Emergency preparedness is a concern for communities large and small, especially in heavily populated urban areas. New York officials recently started a training program to equip citizens with the skills necessary to handle disasters and other crisis scenarios, according to SILive.com.
On February 1st, the Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program began instructing New York residents in emergency response skills. The CPCTP curriculum will unfold over the course of a number of sessions. In addition to training, citizens will be provided with response kits that contain vital tools for surviving a disaster, including water bottles, face masks and first aid kits.
"Severe weather events are becoming more frequent and extreme and to make sure that our communities are safe, we need more New Yorkers than ever to be prepared and trained to respond," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Several organizations will collaborate to teach the program's 100,000 participants how to respond to emergencies. Two branches of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the Office of Fire Prevention and Control and the Office of Emergency Management are teaming up with the New York National Guard.
Citizen preparedness can be further enhanced by implementing an alert and notification system to facilitate communication during crises. By using real-time emergency messaging, uAlert helps officials to inform community members of dangerous situations when disaster strikes.
