Get Healthy: PrepareAthon! a chance to learn to deal with hazards

This column appears in the Nevada Appeal Wednesday health pages. It addresses topics related to the health of our community.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

America’s PrepareAthon! is an opportunity for individuals, organizations and communities to prepare for specific hazards through drills, group discussions and exercises.

The first National Day of Action is scheduled for today and will revolve around taking the actions to prepare for these four specific hazards: tornadoes, wildfires, floods and hurricanes. While tornadoes and hurricanes are not a threat to us here in Northern Nevada, the risk for floods and wildfires is real in our community, and it’s important for residents to be prepared in case our community is struck by a disaster.

The tornadoes that hit the Midwest and South this week should stand as a reminder that disasters can strike almost anywhere, and without warning. Our own community has been hit in the past. This summer will mark 10 years since the Waterfall Fire ravaged the hillsides west of Carson City. The lack of precipitation and dry brush means that we could once again be facing danger from fires.

That’s why Carson City Health and Human Services’ Public Health Preparedness Division is encouraging everyone to be involved in America’s PrepareAthon! The goal of this campaign is to educate citizens about how they can protect themselves and their families in case of a disaster, increase the number of individuals who understand which disasters could happen in their community, know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage, take action to increase their preparedness, and participate in community resilience planning.

“National Day of Action is an opportunity for us to remind Carson City residents that there are professionals working every day to imprve response efforts to disasters such as wildfires and floods,” states Taylor Radtke, public health preparedness planner.