Disaster Preparedness
As part of the “emergency response community” we at the Threat Preparedness Office are often asked, “what can we do to protect us in case of a terrorist event”, and our response is “have an emergency plan, practice it, and have at least enough emergency supplies to take care of you and your family for at least 72 hours.
“Shelter-in-Place” – To take shelter in your home, school, place of employment or other location while taking proactive actions to provide protection from severe weather, chemical, radiological or other similar event for long enough period of time to either allow the dangerous condition to pass by or to diminish enough to allow evacuation (as instructed by emergency personnel) to a safer location.
“Evacuation” – To relocate (as instructed by emergency personnel) to a safe location to provide protection from an emergency condition and so that necessary basic services and needs are either available or can be provided.
“Quarantine” – While this term might not be new to some older members of our communities, it is a term that is foreign to many today. Quarantine is either a voluntary or involuntary restriction of movement from one point to another. A quarantine could restrict movement from state to state, county to county, city to city, movement within a city and/or area, or movement beyond your home or other location. Quarantines may be used to restrict the movement of individuals that have been exposed (contaminated) or are ill, potentially exposed to, or to prevent the exposure to disease or other condition that is “communicable” (spread from person to person), or to prevent the spread of “contamination” (chemical, radiological or other material) from person to person, or location to location. Besides for humans, quarantines can also be effect animals, foods or other physical objects.
“Isolation” – a planned or unplanned process to keep people, animals and/or physical objects isolated from each other. This condition might be the result of a “quarantine”, or might be the result of severe weather, flooding or some other event that either makes travel difficult and/or impossible.