Banner Health offers free emergency guide

PHOENIX (July 21, 2009) – If you are driving in a dust storm, do you pull over or keep driving? What happens if a monsoon knocks an electrical pole into your yard? Or If your child eats a bottle full of pills?

Banner Health is offering a free online Family Preparedness Guide to help you learn what to do when a disaster strikes, as well as how to prepare before it hits.

The guide, created first for our more than 35,000 employees in seven states, is now available to the general public for free downloading at www.bannerhealth.com keyword: emergency guide. The 14-page guide features general safety hints as well as a listing of emergency phone numbers for the states that Banner Health provides care.

Our Family Preparedness Guide can be an integral part of any emergency kit and will help you answer some of the following questions:

• What would you do if basic services–water, gas, electricity or telephones–were not available? 
• What types of supplies should go into a 72-hour emergency kit?
• If you were stranded at a location away from home, who would care for your children and/or pets?
• If you were required to evacuate, does your family have a designated meeting place?  
• What are the best actions to take during a dust storm?  

Please take a few minutes to read this guide and talk with your family members about what to do in case of an emergency. That talk may be one of the most important conversations you ever have.

Then, keep the guide for future reference. Put it in a place known to everyone and take it with you in case of an emergency.

At Banner Health, we are making every effort to be ready to take care of you during any disaster or emergency, and we hope that you do the same.

About Banner Health
Headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns or manages 22 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care and hospice services, and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. To learn more about Banner health, go to www.bannerhealth.com.