Press Release

Patterson Declares September 2007 As National Preparedness Month in Oakland County

Pontiac, MI, September 11, 2007 – Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has designated September 2007 as National Preparedness Month in Oakland County.

“This is a good time for schools, homes and businesses to make sure they have action plans in place to deal with potential emergencies,” said Patterson.

Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ERP) is one of more than 1,700 organizations across the United States participating in National Preparedness Month.

During the month long observance ERP will be conducting a variety of training exercises to gauge the county’s readiness to handle different kinds of emergency situations.  Over the past year, Oakland County ERP has been very active in promoting citizen emergency preparedness and providing Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training.  This training has focused on numerous emergency scenarios such as tornadoes/severe weather, hazardous materials and power and water interruption. 

Students are encouraged to seek guidance from the Ready Kids campaign.  School officials may obtain guidance from the U.S. Department of Education Emergency Response Crisis Management (ERCM) program.  Businesses and industry should have continuity of operations and recovery plans.  Families and individuals should have an emergency plan, a communication plan, and have an emergency supply kit for both sheltering in place or evacuation.  Information is available on-line at www.ready.gov or at www.oakgov.com/erp.

For further information, please contact Mike Loper, Oakland County ERP at (248) 858-5300 or email at loperm@oakgov.com.  For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Media and Communications Officer, at (248) 858-1048.
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