Healthcare
Introduction to Planning and Preparedness
In some ways, health care professionals must prepare for disasters the same way as everyone else. The information in the public section of this website will be very helpful for you, in educating yourself about various disaster possibilities in your area, developing a family communications plan, for your home and for your place of work, compiling and storing your disaster supply kits, and preparing in other physical and tangible ways for a disaster. Here are a few useful resources:
- FEMA’s Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness
- FEMA’s Are You Ready?: Assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit
In addition, health care professionals must address another important component of preparedness and planning: mental health. How can you as a health professional prepare and plan for a disaster so that you may not only survive it personally but respond to it in a way that promotes your growth and that of others? Preparedness includes not only the essential actions and information-gathering referenced above, but mental health as well. Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters.
Web Links
Georgia Healthcare Alliance: GA911.org
SAMSHA's 10 Fundamental Components of Recovery