Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County Campaign for National Disaster Preparedness Month
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – September is National Disaster Preparedness Month, and top officials in Santa Barbara county have some important insights.
The county of Santa Barbara runs a month-long campaign each year for disaster preparedness, with a specific theme for each week of the month.
Preparedness comes in several forms, and they include having your emergency go-bags ready, being informed – which can be done through Readysbc.org, and following your local news reports during large-scale disasters.
“While your government is here to serve you, the reality is we need people to do their part,” says Roy Dugger, Emergency Services Specialist for the City of Santa Maria. “Your safety is fundamentally your responsibility.”
The slogan for disaster preparedness month is “preparedness starts with you,” and officials say small efforts ahead of time can have big impacts during real emergencies.
“Each of those small steps, I know it’s hard to know if you see that big emergency list, what you should have,” says Kelly Hubbard, director at the Office of Emergency Management for the County of Santa Barbara. “It’s hard to look at that or look at all the steps we talk about. So taking those small little ones can just make a big difference when there is a disaster.”
Emergencies can range from large-scale fires, earthquakes, floods, high surf, or loss of power, to individual ordeals, such as being injured or not having enough water while out on a hike.
“Hiking trail rescues might be considered as a disaster for that individual because they’ve gotten themselves into a position that they’re they weren’t planning for,” says Scott Safechuck, Santa Barbara County Fire Department captain and public information officer. “Having proper planning really reduces your chance of exposure to a medical emergency.”
A plethora of resources are available at Readysbc.org.
Those resources include sign-ups for emergency notifications, educational materials, and real-time maps during the progression of any kind of disaster.
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