In the past year, Cook County residents have endured snow storms, a Polar Vortex, flooding, tornado warnings and other public safety emergencies. While these and other disasters can’t be prevented, their impact can be reduced when people, businesses, schools and others in a community are properly prepared.
The whole community must do its part. That means everyone in a community needs to be prepared for disasters, not just emergency response agencies. Individuals, families, businesses, schools, faith-based groups and other community organizations should develop and practice emergency plans that address the needs of everyone in our community. This should include senior citizens, children, those with health concerns or disabilities, non-English speaking residents and others.
Disasters can happen anywhere, at any time. The time to prepare yourself and your family is before an emergency. When an emergency strikes, you need to prepare for the possibility that help may take up to 72 hours to arrive. With that in mind, please take the following steps.
Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Make a plan. Start a discussion about emergencies that could occur with family and friends. Plan multiple escape routes from your home and plan meeting locations in the event that you are unable to access your home.
Build emergency supply kits. Make supply kits that contain food, water, first aid items, medications (prescription and over-the-counter), special items (for infants and/or pets) and copies of important documents (insurance policies, passports, social security cards, financial records). Make sure everyone in the family knows where the kits are located.
Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get trained. Learn basic first aid skills and CPR. Know how to shelter in place and turn off your utilities.
Volunteer. Seek opportunities to lend a hand in your community.
Tell us about your experiences with natural hazards. While you prepare your family, the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) is working with local municipalities and partner agencies to mitigate the effects of natural hazards. We are creating the largest multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) of its kind.
The goal is to reduce the county’s vulnerability to natural hazards -- such as floods, snowstorms and tornadoes -- while protecting the health, safety, welfare and economy of communities. We can achieve this by identifying cost-effective strategies to reduce the impact of natural hazards.
We need your input to ensure we have the necessary information for this plan. We’ve created a public survey to get information from you about natural hazards in Cook County at www.surveymonkey.com/s/CookCountyHazMit. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and will provide vital information for the plan.
For more information about preparing for an emergency, click here.
For more information about Cook County’s HMP, visit http://www.cookcountyhomelandsecurity.org/hazard-mitigation-plan/.
Michael Masters is the executive director of the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM). Under the leadership of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, DHSEM integrates first responders, their departments and resources from 134 Cook County municipalities, and serves as the central agency in Cook County for coordinating efforts to prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to, and recover from all incidents, whether man-made or natural. For more information, visit our website at www.cookcountyhomelandsecurity.org.
