City employees to conduct emergency preparedness surveys
On September 14th and 15th, City of El Paso employees will be knocking on doors conducting surveys to find out how prepared families are in case of an emergency. The initiative is called Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or C.A.S.P.E.R.
The Department of Public Health volunteers will be wearing a green shirt, orange vest and have an identification card with them.
245 households were selected at random to participate in the survey. If you have been selected, you will be receiving a letter in the mail next week from the Department of Health. The letter explains what the survey will be asking, and why the City is conducting the survey. It will also provide a number to call in order to verify the people at your door do indeed work with the Department of Health.
Sophia M. Ornelas, who works at the Department of Public Health, told ABC 7 that the survey is completely confidential. She said that if people partake in the 15 minute survey, the City will give them an emergency start-up kit that contains items such as flashlights, and batteries.
Ornelas said the information they gather is extremely important. “We’re going to gather all that information and we’re going to allocate whatever outreach efforts that are needed,” she said.
She also provided some tips on what is needed in an emergency kit:
*Flashlights
*Batteries
*Extra cell phone batteries
*A three day supply of non-perishable food items for each person in the household
*Three gallons of water per each person in the household
*A first aid kit
*Dust masks
*Trash bags, moist towelettes for personal sanitation
*Whistle to signal for help
*Manual can opener
*Hard hat
*Gloves
*Glow sticks
*Goggles
*Blankets
*Duct tape
*Crank radio, weather radio
*Personal need items, such as medications, contact lens supplies etc.
Sophia also recommends having a communication and evacuation plan, saying families should plan an escape route and also a plan on what number each family member is to call, in case of separation.
She said the emergency kits, and evacuation plans are very important “because we are prone to different hazards in our community like flooding, wind, and extreme weather conditions. We want people to be prepared in these types of situations.”
