ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- National Preparedness Month is a nationwide campaign held each September to encourage Americans to plan for natural, accidental or man-made emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools.
The campaign's goal is to increase public awareness regarding preparing for emergencies and to encourage individuals to take action.
It is the responsibility of 1st Lt. Shawn McDanal, 316th Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness and Emergency Management Flight chief, to ensure Andrews is prepared for such events.
"The better the community is prepared, the better off everyone will be," said Lieutenant McDanal. "Prepare-dness is just as much the responsibility of the individual as it is for the emergency responder. There are three main areas to my job as chief of Readiness and Emergency Management. The first is overseeing the Primary Base Engineer Emergency Force, where we train, equip, and manage Civil Engineer Squadron personnel and equipment deployments."
The second area of Lieutenant McDanal's responsibilities as chief is managing the base Emergency Management program.
"This involves advising installation commanders on all aspects of EM," he said. "We also educate and prepare base personnel and agencies to respond to and recover from natural disasters and peacetime emergencies, aircraft accidents, and CBRNE, or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive incidents."
It is Lieutenant McDanal's and the flight's goals to ensure Team Andrews' members and their families are informed and prepared in case of emergency.
"Sept. 11 reminds us all of what can happen when disaster strikes and the threat level increases," he said. "It is very important to have a plan and be as ready as possible. You can never fully prepare for everything, but even a few small things can help a family in a disaster."
Some points to consider when creating a family disaster plan include marking escape routes, having a meeting place, what action to take if your family is not all together when disaster strikes, knowing how to shut off utilities and safety skills knowledge including first aid and CPR.
Lieutenant McDanal also encourages Team Andrews' members to "have a plan to get to a safe area and plan for communicating with your family members."
Keeping a contact card of important numbers at all times and having a back-up communication plan if cellular phones aren't working are also important.
"Team Andrews can take an active role in emergency preparedness by being knowledgeable of community and base areas and keeping regional and base maps handy in order to know streets and buildings which may be used as alternate routes or safe meeting places," said the lieutenant.
In addition to natural and man-made disaster preparedness, the readiness and emergency management flight also prepares for major accidents that may occur on base.
"The Andrews community should be confident that we have exceptional first and emergency responders whose job it is to respond to and recover from major accidents," said Lieutenant McDanal. "Emergency responders require countless hours of intensive training, operate specialized equipment, and maintain the highest proficiency levels in order to respond to a full spectrum of disasters. Their capabilities have been tested in exercises - as well as real world incidents."
For more information how Team Andrews families can prepare better for an emergency, visit the Department of Homeland Security website at www.ready.gov, which provides checklists for a disaster supply kit and other information.
For more information locally, visit the Airman and Family Readiness Center for pamphlets with information on preparedness or visit the 316th Civil Engineer Squadron Readiness and Emergency Management Flight located at 3056 E. Perimeter Rd. or call 301-981-3026.