Prepare now for an emergency

Examples of items for an emergency kit.

Pack an emergency kit. Draw up an action plan. Organize essential information. That’s some of the advice from public officials at a Resilience Summit Oct. 12 hosted by Mason Supervisor Penny Gross.

The key message is to prepare now, so if a natural or human-caused disaster strikes – anything from a tornado to massive flooding to a chemical spill – you’ll know what to do.

Ready Virginia suggests families put together a kit containing containing essential items, such as water, canned goods, can opener, snacks, personal hygiene products, first aid kit, trash bags, gloves, battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, blankets, whistle, tools, protective mask, and extra eyeglasses. In case you need to be evacuated, grab the kit and go.

Three Fairfax County schools – Chantilly, Edison, and Marshall high schools – are designated as emergency shelters, said Doug O’Neill, coordinator for safety and environmental health at Fairfax County Public Schools. Chantilly and Edison even have emergency kennel areas for pets.

All FCPS schools have emergency radio systems in case there’s no phone service, O’Neill said. School buses also have emergency radios, and FCPS offices have radio systems for accessing the police and fire departments and national weather service.

Each school has a crisis management plan, and training drills are conducted periodically. If a daytime tornado is predicted, the first action would be to get everyone out of the trailers and into the main building.

After a disaster, the main goal is to get everyone back to normal as soon as possible, said Joe Latham, assistant director of the FCPS Office of Facilities Management.

Each fire station has identified areas in its jurisdiction with high-risk materials and areas with a high risk of loss of life, said Battalion Chief Ronnie Rodriguez with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. First responders are trained to implement triage in case of a mass casualty incident. 

Rodriguez urged everyone to sign up for Fairfax Alerts to receive notifications from the county in case of an emergency. He also advised filling out a “file of life form” with vital health information and emergency contacts and attach it via magnet to your refrigerator.

Another thing to do is join the Yellow Dot program. The fire department distributes yellow dot stickers for car windows indicating there’s medical information in the glove box. That could save your life following an accident.

MPO Eduardo Azcarate, the crime prevention officer for the Mason Police District, advised the public to always know your whereabouts, because when you call 911, the first question you’ll be asked is “where are you?”

“You can’t help your pets if you’re not ready yourself,” said Amanda Novotny, communications and outreach manager for the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

The best way to ensure your pet’s safety during a disaster to have a microchip implanted in the pet with up-to-date contact information, including your cell phone number, she said. The next-best solution is a collar with tag that has a the phone number of a backup contact person.

Novotny advised pet owners to include pet food, a carrier, pet medications, vaccination history, and a picture of you and your pet in your emergency kit. Decide in advance where you and your pet can go in case you’re evacuated, such as a pet-friendly shelter, hotel, or relative’s house.

Other speakers at the summit talked about the need to organize essential documents so you can easily access them when disaster strikes.