Winter Preparedness Week – Brrr! Don’t Forget Your Kit!

REPRINTED FROM Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs Newslink - December 3, 2007

This week has been declared Winter Preparedness Week by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. With the beginning of winter and colder weather, Fairfax County encourages residents to take precautions to stay safe. The first step is to assemble an emergency supply kit for home, work and vehicle. Recommended items include:

- At least a three-day supply of food that won’t spoil.
- One gallon of water per person, per day.
- A battery-powered radio (people with hearing impairments should consider signing up for the Community Emergency Alert Network – CEAN – at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cean and obtaining a cell phone with text messaging capacity to receive CEAN messages).
- A flashlight with extra batteries.
- A first-aid kit.
- An extra supply of prescription or over-the-counter medicines.
- A plan for those with special needs who may need to stay in your home because they lost utilities from a storm. Those with special needs could include the elderly, people with disabilities and the medically frail.

For more information, contact Ellen.Kamilakis@fairfaxcounty.gov or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency