Are You Prepared (An Email from the Department of Public Safety at American University)

Protecting America University students, staff and faculty is the shared responsibility of the entire AU Community. Individuals can prepare themselves for emergencies by taking simple steps such as organizing an emergency supply kit, making a personal preparedness plan, becoming informed about different threats, and getting involved in preparing their community. These activities create a culture of preparedness and can help save lives.

We should also take this opportunity to ensure that we are prepared. Everyone is asked to take this time to review AU's emergency plan on Prepared.American.Edu. In addition to the plan, members of the community are encourages to view the resource links that are contained on the website. On of the most important link is the DC Alert link. At last count only 1911 community members had signed up for the text alerts. Please sign up for the text alerts. It is the best way that you can be notified for American University emergencies as well as DC area wide emergency.

Emergency plans are only as good as the people who are responsible to carry them out. Therefore in addition to reviewing the plan, all AU community members are asked to review and revise their own individual plans. Please look at the following list of items and take the appropriate actions to ensure you are prepared. In general, you should anticipate a 72 hour (3 day) period in which electricity, water, gasoline, and food might be in short supply.

1. Have spare cash on hand. Do not depend on having access to ATM's or being able to use credit or bank cards.

2. Maintain at least a 3 day supply of water at home. Cases of bottled water or the large 5 gallon jugs will work for this. Do not store the water in direct sunlight. Many locations on campus including Housing and Dining programs have spare water on campus but it doesn't hurt to have additional water available.

3. Community members who take medication should have at least 3 days worth of that medication on their person or at work. This way they will be able to keep up with their medication in the event they are unable to get home or back to their room. Community members who are students should develop a buddy system. Keep essential items at a buddy's room in another residence hall.

4. Community members should not depend on metro or mass transit systems as their sole method to get to AU. Metro, for example, will stop running 24 hours prior to a weather related emergency. Have a back up plan or alternative method to get to AU. One good way to do this is to use the buddy system. They should pick someone at work, in their residence hall or in their neighborhood who has access to a vehicle who will agree to take them to AU in the case of emergency.

5. Prepare a bag which has a change of clothes include undergarments and keep it at work or at an alternative location. Include plastic ziplock bags to ensure the undergarments stay dry. Also include toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, toilet paper, towel, wash cloth and deodorant in this bag.

6. On off campus locations, make sure you have at least one telephone which plugs directly into the wall jack. Remember, portable phones require electricity to work. If there is no electricity, only the phones plugged directly into the jack will work.

7. It goes without saying that flashlights and batteries are essential items. However, consider getting the flashlights which use the large 6 volt battery rather than the "C" or "D" cell. These flash lights will allow hands free operation when needed. Also have a transistor ready tuned to a news station like WTOP. These radios are very useful in a crisis. Make sure the radio also has the weather stations on it. At public safety we have portable battery operated televisions and radios. Rotate and test your batteries once a year.

8. Community members with kids and a spouse, should make sure that there is a plan for them to get to safety in case of emergency without your intervention. They may be unable to get home for several hours or several days. They should make arrangements with neighbors or relatives to take care of the kids in their absence.

9. Community members who drive to AU should try to keep their gas tank above the 1/2 tank level. Long gas lines will make it difficult to get to AU on time.

10. Community members should keep their emergency information up to date. All staff members are required to keep their home address and telephone information up to date. Staff members should make sure they come into work on the date and time you are supposed to. Keep sick leave down to a minimum. Remember, co-workers are counting on each other for back up.

For more information about preparedness, please go to www.ready.gov . There is also a kids site which will help kids understand emergency preparation. Hopefully, community members will stop by the table today on the dates listed above.

As an additional incentive, we are offering to put all community members who sign up for DC Alerts between October 4 and October 30 a chance to win $100 in Eagle Bucks. To enter the drawing, community members must sign up for the text alert and forward send a copy of the email from DC Alert to dps@american.edu .