VICENZA -- Earthquakes, floods, fire. What do these things have in common? They've all happened here. In fact, flooding happens almost every year and can be catastrophic if you don't prepare for it. So you have to ask yourself, are you ready? What would you do if the unexpected happened?
Over half of Americans polled in recent surveys don't believe that a natural disaster would affect their community. However, natural disasters produce more deaths, injuries and financial losses every year than any other catastrophe and affect nearly every community. Despite; that, recent polls show only 40 percent of Americans have an emergency plan and have discussed it with their family members, and only 30 percent of Americans have an up-to-date emergency kit in their homes.
A disaster can happen any moment and at times without warning. You may have to evacuate at a moment's notice and take only the bare essentials with you. Because of that, it's important to have an emergency kit at your home before you need one. Having an emergency kit provides peace of mind knowing that you and your family will have those basic essentials following the disaster.
Many think it's too expensive to put together an emergency kit, but that's not true. An emergency kit is just a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency. Most likely, many of the items you may need are already present in your home. However, during a disaster you won't have the time to gather those items up.
When a disaster does hit, how will you find out the latest information? To make sure you're fully aware of what's going on, the garrison is implementing an updated emergency response system.
The garrison has had an "AtHoc" emergency-notification system for the past few years, but this service was through a locally procured contract that has now expired. USAG Italy is now transitioning to the AtHoc Enterprise solution which requires all users to update their personal information, to include telephonic and data devices, so that they may receive these life-saving messages.
Some might feel this new system is too intrusive, but that minimal inconvenience helps the command get the word out to the entire community. This information is necessary so that they may continue to receive potentially life-saving messages.
AtHoc is one of the main mass warning and notification systems we have within USAG Italy. With it we can reach people at their desktop, at home, or while they are waiting in line for their mail.
Although the garrison has the outdoor speakers, or "Giant Voice," and uses that system in the event of an incident, it cannot inform our community members when they are off the installation or when they are indoors. So it's vital that community members provide as much contact information as possible to ensure they receive accurate and timely life-saving information during an incident.
And one thing you can trust about AtHoc is that it won't SPAM people, it doesn't provide personal information to third parties, there's no cost to the user, and data is stored on an official Department of the Army website.
The bottom line is the command wants everyone to take precautions to be ready in the event a disaster does occur, which means to make an emergency plan, have an emergency kit, and sign up for the new AtHoc system.
So be ready, make a plan, and utilize all notification systems. Because if a disaster occurs, the last thing you want to do is have to get ready for what's already happened.
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