Valley Youth Art Contest! Entries due 9/30/21

NPM 2021- Press Release

Contact: Amanda Michaud

203-881-3255 or amichaud@nvhd.org

September is National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month, the perfect opportunity for all individuals to learn about how to prepare for an emergency to keep themselves and family safe. The Naugatuck Valley Health District (NVHD) will be partnering with FEMA and Ready.gov by offering preparedness tips on our social media, hosting contests, and offering free materials to our community. Please be sure to check out our website, www.nvhd.org and follow us on social media to learn more about events and offerings throughout the month of September.

The theme for this year’s Preparedness Month is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.” Each week in September will feature a different preparedness topic to help educate the public about how to be prepared for emergencies and disasters.

• Week 1 will focus on how it is important to Make a Plan, by having a plan in place you will have all the necessary tools to care for yourself and those you love in the event of an emergency. Naugatuck Valley Health District will be giving out FREE Personal Preparedness Guides to the community that will help you create a written plan for yourself and your family. The Personal Preparedness guide was created by the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
• Week 2 will be about Building a Kit, such as a medical kit, car kit, pet kit, etc. and what supplies should be included in each kit. Be sure to follow us on social media because NVHD will be posting interactive videos about how you can prepare for a disaster, the different types of disaster kits you can have ready, and the items that should be in each kit.
• Week 3 is Low-Cost, No-Cost Preparedness and it is important to know the steps that you can take to prepare your home for a disaster and making sure insurance coverage is up to date, you can limit the impact that disasters may have.
• Week 4 will emphasize Teaching Youth About Preparedness and how having a plan can help protect yourself and those you love. Throughout the month of September, Naugatuck Valley Health District would like to engage the youth within our community by inviting any student enrolled in a Valley school district (Ansonia, Derby, Shelton, Naugatuck, Seymour, and Beacon Falls) to participate in an ART CONTEST! This contest will be offered valley wide throughout the month of September and all drawings must incorporate the theme of “Preparing for a disaster or emergency”. Parents and guardians are encouraged to share our social media posts and visit the www.ready.gov website for some contributing ideas! A flyer that includes contest categories, rules & specification, deadlines, etc. will be shared with each school district & posted on our social media! The drawings will be voted on by our Emergency Management Directors. Winners will be notified the first week of October and will be presented with a prize! All 1st place drawings will be on display at our health district and posted on our social media pages.

If you are interested in Emergency Preparedness or just want to give back to your community one way to get involved is to join the Naugatuck Valley Medical Reserve Corps (NVMRC). We are always recruiting and training new volunteers to help respond to emergency situations, promote public health activities, and to help make our community healthier and safer! We are seeking volunteers with medical and non-medical backgrounds and anyone 18 years and older is eligible to apply. Liability coverage is provided to volunteers at approved activities under Title 28 of the CT General Statues and all volunteer training is provided free of charge.

The Naugatuck Valley Health District and Naugatuck Valley Medical Reserve Corps is offing a FREE Psychological First Aid (PFA) training in support of National Preparedness Month and the theme “Prepare to Protect”. Psychological First Aid will provide participants with an introduction to response techniques to support each other during the recovery phase of COVID-19 and/or in the event of a mass traumatic incident. Kathy Dean, MSSW, Coordinator of the CT Disaster Behavioral Health Response Network will be teaching this course that will be offered virtually on September 23rd at 9:00 AM.

If you are interested in joining the Naugatuck Valley Medical Reserve Corps or you are interested in attending the Psychological First Aid Training, please email Amanda at amichaud@nvhd.org.

For more information, please visit www.nvhd.org and “like” and “follow” the NVHD and NVMRC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkdIn.