D E P A R T M E N T O F D I S A S T E R M A N A G E M E N T. MITIGATION Outlook

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1 D E P A R T M E N T O F D I S A S T E R M A N A G E M E N T Volume 3 Issue 2 MITIGATION Outlook Safer Practices equals Safer Lives Awareness and Good Preparedness are essential to limiting the loss of life and property Hurricanes are one of the most devastating natural disasters. Anguilla, the Caribbean and North America are vulnerable to hurricanes between June and November, when the sun heats up the ocean surface temperatures enough to produce strong storms with winds in excess of 74 mph. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop a hurricane. But you can lessen its impacts on your home considerably, by taking action now. Note that most of the mitigation measures described here should be done well in advance of the hurricane, not in the few hours before its approach. What you should be doing during a hurricane "watch" and "warning" A hurricane watch is declared when there is a threat of possible hurricane conditions at any time within the next 48 hours. A hurricane warning is declared when hurricane conditions are expected at any time within the next 36 hours. What to do during a watch: Listen to local weather updates Review your Family Disaster Plan Check your Emergency Survival Kit Shutter/tape windows and glass doors Store important documents Secure outdoor and hazardous items What to do during a warning: Listen to weather updates Stay indoors Stay away from windows Fill up containers with drinking water Fill up sinks and bathtubs with storage water Use telephone only for emergencies Determine whether or not to evacuate before a hurricane. If a hurricane threatens Anguilla, the National Disaster Management Committee will set up emergency evacuation shelters. You have to decide on evacuation well before the hurricane strikes, not while the hurricane is advancing down your way. It's far too dangerous to attempt to drive to an evacuation center in high winds: the roads may be impassible due to flooded roads, or they may be obstructed by fallen power poles--and your vehicle can provide little protection from flying debris carried by 100- mph winds. Houses that are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes include: Those on ridges, where winds Accelerate; those in low lying areas, adjacent to ponds which may breachtheir banks and flood adjacent areas, storm surge, or hurricane generated waves may flood far inland. If you choose not to evacuate, but your roof blows away, remain inside. Shelter in the smallest interior room in your house, likely a bathroom or a closet, which offers the greatest strength and protection from flying debris.

2 P A G E 2 - P R E P A R I N G F O R F L O O D S Volume 3 Issue 2 EARTHQUAKE MITIGATION. YOU are one of the most important resources on earth. Negligence and inactivity as it pertains to your personal safety can lead to 'if only I...'. This is not the path to take. Be proactive, a positive approach towards safety saves lives. Be aware of your surroundings as this is very important when deciding safe reactions. Know where the exits are located in all establishments that you frequent in the event you have to use them in an emergency. Ensure your yard is free of debris that can become missiles during a hurricane. Safety is everyone's business. Safety can be inexpensive in comparison to repairing or rebuilding from an incident. Do not take risks with your life or that of loved ones. Plan ahead! Strategically collect supplies for an emergency kit as persons need a minimum of three days' supply of water, food and medicine (such as insulin for diabetics). Bear in mind the likelihood of emergency responders to assist you before the three days in a severe incident is slim. Your safety should never be taken for granted but should become a routine practice. When you are in a position of complacency, this is usually when incidents occur that can have devastating consequences. Remember you are the key to your longevity. "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure" Melissa Meade Director Disaster Management I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Message from Dir. D.M. 2 Earth Quake Mitigation 2 Workplace Safety 3 Focus - Business Recovery 5 Managing Stress Today 6 You can't stop an earthquake. But you can lessen the effects of that earthquake-- thus protecting your home, your life, and your family. Don t make the mistake of thinking, "Well, there's nothing I can do anyhow; if it comes, it comes." You can make your house safer and after all, isn't your family worth it? There are three things you can do right now to mitigate the effects of earthquakes. Don't put them off. Do them now. Securing bookshelves Emergency survival kits Family preparedness S E C U R E F R E E - S T A N D I N G B O O K S H E L V E S TO T H E W A L L If your bookshelves are free-standing, they could easily fall over during a large earthquake, injuring anyone who happened to be adjacent, especially a small child. Inexpensive metal brackets are available at your local hardware store, and they're easy to install. C R E A T E AN E M E R G E N C Y S U R V I V A L K I T F O R Y O U R H O M E Make an emergency cache of supplies. Remember, after a large earthquake, you may not be able to get to stores, and your water and electricity may be cut off. F A M I L Y P R E P A R E D N E S S Don't assume an earthquake will occur on the weekend in daylight hours when the whole family is conveniently located at the same place. Have everybody think about what it would be like if it happened on a weekday, with the family members at different places (some at work, some at school, others at home). During an earthquake If you are indoors, stay there. Get under a table or a desk, or get in a doorway; things will be less likely to fall on you there. If you don't have a table to hide under, drop to the floor in a sitting position and cover your head preferably in a corner. Stay away from windows. The glass may shatter and cut you. Do not shelter over the cistern. If you're in the kitchen, get out of there fast--the kitchen is full of things that could fall on you. Don't run outside while the shaking is still going on--you might get hurt from things falling on you that are not well-secured to the outside of the building. If you happen to be outside during a quake, get into the open, away from buildings, power lines, or anything else that could fall on you. If you happen to be in a crowded store, don't panic and rush for the exit; move carefully. If you happen to be at or near the beach, if the earthquake is big enough that you have trouble standing up, get out of the area and move to higher ground immediately; a locally-generated tsunami may be on its way in a matter of minutes. After an earthquake...check for fire and fire hazards. Put out fires in your home or neighborhood immediately. Check for the smell of gas near all gas appliances; if you smell gas, turn off the propane at its source. Don't light any candles or stoves until you're sure there are no gas leaks in your house. Wear shoes in areas of broken glass and debris. Check for injuries and assist persons as best you can; seek medical help for serious injuries. If there is any damage to your house wiring, shut off power at the control box. Clean up any spilled items that might be dangerous, such as bleach or gasoline. Open doors to cupboards and closets carefully, in case items have shifted and might fall on you. Stay away from downed power lines and utility poles.

