Taking Steps to Prepare for Disaster

Although the borough's emergency management team continually works to make the residents safer, there are certain steps each resident can take to make their homes safer and to help themselves in time of crisis. These include:

• Check and change the batteries in your smoke alarms and replace all alarms that are more than 10 years old.
• Make sure you know where your local fire department, police station and hospital are and post a list of emergency phone numbers posted near all the telephones in your home.
• Organize and practice a family fire drill. Make sure your children know what your smoke detector sounds like and what to do if it goes off when they are sleeping.
• Locate the utility mains for your home and be sure you know how to turn them off manually; gas, electricity, and water.
• Create an emergency plan for your household, including your pets. Decide where your family will meet if a disaster does happen: Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire, and outside your neighborhood in case you can't return home. Ask an out of town friend to be your "family contact" to relay messages.
• Prepare a three day disaster supply kit, complete with flashlights, batteries, blankets, and an emergency supply of water and food, (and pet food).
• Check the expiration dates of all over-the-counter medications-discard all that are expired and replace any that are routinely needed.
• Make sure all cleaning products and dangerous objects are out of children's reach.
• Plan to sign up for a first aid training course. Contact the Brielle Fist Aid Squad for the next course offering.
• Join the Brielle CERT for additional training. Contact Tim Shaak at (732) 528-7666 or (732) 528-1533 for details.
• Visit with your neighbors and discuss how you would handle a disaster in your area. Talk to neighbors with special needs and help them become safer too!