Emergency Preparedness

It's 3:00 A.M. You're shocked awake by the doorbell. You stumble to the door and open it to see a police officer. He warns you that an out of control fire threatens your community. You have 10 minutes to evacuate your house and head for safety. You've got to prepare yourself, your family, and your pets and clear out fast!

Would you be prepared for this situation? What about a disaster that gives no obvious warning, like a severe earthquake? If a fire, flood, earthquake, storm, or other disaster ever strikes your community, you might not have access to food, water, electricity, and phone service for days, or even weeks. You may have to leave your home suddenly, or stay in your house for a period of time. Living in Alaska, we have a higher chance of earthquake, volcano eruption, and tsunami than the lower 48 states.

By taking time now to store emergency food, water, and other essential supplies, you can provide for your entire family, including your beloved feathered ones.

Disaster Preparedness is the theme for this month’s meeting on March 7th. Member Garry Wallan will be presenting Emergency Preparedness. Garry Wallan is an ABC member, PEAC volunteer and has been involved in emergency preparedness planning for animals since 1996.

Tsunamis affecting the south Pacific and Indian Ocean areas, earthquakes, natural and terrorist disasters – the world we live in is a dangerous place. We must be prepared for any type of disaster at any time. The amount of response time we have may be limited and we need to have available what our psittacines require. Rule of thumb in the Lower 48, says that for a natural disaster you need to have supplies available for a minimum of 72 hours of self-sufficiency. Hey! We’re in Alaska! We will probably need at least that long of self-sufficiency for the urban areas and who knows how long for the bush areas of the state?

Personally, Ann and I have six large cockatoos, three macaws, an African grey and two large dogs to think about during an emergency. We have transport cages, bottled water, emergency pet provisions, blankets, first aid kits, and hopes that we will never need to use the items.
Join us on Tuesday, March 7th, 7:00 to 9:00 PM for Garry Wallan’s Emergency Preparedness presentation and learn what you need to have in place for your emergency preparedness plan to work. We meet at the Salvation Army’s Serendipity Center, 3550 East 20th Avenue, Anchorage.

See you there!

Gregory D. Wilkie