The District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) will distribute Be Ready DC: A Guide to Family Preparedness this weekend, March 14 and 16, to every District of Columbia household.  The guide will be included in the bundled supplements in Washington, DC home delivery and newsstand copies of the Sunday, March 16 edition of The Washington Post.  District residents who are non-subscribers will receive the guide on Friday, March 14 as part of a bundled mail delivery from The Post. The guide also is posted on the HSEMA website (http://hsema.dc.gov). 

Be Ready DC was created to help individuals and families prepare in advance for emergencies and disasters of all types and urges them to take four simple steps to be prepared:  1. Get informed, 2. Make a plan, 3. Make an emergency kit, and 4. Be aware. 

“This guide contains important information that every citizen should know,” said DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Darrell Darnell.  “Along with our new 72hours.dc.gov website and the ward-specific evacuation guides, it is part of our effort to empower citizens with the knowledge they need to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies of all types.”

The guide provides information about protective actions for various types of natural and man-made emergencies, as well as special information for parents and children; senior citizens and persons with disabilities.  It also includes a card that can be filled out with emergency contact information, clipped out, and posted near the phone or other prominent place.  Portable pocket cards also are included.  A detachable magnet imprinted with important emergency numbers is attached to the back of the guide.