Back to school: Take the time to be ready

GEMHSA’s Ready Georgia campaign offers emergency preparedness resources for students, parents and teachers

It’s time to go back to school! The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency’s Ready Georgia campaign reminds parents that back-to-school time is a good time for emergency planning. Georgia experiences severe weather threats throughout the year, such as tornadoes, extreme heat and severe thunderstorms. This is the ideal time to stock your family’s Ready Kit, discuss emergency plans with children and add school emergency information to family communications plans. TIPS: When shopping for school supplies, pick up items for your Ready kit, including a NOAA weather radio for your home. Use the supply checklist on the Ready Georgia website or mobile app to keep track of which items you need to stock.

Schedule a family meeting to make a preparedness plan. It’s easy to put this off, but setting a reminder on your phone or putting it on the family calendar will help make sure you get it done.

Since your family may not be together when a disaster strikes, it’s important to fill out an emergency contact card and put it in your child’s backpack. The Ready Georgia website includes a template for wallet cards you can use for this purpose.

Communicate with your child’s school and learn how you will be notified in case of an emergency. Also, be sure to update your emergency contact information with your child’s school and teacher.

Parents and teachers can check out Ready Georgia’s free online toolkit for kid-friendly resources ranging from lesson plans about possible disasters to a recommended reading list and emergency preparedness videos.

For more information about the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency’s Ready Georgia campaign, visit www.ready. ga.gov.