SPOKANE, Wash. – This September, our nation will mark the ten year anniversary of 9/11, and Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) and Spokane Department of Emergency Management (DEM) are committed to participating in National Preparedness Month (NPM), an event founded after 9/11 to increase preparedness in the United States. The event is a nationwide, month-long effort hosted by the Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, encouraging households, businesses and communities to prepare and plan for emergencies.

DEM will have a large presence at this year’s Spokane County Interstate Fair, where partners like SRHD will join them in promoting personal preparedness and community involvement messages. Visit them at the fair between Sept. 9 and Sept. 17 to see live demonstrations from nearly 100 volunteers and 20 organizations staffing the display and demo area.

Spokane Regional Health District invites people to visit the health district during the month of September at 1101 W. College Ave. for free preparedness materials. SRHD will also be out in the community promoting preparedness messages including at Valleyfest, Sept. 23-25. Come to Mirabeau Point Park for Valleyfest and visit the SRHD booth for materials and giveaways related to preparing yourself and your loved ones for an emergency.

Both agencies also join in promoting NPM’s key message: be prepared in the event an emergency causes you to be self-reliant for three days without utilities and electricity, water service, access to a supermarket or local services, or maybe even without response from police, fire or rescue. Preparing can start with three important steps:

1. Get an emergency supply kit
2. Make a plan for what to do in an emergency
3. Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.

Preparedness is a shared responsibility; it takes a whole community. It requires collaboration at all levels of government, including between emergency management and public health, and with local private and nonprofit sectors.

Visit the DEM site, spokaneprepares.org, for a host of information on emergency preparedness locally. The site includes ALERT Spokane registration for cell phones, voice-over-Internet phones and email addresses to receive local emergency messages—landlines are automatically registered. Visitors can also find more detailed information on personal and business preparedness. 

Become a fan of SRHD on Facebook and receive updates throughout September on personal preparedness. You can also follow us on Twitter @spokanehealth. More information can also be found at www.srhd.org. SRHD’s website offers comprehensive, updated information about Spokane Regional Health District and its triumphs in making Spokane a safer and healthier community.