Emergency Preparedness

Preparing for the Unexpected

Primary Things to Remember- The 3 P’s
  • People
  • Pets
  • Property
Be sure to take the following items with you:
  • Prescription medications
  • Eye glasses
  • Important documents
  • Pet supplies
  • Child’s favorite toy
Go to Ready.gov for more details.
 

Begin Planning

To begin your emergency planning, follow these three steps:
  1. Make a Kit
  2. Make a Plan
  3. Be Informed
Assemble a Supply Kit
  • 72-Hour Food and Water Supply
    • One gallon of water per person per day
    • Use canned and dried foods that are easy to store and prepare and can be rotated with new stock each year
  • Warm clothes and a sleeping bag for each member of the family
  • Emergency Supply Kit:
    • Flashlight
    • Battery-powered radio and extra batteries
    • First Aid Kit
    • Toilet articles
    • Prescription medicines
    • Pet supplies, including food and water

Develop a Family Emergency Communications Plan

  • Post emergency telephone numbers near telephones and teach your children how and when to call for help, including the 10-digit emergency number 970-479-2200 in case 911 is not working.
  • Learn what to do in case of power outages and personal injury.
  • Call your local utility company and learn how to turn off main valves and switches.
  • Plan and practice how to escape from your home in an emergency.
  • Pick 2 meeting places: One near your home in case of fire and a second outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home. Also, identify an out-of-state contact who can be reached by phone so you can tell them you’re safe.

Be Informed

  • Be aware of the natural and man-made disaster risks in and around your surroundings and the appropriate actions you would take.
  • Make every effort to follow instructions received from authorities on the scene. Listen to 530 AM radio in Vail or cable television channel 13/21 for additional information.
  • Stay calm, be patient and think before you act.
In case of the need for evacuation please stay tuned for media updates to the resources below. All residents are strongly encouraged to subscribe to EC Alert at www.ecalert.org. The service is customizable and provides citizens with useful information and emergency updates by sending messages to a variety of devices, including email accounts and cell phones. Registration to EC Alert is free, although text messaging fees may apply based on individual cell phone plans.

For up-to-date emergency information, you can also visit the Eagle County PIO Facebook page or www.ecemergency.org.

Emergency Call Back System

An emergency call-back system, similar to reverse 911 technology, has been installed within the Eagle County/Vail Communications service area.

Known as the Emergency Preparedness Network (EPN), the system allows public safety officials to contact specific neighborhoods to warn them of impending danger. As such, the technology enables communications officers to deploy recorded messages to more than a thousand telephones simultaneously throughout the county, calling back on numbers that are not fully reached and leaving messages on phones that are able to receive messages.

Notification will not work, however, on phones with solicitation blockers, nor with battery-operated cordless phones should the power go out. The service will be activated only during critical emergencies, such as fires, floods, hazardous materials situations and other circumstances where imminent danger may exist.

The project is funded by the Eagle County 911 Authority Board, which manages funds collected from an existing 55-cent monthly surcharge on customer phone bills. Hard line phones within the Eagle County/Vail Communications 911 service area are set to receive the service. This includes all of Eagle County, with the exception of El Jebel, which uses Pitkin County Communications to receive its 911 calls. Pitkin County plans to implement an alert system for its service area in the near future.

In August 2002, the system was used for the first time to evacuate residents in Wildridge, a subdivision of Avon. During an early morning wildfire that threatened numerous businesses and properties, the EPN delivered recorded phone calls to more than 300 targeted households in the subdivision, alerting residents to evacuate.