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Crime & Safety

Ready for Anything: Naperville Groups Stress Emergency Preparedness

National Preparedness Month puts emphasis on what communities and families should do in the event of an emergency or disaster.

On the streets, Naperville residents hear the sirens at 10 a.m. sharp on the first Tuesday of every month.

In homes, their favorite television shows are occasionally interrupted by an emergency broadcasting test with a series of screechy beeps.

In schools, students practice staying calm during fire drills.

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Such methods are a good start to being prepared. But there's much more that can be done within a community and within one's own family. Officials said that's where National Preparedness Month — observed in September — comes in.

Naperville has equipment, resources and procedures in place for the community in the event of an emergency. The police and fire departments, along with the volunteer-driven forces of Naperville Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), take an active role in preparedness projects for the city.

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On Sept. 2, those departments gathered at the Naperville Municipal Center for an open house to increase public awareness. 

"We live in a society that tends to get complacent with every day that goes by," Naperville Fire Chief Mark Pukanaitis said. "The further away we get from the last emergency, the less the community thinks about being prepared in the event of disaster."

The fire department battled a three-alarm fire June 11 at the Rosebud restaurant in downtown Naperville, and it took more than an hour to extinguish the blaze, Pukanaitis said. NEMA volunteers were on the scene to help the firefighters — one of the many ways they aid the community.

Among NEMA's resources are a communications and weather unit. New to the agency this year is a well-trained search-and-rescue team. The group trains with Will County Emergency Management to learn everything from emergency response to survival techniques.

"We meet every third Saturday and are always training," said Larry Pope, a member of the team. "Repetition is key."

Naperville Police Chief David Dial spoke during the Sept. 2 event about the importance of being connected to other area communities that can aid in multi-jurisdictional emergencies. Naperville will soon update its 20-year-old radio system to allow police and fire to be connected on all fronts.

"On 9-11, the New York City fire and police departments were not able to communicate with each other," Dial said. "Police found that (the) towers were going to collapse before the fire department and could not warn them to evacuate."

 The new radio system is expected to be operable by Thanksgiving.

National Preparedness Month also aims to make citizens aware that communication and planning must begin at home. First-aid kits, supplies of food and water, and radios with spare batteries are important components to a family's emergency plan.

Naperville's CERT is comprised of community members who have educated locals since 2005 about disaster preparedness techniques.

"One way we help is by reinforcing the common sense stuff that you don't think of when you're in a panic," CERT member Glynnis McCrimmon said. 

For CERT members, learning about fire safety, first aid, disaster medical operations and team organization can make a huge difference on a disaster's front lines and throughout the community.

CERT is a program that emanates from the Citizen Corps which, along with FEMA, runs the official Ready America program aimed at empowering citizens to be prepared for emergencies. The message is simple: Get a kit, make a plan, be informed. The website offers specific preparedness information for the disabled, elderly, children, military and families.

The Internet can be a resource for disaster preparedness on a national and local level. The Naperville police department has a Twitter account to report important breaking news. The department also plans to use its web site to inform residents about the location of crimes in their neighborhoods as well as enacting an online system to file police reports.

"You won't see these resources anywhere else in the country," Dial said.

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