Hurricane season is underway in the Atlantic and according to the Eastern Healthcare Preparedness Coalition (EHPC), it’s expected to be an active season.
The EHPC team said that while hurricanes are difficult to predict, we can all do our part to prepare for the best possible outcomes. That includes preparing yourself, your family and your home for potential storms.
“If something goes off unexpectedly and you’re unable to leave your house potentially due to flooding, do you feel like you could provide for yourself and your family, including your pets, for about 72 hours?” Stephanie Seals, disaster services specialist with EHPC, asked. “Historically, we know the rescue services aren’t able to help for about the first 72 hours, so we always recommend having enough food, water and medications at your home to take care of yourself, your family and your pets for that time.”
Other key items to keep in mind for your preparedness kits include important phone numbers, documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates and wills, and a first aid kit.
“You don’t necessarily have to go out and buy a brand new first aid kit, you can kind of buy your equipment and piecemeal it together yourself, but it’s important to make sure it’s stocked,” Seals said. “The big things that we see needed after these storms are things such as band aids, ace bandages and gauze to wrap up injuries and your basic antiseptic ointment to clean off those wounds.”
Ready.gov is a federal government website with helpful information about how to properly prepare for a hurricane. This includes guidance on Creating a plan that meets the specific needs of your household and building an emergency kit that contains supplies to help you stay adequately prepared for a natural disaster like a hurricane.
The EHPC team is ECU Health-based while proudly serving all of eastern North Carolina, which enables Seals to pursue her passions on both the personal and professional fronts.
“Getting to help people when they need it the most is incredibly important to me. I think helping people help themselves is one of the coolest things we get to do, too,” Seals said. “We have heard back from people that we get to train and educate and they’ll say, ‘When this happened unexpectedly, we had a house fire or another situation, I was ready because of the things that we put together.’ That just means the world to me.”
Resources
Hurricanes can form quickly. Take the time now, before a hurricane impacts our region, to educate yourself on how to prepare and respond. Below are helpful links for federal and state websites: