Eric Marshall, Fort Sill firefighter (in a hazardous material suit), goes through a decontamination station after retrieving a chemical laden package during the postwide anti-terrorism exercise Sept. 17, 2013, at the Welcome Center, Bldg. 4700. The f...

FORT SILL, Okla. -- Earlier this week various Directorate of Emergency Services vehicles and personnel responded to incidents around post; these actions were all part of the annual Fort Sill Full Scale Exercise.

It is a timely event considering it coincides with National Preparedness Month. Planning and preparing for an incident or disaster is something that the Fort Sill Emergency Management Office along with other directorates, agencies, tenet activities and units here do everyday. All this effort takes place to protect Soldiers and civilian workers, their families and visitors to the installation.

For that effort to be effective, it should follow a plan: for Fort Sill, the emergency management plan.

It describes the coordination framework for everyone with a responsibility on the installation as well as off-post partners such as local, state and other federal agencies. From this pool of interested parties, the plan calls for how to prepare for, respond to, recover from and reduce any of the more than 80 potential hazards that could affect this installation.

During a Joint Staff Integrated Vulnerability Assessment here by Defense Threat Reduction Agency members in January, Fort Sill's plan was praised for its thoroughness in expressing potential threats and responses. Agency members completed the extensive assessment that focused on anti-terrorism and emergency management programs.

Without this plan trying to prepare and respond would not go smoothly. It takes a considerable amount of time to train for these events and then exercise them to ensure the plan will work as it was designed to. The end state goal is to ensure at the installation level, Team Sill is fully prepared to respond and recover from any incident quickly and efficiently. Having accomplished that, the final step is to promptly return operations and life back to as normal as possible.

Just like the work emergency planners go through to ensure the safety and operability of Fort Sill, people should do to prepare their homes and families. Volatile incidents and disasters will happen with little or no advanced notice, and anyone could be affected by them.

Because of this, consider these questions: do you have a plan, does everyone in your home know what their role and have you practiced it?

Those who are prepared should better withstand the challenges of surviving a hazardous situation without the conveniences of normal daily life.

EMERGENCY KIT

Plans should include a family or individual emergency kit, what's in it and where it's located. It should also address each family member's responsibilities: do they know what to do, where to go and how to cope if something happens and their parents are not around.

Consider important records to account for and where to put them so you can take them in a moment's notice. Because many people deal with daily medications, summarize what these are and any supporting information should you lose that medication and need to reorder it. Of course consider the needs of children or infants, such as diapers, formula, clothes, toys or other comfort items that are ready for an immediate departure.

Through maturity adults can often come to grips with dire circumstances, but for children that may be another matter. Consider toys, books or other items to help ease the discomfort they may experience after a traumatic incident.

PET CARE

Because many people consider pets an integral part of their family, plan for them, too. Gather necessary items for the pet should you need to evacuate your home immediately. If you're unable to return to that home and must stay in a temporary shelter, have a list of people or businesses that board pets. Most of all, though, do everything possible to include the pet and not it behind to suffer.

National Preparedness Month is a great time everyone to start or revisit plans to help take care of ourselves and our families in the case of an incident or disaster.

Know that there are countless professionals working daily to help ensure that safety of everyone on the installation in case something terrible does happen. Help them help you by having a plan for yourself and your family, and rehearse it.

Online resources are available at www.ready.gov and at www.acsim.army.mil/readyarmy. Local emergency management assistance is available via the Fort Sill Emergency Management Office at 580-442-2533.