3 You can knock yourself out trying to create a safe workplace, but if your employees don't take safety seriously, you're fighting a losing battle. What about your workers? Which side are they on? The safe side or the risky side? Good safety attitudes: Protect workers from hazards Reduce accident and injury rates Promote compliance with OSHA regulations Help prepare employees to deal with emergencies Improve the work environment, making your workplace a safer, healthier place to work When employees have a good safety attitude, they: Take responsibility for their safety Have a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of their co-workers Feel a duty to maintain a safe work environment Keep informed about safety issues Pay attention during safety meetings Participate in safety discussions Follow safety policies and procedures Know how to identify hazards and how to protect against those hazards When employees have bad or indifferent safety attitudes, they may: Be complacent about safety, not caring about safety meetings or learning about safety in general Cut corners in order to get things done easily or quickly Have a careless disregard for safety rules and procedures Fail to wear required PPE (personal protective equipment) when the supervisor's back is turned Act recklessly because they either forget or don't care that their actions could harm someone else Worker Safety Attitude Assessment To the best of your knowledge, do your employees: Understand the hazards of their jobs? Know safety policies and rules that apply to their job? Always follow safety rules and procedures? Consider themselves members of a team and take responsibility for their own and co-workers' safety? Come to work rested and ready to work safely? Wear required PPE without fail? Avoid distractions and concentrate on their work? Keep alert while they work for anything that could go wrong? Report hazards? Report accidents and near misses? Refrain from taking shortcuts?

4 Home Hazard Hunt In a disaster, ordinary items in the home can cause injury and damage. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause a fire is a potential hazard. Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections. Fasten shelves securely and brace overhead light fixtures. Place large, heavy objects on lower shelves. Hang pictures and mirrors away from beds. Strap water heater to wall studs. Repair cracks in ceilings or foundations. Store weed killers, pesticides and flammable products away from heat sources. Place oily polishing rags or waste in covered metal cans. Safety always begin in you!!!! Escape Plan In a fire or other emergency, you may need to evacuate your house, apartment on a moment s notice. You should be ready to get out fast. Develop an escape plan by drawing a floor plan of your residence. Using a black or blue pen, show the location of doors, windows, stairways, and large furniture. Indicate the location of emergency supplies (Disaster Supplies Kit), fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, collapsible ladders, first aid kits and utility shut off points. Next, use a colored pen to draw a broken line charting at least two escape routes from each room. Finally, mark a place outside of the home where household members should meet in case of fire. Be sure to include important points outside such as garages, patios, stairways, elevators, driveways and porches. If your home has more than two floors, use an additional sheet of paper. Practice emergency evacuation drills with all household members at least two times each year. HAZARDS & YOUR BUSINESS Anguilla is vulnerable to several types of hazards. Please rate these hazardous events in terms of possible impact on your business. Select one rating for each hazard by checking the box in the appropriate category. HAZARD Critical Very Important Important Not Very Important No Need to Address Wind damage Landslides/debris flow Flooding/pipe burst Hurricanes Earthquake Tornado Loss of electricity Hazardous materials accident Air /sea accidents Loss of water supply Civil disturbance/riot Terrorism/sabotage Fire Other Negligence and safety connected to your life, One takes and another saves pain of your life.

