Fairfax County Business Preparedness Summit Friday, July 20, 2007

Business owners and managers, security officers and risk managers, facilities managers, emergency managers, disaster recovery specialists, business continuity professionals and health and safety officers of Fairfax County businesses are encouraged to attend the Fairfax County Business Preparedness Summit on Friday, July 20, 2007. Whether you are a "mom and pop" small business or a Fortune 500 corporation, there will be something for everyone at the business summit. A major benefit of the summit is that you will learn how Fairfax County operates during an emergency and how your business, nonprofit or faith-based organization can partner with the county during times of
crisis.

What's Your Readiness Quotient?

Just how prepared is the entire nation for an emergency like a terrorist attack? And how prepared are you and your family for an emergency in your community, like a power outage, major weather conditions, or a natural disaster?

To find out, the Council for Excellence in Government has developed two important barometers to help individuals and communities actually measure their readiness and preparedness:
The Public Readiness Index measures a set community’s (nation, state, city, etc.) preparedness. It provides a simple and consistent score of how prepared people are in a geographic location.
The RQ Test (Readiness Quotient) is a quick and simple online survey for individuals and families to gauge their own preparedness for an emergency.
You hear it all the time: Get Prepared! Get Ready! But how do you know if you have done all the right things? How do you know that your community has done enough? Click here to see tips and tools to raise your RQ.
Your first step is to learn your personal RQ score. The simple test takes less than one minute to complete. Click here to begin.

July 2007 CitizenCorps Newsletter Available

The July Newsletter is available for your reading pleasure.

Safe Picnic Tips

Picnics and Food Safety The picnic season has arrived! To be safe, the Fairfax County Health Department reminds picnickers that raw meat, poultry and seafood need to stay in a cooler with ice until cooked thoroughly. Keep all perishable foods, especially those made with raw eggs, mayonnaise, deli meats or seafood, in the cooler as much as possible. When transporting food, keep it cold by using an insulated cooler with sufficient ice or ice packs to keep the food at 41 degrees or below. Pack food right from the refrigerator into the cooler immediately before leaving home, and keep the cooler in the coolest part of your car. Also, keep your cooler out of direct sun and in the shade or under a shelter. Avoid opening the lid too often, which lets cold air out and warm air in. Pack beverages in one cooler and perishables in a separate cooler.

For more information on food safety, contact the Fairfax County Health Department's Food Safety Section, 703-246-2444, TTY 703-591-6435, or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/food.

Do You Want To Help?

Sign up to be a Community Emergency Response Team Member! We are trained to respond to emergency situations in where we live and work. We mobilize when first responders are overwhelmed. CERT members are trained to provide immediate assistance to victims and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. We deliver basic emergency medical treatment, disaster fire suppression, and light search and rescue services to their community until first responders arrive.

To sign up, please visit the Fairfax County Citizen Corps at Citizen Corps Volunteer Opportunities and scroll down to "Community Emergency Response Team Member - CERT".