Next
month is National Preparedness Month with the theme Prepared, Not Scared. Be
Ready for Disasters. National
Preparedness Month (NPM) is recognized each September to promote family and
community disaster and emergency planning now and throughout the year. This
year’s campaign will feature PSAs and multimedia products around four weekly
themes:
·
Week 1: Sept 1-7 Save Early for Disaster Costs
·
Week 2: Sept 8-14 Make a Plan to Prepare for Disasters
·
Week 3: Sept 15-21 Teach Youth to Prepare for Disasters
·
Week 4: Sept 22-30 Get Involved in Your Community’s Preparedness
Content
has been loaded on the Ready.gov
National Preparedness Month Toolkit webpage. This year, FEMA wants
participants, which include ARES operators, to share their activities and
success stories. The longtime ARRL partner wants brief descriptions of what you
are planning for National Preparedness Month. Send them to FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov
with the word NPM in the subject line. An appropriate, brief submission would
be your planned or conducted ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) activity. Many
groups will be holding their SET during September and through the fall. The
primary League-sponsored national emergency exercise is designed to assess the
skills and preparedness of ARES and other organizations involved with
emergency/disaster response. Here’s an opportunity to let FEMA know about it.
In
June 2003, ARRL became an official affiliate program of Citizen Corps, an initiative
within the Department of Homeland Security to enhance public preparedness and
safety. The Statement of Affiliation makes ARRL an affiliate under the four
charter Citizen Corps programs–Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police
Service, Community Emergency Response Teams and Medical Reserve Corps.
