Diaster Prepardness

With the extremely poor air quality last week, being prepared for the next natural hazard seems obvious. The city of Mill Valley where I live is engaging in creating a resilient community. Mill Valley fire department is helping neighborhoods become FireWise by educating individual home owners and the collective neighborhood on ways to reduce the risk of fire. FireWise is a fire risk reduction program from the National Fire Protection Association. The fire department chief has visited each neighborhood to hold meetings on this topic. Once a neighborhood has implemented the recommendations that include removing certain brush and debris, cutting back on trees, and eliminating all flammable chemicals, it is certified as FireWise by the fire department. With each additional neighborhood contributing to the FireWise program, the overall Mill Valley community becomes safer and more resilient.

As a registered nurse, I am a volunteer for the Disaster Healthcare Volunteers. In the case of a disaster emergency, I may be called upon by the state to help those in need.

As climate change worsens, we are going to continue to see more and more natural hazards. The DRR for the most vulnerable populations will, unfortunately, worsen as well. As health care providers and ph workers, we must advocate for those who are most at risk and advocate on behalf of policies that decrease our carbon emissions, that protect the environment against climate change, and policies that provide funding to protect those most at risk.