A reflection from FNHA Health Emergency Manager David Reid
I was in bed sleeping. The next moment, our windows made a thumping sound, and our house shook. I immediately woke up and said to my wife, "earthquake." I got out of bed, and my wife went to check on my seven-year-old son. We are fortunate that we are quite prepared. We have light sticks underneath our beds and an emergency kit by the front door. As a family we have practiced "drop, cover and hold on," agreed upon a meeting point outside and created a household plan to evacuate the house.
However, like many in British Columbia, our emergency preparedness is not perfect. Having an earthquake in winter at midnight reminded us that we need to re-evaluate our plan.
Some things we discussed:
- Household fixtures. Many of our wall hangings are not mounted to withstand an earthquake. They are likely to fall and create broken glass on the floor.
- Socks, gloves, shoes and hats. Our kit has sleeping bags, a tarp, stove and tent. However, it lacks some basic clothes. We realized that we need to put some warm clothes in the bag in case we ever evacuate the house wearing pajamas.
- Passports, documentation and money. We did not have any in our kit.
- Matches/lighters. We have many of these, as we have a woodstove and BBQ. However, I had removed these from the kit earlier in the year when looking for matches. I should have put them back.
We were fortunate that this earthquake was not the "big one." However, the "big one" will occur one day. Please take the time to consider your own disaster preparedness. Do you have a plan, have you considered dependents and those with mobility issues or special needs? Have you included your pets in the plan?
Below are some resources to assist you with getting prepared.
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery
http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/ep-wk/index-eng.aspx
David Reid
