Red Cross. Founded in 1881, the American Red Cross is dedicated to helping individuals in need. Under the "Get Help" tab at the top of the American Red Cross homepage, there are many valuable resources available to people looking for information on emergency and disaster planning. A sample of these resources includes a step-by-step emergency planning guide, disaster planning templates, a free mobile emergency app, survival kits, hurricane safety tips, and assistance locating emergency shelters.
2. Ready.gov
Another great online emergency planning resource is known as Ready.gov. Ready.gov was launched in February of 2003 with the goal of providing information pertaining to emergency preparation and response. On this website, users can find out how to properly prepare for a large variety of emergencies including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, extreme heat, droughts, wildfires, tornadoes, and extreme cold. The site also provides a large variety of educational videos, outgoing links, and articles about emergency assistance training as well as emergency planning, preparation, and evacuation.
3. The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency
The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, more commonly known as FEMA, is an executive order that was put into action by President Carter in 1979. While its main goal is to provide assistance to qualified persons after disasters and emergencies, it also provides several online resources for emergency planning. Some of the helpful resources that can be found on FEMA's website include outbound links to various organizations that provide information pertaining to disaster and emergency preparation.
4. The Safety Library
The Safety Library is one of seven libraries maintained by the Libraries and Directories website. This is a terrific online resource for people who are looking to learn more about emergency planning and preparation. The Safety Library is essentially an online library that contains a broad array of informative articles about such topics as basic citizen preparedness, disabled persons and emergency planning, emergency planning for businesses, and disaster preparation for the elderly. Users simply need to browse the available articles on the Safety Library's webpage and click on the ones that interest them.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A terrific online resource for elderly persons looking for emergency planning information is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under the CDC's "Emergency Preparedness" heading, users will want to navigate to the heading titled "Personal Preparedness for Older Adults and Their Caregivers." Recognizing the unique needs of seniors, the CDC provides such emergency planning resources as disaster preparedness tips for seniors, medication and emergency planning, preparedness for seniors with pets, and how caregivers can help seniors design an emergency plan.
It is never a good idea to put off emergency planning, especially for persons who live in areas that are prone to natural disasters. But with the useful online emergency planning resources described above, planning for emergencies is now easier than ever.