Philadelphia prepares its own for emergencies so they can help others

The city of Philadelphia has held more than 200 workshops in the past year to help people prepare for an emergency.

September is preparedness month and now city officials are looking closer to home for training. 

Philadelphia Emergency Management Director Samantha Phillips says the city is targeting its own employees to make sure they are prepared for an emergency. This way if called into service they can respond knowing their families are taken care of properly.

“The employees of the city of Philadelphia are essential to insuring we are able to respond and recover,” Phillips said. “Collectively we can become and are resilient. However if your family is impacted by an emergency, how comfortable will you be leaving them and going to work.” 

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer says just making sure people have escape routes if fire strikes is important.

“Fire is everyone’s fight. We need everyone to participate in this challenge to make sure we reduce the number of fire fatalities and what better time than preparedness month to talk about how to be fire safe and what to do in case you do have a fire,” Sawyer said. 

City officials also are offering free workshops for the public to help them to be prepared, just in case.