Boston launched two online tools that will help citizens create personalized preparedness plans and locate their nearest emergency centers. The city’s IT staff developed the tools in-house, and they were launched on Sept. 18.
The Family Preparedness Planner is an interactive application that residents complete by filling out the addresses of important locations — such as schools, workplaces and an out-of-town meeting place — and contact information for family, workplaces, schools and doctors/veterinarians. Residents also can upload digital photos of household members and pets.
“What we really wanted to do was create something that would be easy to use, interactive and quick for average citizens to be able to go and develop their own emergency preparedness plan for their family,” said Donald McGough, director of the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Preparedness.
The city will track how many people access the Family Preparedness Planner, but won’t have access to any of the information residents enter into it. McGough said residents can download the planner and save it on their personal computers — this keeps their information private and also accessible so they can update their plans at any time.
The city also launched the Shelter Finder tool that’s integrated into the preparedness planner. The Shelter Finder helps residents identify, map and find directions to their nearest Neighborhood Emergency Center. McGough said there are 53 Neighborhood Emergency Centers located throughout Boston, and they include shelters, distribution centers and pickup locations for evacuation planning.
“We built the tool in such a way that incorporates not only what is kind of nationally understood and recognized as key information you should have in your plan, but it’s also tailored to some things that are unique to Boston that we really want individuals and families to be aware of,” he said.
The city is promoting the tools at preparedness fairs that are being held throughout September, as well as distributing thumb drives to residents that when plugged into a computer launch the Family Preparedness Planner Web site and provide a device for them to save the information on. “It’s kind of just another simple, low-cost thing that we do to send out and promote, and encourage people to go to the site and create their plan,” McGough said.
[Photo courtesy of Amanda Bicknell/FEMA.]
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