Guam Homeland Security and Office of Civil Defense are inviting the community to the grand finale of National Preparedness Month, or NPM, on Sept. 28 at the Agana Shopping Center.
This year’s theme is “Prepared, Not Scared.” GHS/OCD Whole Community Preparedness Program Manager Jaimie Cruz and Public Information Officer Jenna Gaminde Blas say they are working with local and federal emergency partners to showcase Guam’s emergency management capabilities this coming weekend.
They also encouraged the community to develop preparedness plans and communicate during emergencies. Cruz and Blas add that they have reached out to more schools this year to instill the importance of preparation for all different types of disasters.
“You can expect to see a lot of our partners coming out. We have the Guam Fire Department, Police Department. We have our military partners and some of our even non profit partners coming out to showcase what they do to prepare for and respond to disasters,” Cruz said.
Blas said: “We really tried to get out to the elementary schools and kind of have the children help us get that information about preparedness up to their parents and start talking about it in the home. The point of National Preparedness Month is to use this time, this downtime when there is no disaster, to prepare for all hazards. So we really wanted to instill that in the children.”
The event will be held at the Agana Shopping Center this coming Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Indoor and outdoor demonstrations are planned. Preparedness kits will also be given away that contain nonperishable food items, flashlights, batteries, rope and other tools that can be used during disaster situations.
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