April is Emergency Disaster Preparedness Month. Are you prepared? Would you know how and where to turn off: your main water supply, your hot water heater water supply, the hot water heater gas valve, electric circuit breaker, gas meter, gas clothes dryer, and washing machine water supply. Obviously, you might not need to turn all these things off, but could you, if necessary? And do you know how to manually operate your electric garage door?

April is Emergency Disaster Preparedness Month. Do you know what to do yearly to keep your emergency supplies up to speed? Well, you do remember that the fresh water needs changing, but have you remembered that your over-the-counter products such as nosedrops, cough medicine, aspirin, etc. need changing, too? Check the expiration date on your canned goods and dry goods. Make sure your prescriptions are up to date. Have you purchased at least two fire extinguishers, one for the kitchen? How about the batteries in your smoke alarms, for your flashlights, radios, cell phone? What about another pair of prescription glasses. And more batteries?

April is Emergency Disaster Preparedness Month. Remember to inspect your home at least once a year to fix potential hazards. Ordinary objects can cause injury or damage. Anything that can move, fall, or break is a home hazard. Check your water heater, bookcases, pictures, curio cabinets, lights, hanging plants, large dressers, and all other heavy objects. Make sure they are attached to the wall with braces.

April is Emergency Disaster Preparedness Month. After the emergency, when you know that your home and family members are safe, what to do next? Make sure you show your neighbors that everything is A-OK with you and hang a white towel or cloth at the front of your house visible to the street. You may now want to see if you can be of assistance to others. You may not know who needs help, but you can be sure your community center does. It will be manned by volunteers who have received training in emergency techniques and CB radio transmission. They can use your help in a myriad of ways. Call Jim Harmon, RB Emergency Preparedness Director, at 858-451-9550 to volunteer.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has this to say in his forward in the CITIZENS’ PREPAREDNESS GUIDE (which we all got in the mail): "We can act by working to prepare our families and communities….(this guide) is a resource for the millions of citizens who want to respond to the President’s call to make preparedness a part of our daily lives…Your country has never needed you more."