Fairfax, Va. — The IAFC encourages fire departments to participate in the fourth annual National Preparedness Month (NPM) by promoting the value of a community’s preparedness for an emergency — natural or man-made. NPM is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.gov campaign to encourage individuals to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools. NPM increases public awareness of the importance of individual and community preparedness and is held annually each September.
This is also a good time to start a Fire Corps program for your department and community. Fire Corps programs offer non-operational community support to their local fire and EMS departments. The programs are run by individual departments and focus on meeting the specific needs of the department.
The IAFC partners with Fire Corps, a Citizen Corps program, and other fire service groups (VCOS, NVFC) to promote Fire Corps’ mission. Information on how to start and maintain a Fire Corps program is available at www.firecorps.org. Please e-mail mhebert@iafc.org with any questions.
Resources Available
www.firecorps.org: Fire Corps supports non-operational community involvement in fire/EMS departments. National Preparedness Month is a great time to reinforce the importance of community involvement in preparedness.
www.citizencorps.org: Citizen Corps, the agency responsible for promoting the importance of community preparedness, has five partner programs; Fire Corps is the fire service component. Citizen Corps offers residents opportunities to support their local emergency response agencies through local and state Citizen Corps Councils. Their website lists councils that direct the efforts of the community to respond to emergencies.
www.ready.gov: This site offers a number of resources for how individuals, families and businesses can prepare for emergencies. It features information on how to build ready kits, escape plans and other resources.
www.energizer.com/firesafety: Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® is a national home fire safety program sponsored by the IAFC and Energizer® Max® brand Batteries. More than 5,800 fire departments participate nationwide. The program urges Americans to change smoke alarm batteries when changing their clocks back to standard time, which occurs this year on Sunday, November 4.