Get Ready Day puts focus on preparedness

From a school carnival to a city hall news conference, the second annual observance of Get Ready Day was a popular event last month.

Sponsored by APHA, Get Ready Day encourages all Americans to prepare themselves, their families and their communities for all public health threats, including disasters and pandemic flu. This year's Get Ready Day fell on Sept. 16, and health departments nationwide took advantage of the opportunity to promote preparedness to their residents.

Among the highlights, APHA organized a "fun fest" at a Washington, D.C., school, with preparedness games for kids and health information for parents. While the carnival offered fun activities such as bingo, bowling and face painting, it also provided a central message: Everyone needs to be prepared for a public health disaster, no matter what their age.

In eastern Kansas, health workers at the Johnson County Health Department used Get Ready Day to promote preparedness to residents by hosting displays and information tables at two of its county administrative buildings. In Burlington, Vt., health officials held a news conference at City Hall on Get Ready Day to call on residents to take the lead in preparing for emergencies such as pandemic flu. Burlington is one of nine municipalities serving as a pandemic influenza preparedness community as part of the national Take the Lead: Working Together to Prepare Now campaign.

Get Ready Day participants were encouraged to use free materials from APHA's Get Ready campaign as part of their events. Get Ready Day is observed each year on the third Tuesday of September, which is also National Preparedness Month.

How did you celebrate Get Ready Day? Let us know in our blog's comments section. And make sure and mark your calendar for next year's observance on Sept. 15, 2009.