Panel offers book on being prepared

Dam failures, Nor'easters, hurricanes, a pandemic influenza and a terrorist attack.

These are some of the natural and man-made disasters a relatively unknown four-person town committee wants residents to be ready for...and soon. A "how-to" handbook should reach town mailboxes by the end of the month.

"As critical as it is for the community as a whole to prepare for unforeseen emergencies, so too is it important for each family to have a plan of action that can be used in a most critical situation," Town Administrator Michael Boynton, who also serves as Local Emergency Planning Committee chairman, wrote in a letter to residents.

In the event of a disaster like those listed above, public safety personnel "are not going to (be able to) save 30,000 people," said James Moses, a Walpole Police officer who's also a member of the Local Emergency Committee.

Instead, everyone must be prepared to save themselves and their loved ones. "It's really a personal thing that each individual needs to do for themselves," Moses said.

"We want to get people proactive about their own safety," he added.

By the end of September - proclaimed by President Bush as National Preparedness Month - the Local Emergency Planning Committee hopes to provide an Emergency Preparedness Handbook to all commercial and residential addresses in town.

The 27-page book includes everything from preparing a disaster kit and protecting pets to local emergency contact information. It purports to prepare residents for the first 72 hours after an emergency or a disaster.

It was funded through a $6,000 grant from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Walpole is one of 2,700 organizations participating in National Preparedness Month nationwide.

"National Preparedness Month is an important reminder about each American's civic responsibility to prepare for emergencies," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in a press release. "From wildfires and earthquakes in California, to hurricanes and tropical storms along the Gulf Coast, to flooding in the Midwest, recent events remind us more than ever that we must prepare ourselves and our families for a disaster. This is the time, each year, when every American should ask the question, 'Am I ready?"'

The local group wants residents and business owners to start following instructions soon after they receive the handbook.

"We don't want people to just throw it away," Officer Moses said. "We don't want all this effort to go to waste."

The committee is composed of Boynton, Moses, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Laracy and Deputy Health Agent Gail Nixon.

The group tailored an existing template, created by the Massachusetts Region 4A Medical Reserve Corps, to local needs. The template, called "ready in three," lays out three steps for families to prepare for disasters.

Step one, according to the handbook, urges residents to create a plan the whole family knows and understands. At the same time, families should discuss reaching each other in emergencies, as well as make an out-of-town family member or friend a point of contact.

Step two: residents should prepare a "disaster kit." The handbook recommends including canned or otherwise non-perishable foods, bottled water, a brightly colored whistle, a manual can opener, a first aid kit, prescription medications, a flashlight and a glow stick, among other items.

Step three: residents should prepare to stay calm during an emergency and know where to find information. Some of the resources listed include the town Web site, emergency alert radio system stations, and weather radio frequencies from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.