APHA Campaign: Time Flies, Stockpile Emergency Supplies
The time for "springing forward" and resetting clocks is still more than a week away (March 9), but the American Public Health Association has already started getting ready for it, launching its first "Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks" campaign. The slogan's "Stocks" refers to your home and office's emergency preparedness supplies. APHA says the campaign is designed to build on the message of preparedness that already exists with using daylight saving time as a reminder to check the batteries in our smoke detectors.
"Since we already use daylight saving as an opportunity to ensure that our families are prepared for an emergency, it's a great time for us also to make sure that we have a fully stocked emergency kit and that none of the perishable items have expired," said APHA Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E). "When we spring forward this year, we want every American to make sure their family has a preparedness kit to fall back on in the event of an emergency."
For the campaign, APHA has released materials and tips aimed at raising awareness of the importance of ensuring that each family has a stocked emergency preparedness kit. In the downloadable toolkit (at http://www.getreadyforflu.org/clocksstocks/stockpilingtoolkit.pdf), families can find out why preparing for a public health emergency is important, what to include in an emergency preparedness kit, how to get kids involved, and more. The campaign reminds people to refresh their emergency supplies before a disease outbreak or disaster occurs. It also serves as a reminder that, if you haven't created a stockpile yet, now is the time to create one.
Among other tips, APHA says families should check their emergency kits to be sure that they have at least a three-day supply of bottled water, non-perishable foods and essential medications set aside for each member of your family. This is also a perfect time for people to re-familiarize themselves with their community's emergency preparedness plan, including evacuation routes, emergency shelters and the location of food banks, the association says.
To download materials and learn more about the campaign, visit the Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks Web site at http://www.getreadyforflu.org/clocksstocks/index.htm. Learn more about the American Public Health Association at http://www.apha.org/about/news/boilerplate.htm.