10th anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake

With the 10^th anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake today, it reminds me to double check my family’s preparedness for any major or minor natural disasters or crisis. Every type of crisis usually has to be dealt with differently for each family.  However, most families can deal with most types of disasters by being generally prepared.  Supplies, communication, and staying calm during a disaster can save your family’s life.  FEMA recommends having several items prepared before any crisis may occur. 

A Family Communications Plan is usually overlooked but very important when you and your family lose their ability to communicate during a disaster.  Fill one out and have each family member carry it around with them in their wallet or purse.  Having a basic list of numbers and meeting places can safe you and your family a lot of time during a disaster.

Secondly, most people will have a few supplies ready, but not necessarily the correct amount of food, medical, and other supplies.  FEMA recommends a 72 hour kit, one for each member of your family.  Portable kits can allow for each family member to independently have the necessary supplies during any situation.  Go through FEMA’s check list to make sure your family is properly prepared and that you are not missing anything important.

For those families with pets, make sure you add additional supplies to your emergency kits.  Each pet should have their own kits, just like the rest of the members of your family.  Usually pets become overlooked when creating a family plan for a disaster.  Don’t forget food, water, and even their favorite toy to help make your family pet more comfortable during a disaster.

Most importantly, staying calm during a disaster is key to survival.  Good spirits and a general feeling of well being during any disaster can greatly improve your family’s survival.  For kids, make sure you pack games and other activities to occupy their time.  This goes as well with family pets where it is best to bring their favorite toy to help calm them down.  To help keep yourself calm and at ease during a crisis, have your family’s Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK).  This kit, recommended by FEMA and distributed by operationhope.org, helps families by collected all of their important financial, personal, and insurance information in one simple document. 

Even if your family becomes ready and fully prepared for any major disaster or crisis, there will still be unforeseen situations that you will have to prepare for.  Like most families in our area, our family is prepared for what we usually see each year including the annual windy rain storm, temporary power outages, the occasional flooding.  But make sure you protect your family and your investments against what we don’t see as often but can still cause a lot of damage, during the disaster with a family plan, and even for the aftermath with good earthquake insurance.  These types of disasters don’t happen often, but if they do, you and your family will be glad that you were prepared. 

http://www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/commplan.shtm
http://www.ready.gov/america/_downloads/checklist.pdf
http://www.paloaltohumane.org/education/disaster.php
http://operationhope.org/effak/effak_english.pdf
http://www.farmersagent.com/rreggio

Replacing a child restraint

For children from the ages of three to fourteen years old, automobile crashes are still the leading cause of death.  However, for the last 30 years these numbers have gotten much better with new technologies, better regulations, and improved communication to parents.  But there is still room for improvements.

Most manufactures of child restraints for cars will replace the restraints after a car accident, but some manufactures don't, leaving you with the bill to replace the expensive seat.  So what to do with your used child seat and how do you replace it properly?  The answer is not saving a few bucks by buying a used yard sale or craigslist model or selling off your used one to make back some money.  Reselling crashed seats may help with the financial burden of a new seat, but can cause someone else’s child their safety. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has come up with five simple rules to follow first before replacing your child restraints.

* The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;

* The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged;

* There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;

* The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND

* There is no visible damage to the child restraint.

If your minor crash causes no noticeable problems with your child’s seat, then you might not have to replace it in the first place. 

            However, if there is noticeable damage, the best thing to do is to write on the various major parts of the child restraint, “Crashed – Not Safe To Use.”   After writing the warning, you can discard the seat by either trash pick up, or call your local recycler to see if they can reuse the plastics and metals.  However, your manufacturer may require you to turn-in the used equipment. Also, some insurance companies are now covering the replacement of a child seat in the customer’s car when it has been involved in a moderate to severe crash.  But if you are required to return the damaged seat, make sure you still write a warning on the parts. 

            For other related tips on child seating, make sure you register your seat with the manufacturer for tips and emergency recalls.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/ChildRestraints/ReUse/RestraintReUse.htm

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811157.pdf

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/register/childseat/index.cfm

http://www.car-seat.org/member.php?u=1299

http://www.facebook.com/ReggioInsuranceAgency

Foodborne Illness: Perceptions, Reality, and Protection

According to the CDC there are more than 200 diseases known to cause problems through food causing a varying range of estimated illnesses each year ranging from 6 to 81 million cases with 9,000 deaths.  Such a variant range of large numbers food-borne illnesses can be intimidating to any hospitality business owner.  The statistics can be more frightening when the cost of helping those who have contracted a food-borne disease is added.  Unfortunately, the estimated costs that the United States spends on heath care for food illnesses are even more variant.  I just read a blog from Ben Chapman who collected some interesting information about how much we spend on food-borne illnesses each year.  But the estimates ranged from $6-billion to $1.4-trillion.  How is any business owner supposed to know how to combat such a huge problem with such unknown variables? 

After seeing these reports, I tried to find out why are there so many variables until I came across an article written by Emilee from statefoodsafety.com.  According to a recent Harris Poll, 69% of Americans believe they know what made them sick, even before getting all of the facts.  In other words, perception of what made them sick can be devastating to a business, even if that business isn’t at fault.  This may also be why so many statistics from leading government agencies are so variant. 

So are the best solutions?  First and for most, of course, make sure your business is up to date with basics of food safety and current to your specific state and local regulations.  The basics don’t change much, but the regulations and laws will vary from state-to-state and even from different type of industry.  Second would be to follow up with a decent policy to protect your assets just incase anything out side of your control comes up with illnesses in manufacturing or improper storage during delivery.  Food Borne Illness Business Interruption policies can provide coverage for loss of Business Income due to a media publication or announcement of food contamination.  Also, Food Contamination Shutdown policies that can pay for loss of income as the result of a shut down ordered by The Board of Health or other government authorities.

http://blog.statefoodsafety.com/foodborne-illness-and-the-restaurant-industry/

http://ers.usda.gov/data/foodborneillness/

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/tag/foodborne-illness-statistics

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/mead.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/prevention-and-education.html

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