Are You Ready? A Guide to Citizen Preparedness brings together facts on disaster survival techniques, disaster-specific information, and how to prepare for and respond to both natural and man-made disasters.

As the most comprehensive guide to personal emergency preparedness published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Are You Ready? will help individuals prepare themselves and their families for disasters.

Revised in September 2002, Are You Ready? 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. Man-made threats from hazardous materials and terrorism are also treated in detail. The guide details opportunities for every citizen to become involved in safeguarding their neighbors and communities through FEMA's Citizen Corps (www.citizencorps.gov) initiative and Community Emergency Response Team training program.

Copies of Are You Ready? A Guide to Citizen Preparedness are available through the FEMA Publications warehouse (1.800.480.2520), FEMA publication H-34. For large quantities, your organization may reprint the publication. Please visit our reprint page for more information.

Some of the files are provided in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format. Download Acrobat Reader. We have provided a Word document for accessibility concerns. However if you prefer to view one of the PDFs (which is broken into sections), go to Adobe's Online Converter to obtain the document in text format.

Are You Ready? A Guide To Citizen Preparedness (Text Version - for WebTV users) -- 239 KB

Are You Ready? A Guide To Citizen Preparedness

Are You Ready Full Document (PDF Version -- 1.94MB)

Separated by Sections

Cover -- 1.68 MB

Introduction (PDF Version -- 569KB)

General Preparedness Information (PDF Version -- 1.14MB)

Emergency Planning and Disaster Supplies (PDF Version -- 654KB) Creating a disaster plan
Emergency planning for people with special needs
Disaster supply kits

Evacuation (PDF Version -- 63KB)

Shelter (PDF Version -- 233KB) Long-term in-place sheltering
Staying in a mass care shelter

Mitigation (PDF Version -- 562KB)

Animals in Disaster (PDF Version -- 927KB)

Recovering From Disaster (PDF Version -- 93KB)

Natural Hazards ( PDF Version -- 396KB)

• Floods (PDF Version -- 1.26MB)
• Hurricanes (PDF Version -- 485KB)
• Thunderstorms (Lightning) (PDF Version -- 857KB)
• Tornadoes (PDF Version -- 857KB)
• Winter Storms and Extreme Cold (PDF Version -- 636KB)
• Extreme Heat (Heat Wave)(PDF Version -- 104KB) ( Emergency water shortages)
• Earthquakes (PDF Version -- 667KB)
• Volcanoes (PDF Version -- 301KB)
• Landslide and Debris Flow (Mudslide) (PDF Version -- 223KB)
• Tsunamis (PDF Version -- 808KB)
• Fire (PDF Version -- 746KB)

Technological & Man-Made Hazards (PDF Version -- 1.26MB)

• Hazardous Materials Incidents
• National Security Emergencies (PDF Version -- 628KB)
  • Terrorism
  • Chemical and biological weapons
  • Nuclear and radiological attack
  • Homeland security advisory system

• For More Information -- 651 Kb
  • Citizen Corps
  • CERT
  • Disaster Public Education web sites
  • Independent study courses

• Inside Back Cover -- 25.5 KB

• Back Cover -- 1.42 MB