5 Focus Business Recover y Tips It is not if an adverse event will impact a business, the real question is when will the event occur? With Earthquakes, Flooding, Hazardous Material Accidents, High Winds, Power Outages, and the possible Structural Collapse due to building fatigue, who knows when such an incident will happen in YOUR VICINITY? This may cause damage and destruction to your company, serious injuries to your employees, shutdown your business operations, and cost you tens of thousands of dollars in litigation and compensation. To reduce and eliminate these costly problems you must be prepared. Contingency and Emergency Action Planning is seriously important to ensure the safety of employees and to keep your company operating through an Environmental, or Technological "disruption". Page 5 Proper preparedness for such a catastrophe consists of a well coordinated on-site implementation of Disaster Recovery and Resumption Systems and Emergency Supply placement. Your Safety Committee should start with an assessment of the following four conditions, as outlined: Complete plan testing and evaluation: simulated exercises which put theory into action. This coordinates all areas into an effective operation, where everyone does their assigned jobs to test their strengths and weaknesses. This also helps to prevent panic, and restore professionalism in an actual crisis. Hazards Identification: Structural Facilities, Office and Data Systems, Equipment Security, Lifelines and Utilities, Stock and vehicular storage areas, the list is almost endless. Survival Supplies: Food and Water for a minimum of three days, for EACH PERSON...including your stranded clients and delivery persons. Blankets, First Aid and Medical "Trauma" kits; Hygiene and other sanitation items; and don't forget about the temporary Morgue. Personnel: Life Safety skills and techniques; your staffing should be trained in Disaster First Aid, CPR, Corporate Survival and Safety, and the fundamentals of Search and Rescue. You may want to consider Basic Fire Suppression, Survey and Control of Hazards, and possibly even an orientation to Emergency Radio Communications. Helpful Techniques of Employee Education: personnel will learn more effectively in an environment they are comfortable in, rather than an offsite "classroom". You may use a lounge, break room, a large work area (clean, of course), or even a conference room. Disaster is classified as a "potential and unforeseen hazard", and therefore must be included in the Injury and illness Prevention Program. This means there must be a curriculum of continuing training, and safety updates which is necessary education for your own protection, both in the physical and liability sense. All your Contingency plans and employee training will then go hand in hand with your completed Injury and Illness Prevention Plan. As we should all know, "Better safe, than sorry" IS BETTER than "Live, and learn (the hard way!)."

6 DEP ARTMENT OF DISAS TER MANAGEMENT Phone: Fax: Managing Stress TODAY!!!! The purpose of this article is to introduce information on the symptoms of stress, and how individuals can effectively manage their stress. Everyone experiences stress on a daily basis. We experience positive stress when we are excited about something important or interesting happens in our lives. We experience negative stress when a sudden or disagreeable event from a death, personal injury, illness, divorce, job-loss, natural or manmade disaster occurs. All of us can cope with a certain amount of stress, but too many stressful events can cause extreme stress. Extreme stress can cause physical or emotional Common Signs of Stress Physical signs headaches, Dizziness/fainting, Tiredness and High Blood Pressure Emotional Signs Fear, Depression, & Emotional Shock Signs related to behavior Unable to sleep or sleeping too much, Starting to use or increased used of alcohol, and Nervous actions such as foot tapping. Signs related to thinking Poor concentration, Racing thoughts and loss of memory How We can cope with or relieve stress. One of the best ways to manage stress it to exercise. Stress primes the body for action and regular exercise can turn down the reduction of chemicals that stress produces. Meditation has been used in a variety of societies for centuries to combat stress. One minute session of meditation a day can have a great impact on stress and its consequences. A great way to combat stress is to take a break. A lunch break or any other kind of break should be a routine for everybody - that's why they're called breaks. Psychological First Aid (PFA) In conclusion, in times of disaster, the good news is that there is an effective support and treatment for stress related problems through Psychological First Aid (PFA). This initial response can be done by anyone who is trained to do so. PFA is a humane, supportive response to a colleague, friend or family member, who is suffering from stress and who may need support. PFA involves the following themes: providing practical care and support, which does not intrude; assessing needs and concerns; helping to address basic needs (for example, food and water, information); listening to, but not pressuring to talk; comforting and helping them to calm; helping connect to information, services and social supports; Protecting from further harm. It is also important to understand what PFA is not, Something that only professionals can do; and it is not about pressuring people to tell you their feelings and reactions to an event. Young children and teenagers are neither mentally equipped nor do they have the experience of dealing with a stress overload and therefore they need the help of adults to handle it. The good news is that young people are resilient and can easily overcome the effects of stress if they are guided properly by adults especially, their parents. Remember, stress is natural, and 99 times out of 100 you can handle it if you know how.