Earthquakes Remind Us to be Prepared

The recent earthquakes that have rattled parts of Southern California this week serve as an important reminder to all residents, local workers, businesses and schools to be prepared for emergencies.

Pasadena’s Public Safety officials urge everybody to prepare emergency supplies, including get-away kits and evacuation plans for their family and pets that will help you and your loved ones survive the first few days following a major disaster.

Emergency preparedness plans should include having enough food, water, medicine, flashlights, batteries and other supplies for each person and pet in your household to last at least three days or longer.

If you are not prepared, start by watching an informative, 12-minute disaster preparedness video posted at www.cityofpasadena.net/Disaster_Preparedness_Video/.

Thanks to Pasadena’s Accessibility and Disability Commission, this important emergency preparedness video has been updated and is now available in English and Spanish, with captions and audio descriptions in both English and Spanish.These bilingual versions are among the first such emergency preparedness videos of their kind to be made available in California for viewers with hearing and vision impairments.

Adding captioning allows the information to be accessible by people who are deaf and hard of hearing.Adding audio descriptions to the video allows the visual information to be accessible to people who are blind or who have impaired vision.

Pasadena’s emergency management officials also urge all residents to sign up for emergency alerts and other information from the Pasadena Fire Department by joining the City’s Pasadena Local Emergency Alert System, or PLEAS.Residents need to sign up to get Nixle alerts from the Pasadena Police Department and everybody should also consider taking emergency preparedness training courses and First Aid classes

PLEAS uses both text and voice messages to keep residents and community members in Pasadena informed in case of emergencies.Subscribers receive a message with the latest information and safety instructions. www.cityofpasadena.net/Fire/PLEAS/ to register today

The next step is to sign up for Nixle alerts from the Pasadena Police Department.Go to www.nixle.com, create a free account and enter your email and cell phone numbers.Using these two automated alert systems will help ensure you have the latest emergency info from Pasadena’s Public Safety Team.