Placards to help first responders find out who needs assistance
By Michael Erskine
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Copyright 2006 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.
They are strikingly simple.
One side is green and says “OK.” Flip them over and the other side is a vivid red with the word “HELP.”
The large placards, which have been printed for every household in Shelby County, are part of the “Help-OK” campaign, unveiled Wednesday by the Memphis and Shelby County Emergency Management Agency.
The signs are designed to assist first responders in quickly determining who needs medical help in the case of a large-scale disaster, such as an earthquake or tornado.
In the event of such a disaster, residents should place them on their front door or in a window visible from the street, indicating whether they are OK or need emergency assistance.
“In this high-tech era that we live in, it’s a low-tech tool,” said EMA director Claude Talford.
But the tool could play a vital role in the hours after a catastrophic event, he said.
He hopes the signs would help avoid time-consuming house-to-house searches immediately following a disaster, such as what ensued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
About a half million of the signs have been produced at the county government print shop at a cost of roughly $30,000.
The placards are free to the public, and county officials want every household to have one.
They can be picked up at every fire station, library branch and Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division payment center within the city of Memphis. Outside the city limits, the signs are available at county and municipal fire stations, as well as some suburban city halls, officials said.
The placards were created by the EMA years ago, but officials decided to update them with new information.
In addition to the large-print “HELP” and “OK,” the signs have tips for families on how to prepare for a disaster and a list of supplies for a disaster kit. There are also key phone numbers, with signs available with phone numbers specific to the major suburbs. Bartlett signs are available now; Millington, Germantown and Collierville signs should be ready soon.
County Mayor A C Wharton said at Wednesday’s news conference that he hopes something as simple as these placards will instill in citizens a real awareness that they need to be prepared for a disaster.
“Sometimes the simple things,” Wharton said, “are the ones that make all the difference.”