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Citizen Preparedness Publications

Citizen Corps promotes a range of measures for you to make your family, your home, and your community safer from the threats of crime, terrorism, and disasters of all kinds. The following brochures and booklets may be ordered through the FEMA Distribution Center by calling 1-800-480-2520, or you may download them by clicking on the links below.

Citizen Corps
Citizen Corps Brochure

CERT
Community Emergency Response Teams Brochure

Fire Corps
Citizen Corps Brochure

Disaster Preparedness Activity Book (Ages:4-7)
Disaster Activity Book

Disaster Preparedness Activity Book (Ages:8-11)
Disaster Activity Book

The following publications are available in English and Spanish and offer information on how you can be better prepared. You can either download these files or order these and other FEMA disaster preparedness and mitigation publications by calling FEMA's Distribution Center at 1-800-480-2520. Local emergency management offices and Red Cross chapters are also good sources for preparedness and safety publications.

Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (IS-22)

Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (IS-22)
is a 100-page publication that provides a step-by-step outline on how to prepare a disaster supply kit, emergency planning for people with disabilities, how to locate and evacuate to a shelter, and even contingency planning for family pets. Natural hazards and man-made threats from hazardous materials and terrorism are also treated in detail with specific preparedness and response information for each hazard.
   
Preparing for Disaster - FEMA 475

Preparing for Disaster - FEMA 475 (PDF 668KB, TXT 17KB)
Preparing for Disaster - FEMA 475 Spanish Version (PDF 500KB), TXT 22KB)

Provides step-by-step disaster preparedness procedures including hazard identification, how to create a family disaster plan, how to assemble a disaster supplies kit, and how to maintain a plan and kit.

   
Preparing for Disaster - FEMA 475

Helping Children Cope with Disaster - FEMA 478 (PDF 488KB, TXT 13KB)
Helping Children Cope with Disaster - FEMA 478 Spanish Version (PDF 529KB, TXT 15KB)

Provides information on how to prepare children prior to disaster and how to lessen the emotional effects of disaster.

   
Food and Water in an Emergency - FEMA 477

Food and Water in an Emergency - FEMA 477 (PDF 589KB, TXT 17KB)
Food and Water in an Emergency - FEMA 477 Spanish Version (PDF 691KB, TXT 19KB)

Explains how to select and store food and how to store and treat water in the event of an emergency. Provides information on emergency cooking, where to locate emergency water, and how to assemble a portable disaster supplies kit with food and water.

   
Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs - FEMA 476 Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs - FEMA 476 (PDF 732KB, TXT )
Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs - FEMA 476 Spanish Version (PDF 601KB, TXT 32KB)

Provides disaster preparedness information specific to people with disabilities and other special needs, including the elderly.

Community Participation in Homeland Security: Report of the National Watch Groups Summit

This report summarizes the first National WatchGroups Summit co-hosted by FEMA and the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Summit brought together representatives from 65 federal, state, and local sector-specific Watch programs and the report outlines specific recommendations for achieving greater success among Watch groups of all types nationwide.

FEMA also maintains an Online Library with reference materials, publications, maps, photographs, audio clips and video clips organized into fours sections.

The Citizen Corps partners also have public education materials available on their websites as well.

As an example, the Adobe Acrobat iconCitizens' Preparedness Guidebook (PDF - 646KB), produced by the National Crime Prevention Council with support from the Department of Justice, provides current crime and disaster preparedness techniques as well as the latest information on terrorism, to give Americans guidance on how to prepare in our homes, in our neighborhoods, at work, at the airport, in places of worship, and in public spaces.

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