Area Businesses Prepare Residents for Disasters

Bridgewater businesses are getting in on the action to encourage residents to prepare for emergencies—like hurricanes and flu outbreaks—through September, better known as National Preparedness Month.

But the hope is that those preparations will carry into the coming months as well.

According to Cynthia Kusorgbor, health educator and risk communicator for Somerset County, FEMA uses the month to encourage individuals, families, businesses and communities to prepare for emergencies. This is then promoted by the county's health department.

"The county health department continues to collaborate with other agencies, such as our Office of Emergency Management and the Red Cross, to ensure the public is educated about what to do before, during and after the incidence of a disaster," she said. "We also collaborate with the state health department and the CDC for guidance on strengthening our preparedness and response efforts."

Participating businesses in Bridgewater are Childtime Learning Center, Care to Share Network, Costco, The Learning Gate, Wegmans Supermarket and Rite Aid Pharmacy.

Those business, along with others in the county, Kusorgbor said, will set up table displays with emergency-preparedness items. These items, she said, will include water, flashlights, batteries, first-aid kits and non-perishable food items.

"The county health department will provide literature on what items to include in a kit, as well as some kid-friendly literature that serves as a conversation starter for parents who are encouraged to teach their young ones about preparing for emergencies," she said.

"Other participating support groups who are unable to set up a table display offered to forward an electronic copy of the emergency supplies checklist to everyone on their e-mail list serves."

Kusorgbor said the county has been promoting this event for the past six years. But the National Preparedness Campaign, she said, first started with just grocery store displays.

"It has been expanded in the past two years to include preschools and day cares, and other special needs organizations," she said.

Aside from getting information from the table displays, Kusorgbor said, residents are encouraged to develop an emergency plan with their families and have kits available just in case.

"According to the ready.gov website, less than half of the households in the United States have an emergency plan," she said. "We all have a role to play so far as preparedness is concerned, and the county health department is therefore encouraging families to get ready by preparing a family emergency plan and having an emergency supply kit readily available."

Other county business participating in health preparedness this month are The ARC of Somerset County in Manville; North Branch Reformed Church Preschool; Warrenbrook Senior Center in Warren; A&P Supermarket in Basking Ridge; Childtime Learning Center in Hillsborough; Walgreens Pharmacy on Hamilton Street and Franklin Park in Somerset; Little Children of God Preschool in Somerset; Shoprite in Bound Brook and Watchung; BJ's Wholesale Club in Watchung; Kings Supermarket in Bedminster; Apples and Books Learning Center in Branchburg; Midland School in North Branch; Kangaroo Kids Daycare in Branchburg; Learning Gate Daycare in Raritan; Matheny Medical and Education Center in Peapack; Kiddie Academy Child Care in Somerset; Pathmark in Hillsborough; Stop & Shop Supermarket in Somerset and Franklin Park in Somerset; Luisa Marie Productos Mexicanos in Somerville; Las Gemelas in Raritan; Phil AM Mini Market in Raritan; Spanish American Store in Somerville; and Rite Aid Pharmacy in, Somerville, Bound Brook, Somerset and  Franklin Township.