Salem Reporter publishes a regular column from Mark Wardell, West Salem team leader for Salem’s Community Emergency Response Team, focusing on emergency preparedness and planning. October is a great time to focus on emergency preparedness! Here are two key events happening this month that can help you be better prepared for emergencies: Great ShakeOut On the third Thursday of October, we participate in the Great ShakeOut, an opportunity to practice earthquake safety measures. This year, the ShakeOut falls on Oct. 17th at 10:17 am. At this time, participate in the ShakeOut drill by dropping, covering, and holding on.  DROP where you are, onto your hands and knees. This position protects you from being knocked down and reduces your chances of being hit by falling or flying objects.  COVER your head and neck with one arm and hand. If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath for shelter. If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall. Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs.  HOLD ON until the shaking stops. Under shelter: hold on to it with one hand; be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts. No shelter: hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands. More information about the Great ShakeOut may be found at www.shakeout.org.  Great Camp-In The second event to mark on your calendar is the Great Camp-In, happening Oct. 19-20. This weekend-long event helps you practice or develop your emergency plan. Spend the weekend, or even just a few hours, simulating an outage of electricity and/or water. This is a great time to try out alternative cooking methods, inventory your supplies, and identify any areas where your plan needs improvement. Salem: What is “2 Weeks Ready,” part 3 Continuing our review of the new Oregon Office of Emergency Management 2 Weeks Ready plan, this month we will begin our discussion of a food plan. Clearly, I’ve jumped into that early by providing weekly steps to becoming 2 Weeks Ready. These by and large focus on gradually building up a food supply. Making a food plan is more than just picking out which non-perishable foods you’ll eat, but planning for how you’ll need to prepare those foods when you don’t have electricity or gas. Gathering two weeks worth of food may seem an impossible goal, but if you pace yourself and start small you’ll get there before you know it. I know how it is; we’re still working on our food plan and gathering everything we’ll need for a two-week supply right along with you. Some suggestions for your food plan: Choose foods will eat that don’t require refrigeration with a long shelf life. Include ready-to-eat canned meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. Protein and fruit bars. Pudding cups. Dried cereal, granola and trail mix. Peanut butter, or some other nut butter. Dried fruit. Comfort foods. Rice cakes/crackers. Canned soups and chili. Canned and boxed juices. Non-perishable, pasteurized milk. Food for infants and extra water for baby formula as needed. This is NOT an all-inclusive list, just some quick ideas to get you thinking. Additional suggestions may be found at www.ready.gov. Once you start building your food storage, you will be faced with a major question: Where are you going to put it all? If your space is limited you may need to be more creative, look for space in the back of closets or cabinets, or under beds. Be careful of where you store bagged items. Make sure they are secure from insects or animals that might crew through bags. Keep in mind you should rotate your storage regularly. Add items from your storage into your regular meal planning, especially as items get close to their expiration dates. And remember, a “best by” date is NOT an expiration date. The last part of our food plan that we’re going to consider today is cooking. Your electricity and gas may be out, so you need to consider some other way to cook or at least heat things up.  There are only a few options to consider for indoor use. Naturally if you have a wood burning stove or fireplace those would be good options. Sterno, a gelled alcohol that comes in a small can or an alcohol burner, can be used to heat a fondue pot or camp stove when ignited. Please note: before you ever light anything indoors be sure you have proper ventilation. Outdoors you have some more options. Charcoal or propane BBQs would be great for cooking. A firepit could also be used easily as well. Week by week to become 2-Weeks Ready A crucial part of being prepared is having a two-week supply of food and water for everyone in your household. This list is adapted from one published by Marion County. By following it, you can be prepared within a year. Building a two-week supply takes time and budgeting, so pace yourself, don’t rush, and take breaks when necessary. Week 10 – Canned fruit – at least one can per person per day (Hint-if all cans are pull-top you won’t need to pack a can opener.) Week 11 – Blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, anything to make bedding and stay warm (Hint-mylar or emergency blankets take less room to store and are less expensive.) Week 12 – Paper products – toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, tissues – customize to your family needs, store these in a dry location. (Hint-be sure you dispose of these products safely.) Week 13 – Crescent wrench(es), utility shut off tools (Hint-check out the “On Duty” multi-purpose tool that can do 4 things with 1 tool.) Online resources to get more ideas about being better prepared: Salem CERT also has a Facebook presence where they share information, some of this is duplicated in the West Salem CERT group. (https://www.facebook.com/SalemCERT) West Salem CERT: Your local Community Emergency Response Team has a Facebook group you can join to find more information about being prepared. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/WestSalemCERT) Coming up next month Next month we’ll be talking about a water plan, how much, storage and rotation, quick start and safety consideration. If you would like to read ahead, you will find all the information provided by the Oregon Office of Emergency Management by visiting the official 2 Weeks Ready website Contact Information If you have any questions about this article or preparedness in general, or if you’d like to inquire about joining CERT or scheduling a CERT presentation for your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Mark Wardell, at [email protected]. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. 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