Check out the free Emergency Preparedness Fair from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. today at the Loussac Library.
The fair is full of booths, hands-on displays, vehicles, films and demonstrations that will help us "learn to be safe -- whatever your adventure."
Some adventures we choose. Others choose us. The fair covers both, from earthquake survival to bear safety to what to pack for a snowmachine trip to how kids should wash their hands to thwart the flu.
You'll learn what you need to "shelter in place" if a major disaster strikes that leaves us on our own -- the stuff in that emergency supply we all talk about having in the garage or under the deck or in the back of the pickup. Because Alaska is both earthquake country and at the end of the supply chain, people should plan to be self-sufficient in food, fuel, shelter and medical supplies for seven days if the big one hits.
Ready, everyone?
Neither are we.
People who attend can register, pick up a "passport" to go booth-to-booth and enter drawings for prizes that include snowmachine helmets, six or seven different kinds of flashlights and a carabiner combination tool -- what fair organizer Toni McPherson calls the sort of the thing you'd love to have but "you can't justify buying it."
"People aren't prepared here," she said. "They just think they are."
The fair should be fun -- and could be a lifesaver.
BOTTOM LINE: Think you've got emergencies covered? Check it out today at the Emergency Preparedness Fair.
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