America's PrepareAthon! is your chance to be ready

September is National Preparedness Month.

To celebrate, a number of federal government agencies have teamed up to bring us America's PrepareAthon!, a promotion to get us all to make a plan when disaster strikes.

"Getting ready before disaster strikes" includes making an emergency plan, keeping a stock of flashlights and batteries, having bottled drinking water available, having a battery-operated radio to get news and information and creating a disaster supplies kit.

Part of that is having a well stocked first aid kit — and having all your medical information at hand. Consider using a mobile app to keep track of that information, such as the Southcoast MyHealth app I created to track your medications, allergies and contact info for your doctors and pharmacies.

America's PrepareAthon! is brought to us by the Corporation for National Community Service, Ready.gov and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).