Police and Public Safety
Be Ready, DC!—Plan ahead. Be prepared.
By Jim Berry
Mar 8, 2007, 09:58

Be Ready, DC!—Plan ahead. Be prepared.

On Thursday, March 8, 2007, between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., the DC Emergency Management Agency is sponsoring a tabletop exercise in our community to help you, your family, and your neighbors to take appropriate steps to prepare for an emergency as well as understand recovery measures during and after a manmade or a natural disaster situation.

The event will take place at Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 3rd and Q Streets, N.W. and involve residents from the Edgewood, Bloomingdale, Eckington, Truxton Circle/Shaw East neighborhoods, also known as Community Cluster No. 21. We all need to be prepared, as individuals and as a community, for whatever emergencies may occur.

Experience has shown that after a major disaster, requests for fire, police, medical, and other public services begin to mount. At some point, the increased demand for services will likely result in delayed response times. For this reason, neighborhoods should learn to be self-reliant in an emergency. Individuals and organizations should be prepared to be without assistance for 72 hours or longer.

A neighborhood that has organized prior to a disaster will know what to do when the disaster occurs and not waste precious time figuring out who can do what. Individuals and neighborhoods that are prepared will know what to expect during times of disaster, what to do, and how to come together in an organized, timely response.

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