By MATT PIKE
September is National Preparedness Month.
And during the month, officials with the Greater Kansas City and northwest Missouri American Red Cross are urging residents to protect their loved ones by getting your household ready.
Executive Director JoAnn Woody says it’s important for people to be prepared for all kinds of emergencies, because there are so many that could happen in everyday life.
“So it’s important for us to be ready for some of those very different things, whether it’s a medical emergency, whether It’s a child who falls down and cuts themselves while they’re outside playing, whether it’s making sure that you have emergency supplies, there’s just a whole list of things that people can do,” Woody tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “And so, this is our month that we really want to get folks to pay attention to how they can be prepared.”
Woody encourages everyone to develop a plan for any sort of emergency, and to be sure everyone in your family knows what that plan is in case something happens.
Woody says the number one thing right now people should get prepared for as we move into fall and winter is the danger of home fires.
“This is a time of year, while it’s really warm right now, we’re not looking too far down the road to having that nice crisp fall weather when folks are trying their fireplaces, turning on their furnaces for the first time,” Woody explains. “And so, we want to make sure that people are being very attentive and very deliberate in checking out their fireplaces to make sure they’re in good capable working order and that they’re safe, and to have their furnaces and all their heating appliances checked to make sure they’re functioning well.”
Woody says now is a good time, when it’s not cold and snowy, to also go over that plan for if a home fire were to happen and know your evacuation route.
Woody says to make sure you know the different plans, be it for a fire or a tornado, and then be sure to go over that plan with your entire family
“I know I made the mistake one time I had great plans, and I had it all figured out, I kind of forgot to tell my husband, and so at one point we were talking to a group and my husband was in the audience and someone looked down and said I don’t think you’re part of the plan,” Woody says. “So, I realized I had not done my job by telling him the plan, so now we actually have a regular time, once or twice a year, we’ll go through our plan and make sure nothing has changed.”
Woody says you should also make sure to gather critical supplies like water and shelf-stable food, as well as medical supplies in case of any emergency.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
