Preparedness and planning are the key to making your environment safer. Working together with your community partners will enable you to create a plan that considers:

• Measures you can take before an incident to assess and mitigate vulnerabilities.
• Procedures you can use during an incident to minimize casualties and help bring the situation under control.
• Actions you can take after an incident to promote community recovery.
• What you can do to stay prepared.
• In later lessons you will learn more about the planning process and ways to prepare in each of these areas.