OKLAHOMA CITY – OKLAHOMA – Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), September is National Preparedness Month. During National Preparedness Month, families and businesses are urged to prepare for emergencies and disasters, both large scale and smaller local events, and natural and human caused.Disaster can happen anywhere, at any time, and emergency response services may not always be able to reach you quickly. Therefore, it is imperative to take basic precautions, in advance of an emergency. While no one wants to imagine worst case scenarios, planning ahead for tornadoes, flash floods, earthquakes, fire, malicious attacks, etc. can offer peace of mind.
“Growing up, one of my neighbors used to say plan your work and work your plan, for to fail to plan is to plan to fail. This is never more true than in a disaster situation. Failure to develop a disaster preparedness plan can and usually does result in dire consequences,” said Ed Pratt, Midlands Director of Risk Management. “Think about it, what’s worse, to be prepared and not experience a disaster or to be ill prepared/unprepared and experience a disaster?”
The following are tips for becoming prepared: 1. Get informed. Learn about your hazards and how to prepare. Sign up for local alerts and warnings. Download apps such as FEMA, Preparis, Shelter Find and/or Pocket First Aid & CPR. Secure a way to gather information not dependent upon cellular towers. Participate in a preparedness training or class. 2. Make a plan. Create emergency communication plans, evacuation plans and emergency response plans. Take advantage of the free resources available to you: Ready.gov, PrepareAthon, RedCross.org, etc. 3. Assemble a kit. Assemble emergency supplies. 4. Maintain your plan and kit. Conduct an exercise or test your emergency response plans and emergency communications plans. Participate in an organized group drill such as the Great ShakeOut. Update emergency supplies. 5. Get insured. Document property and obtain appropriate insurance for relevant hazards such as Earthquake Insurance, Flood Insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Commercial Property Insurance, etc.
Midlands Management Corp. is a leader in wholesale brokerage, program administration and insurance services with specialty in work injury programs (Workers’ Compensation, Excess Workers’ Compensation, Public Entity). For more than 25 years, Midlands has been serving retail producers and brokers only, by offering exclusive access to the world’s leading carriers and our own specialty programs. Find out more at midlandsmgt.com.
MEDIA CONTACT Mandee Wilson | mwilson@midman.com | midlandsmgt.com