Larry,

Your story reminded me of a presentation I did a few years ago.  Here at the City we offer a variety of training session on records management topics, including a 2 hour session on vital records identification.  One of the participants was the veterinarian from our Animal Shelter and she asked me to speak to a group of veterinarians she belongs to about disaster preparedness.  It was an interesting class, and one of the attendees was the primary vet at the Animal Hospital my family and I have used for over 30 years.  I wasn't sure if anyone really paid attention, you know I wasn't talking about paws or fur or anything animal or medical related, so who knows?  Until about a month later when I took the kitties in for their check up.  Dr. B (as he is affectionately known in our family) comes running into the exam room and begins telling me about all the procedures they have started to ensure that in the event of a disaster they know what animals are in for boarding, sick, etc.  Each month they print out the phone numbers of clients and distribute it amongst the vets to take home for safekeeping, they copy the calendar for the next day so that if they need to get hold of a client in the event of a power outage they can do so, etc.   He was very excited and was working with some other vets in the area for a possible reciprocal agreement for storing back-up tapes off site.  And last year he mentioned that they are also storing microchip info for their clients off-site as well.   Good to know my vets office is prepared. Now the doctors office, that's another story!

And yes, I do have a handwritten address book, phone book and keep copies of important phone numbers and account info (power, phone, etc) in the emergency kit.   My husband wanted to put it all on a thumb drive, until the day he went to use the computer and realized that our 18 month old had gotten behind the couch and unplugged it......dead battery!  He did put a thumb drive in there with more detailed info, but the basics are still on paper. 

Jennifer 



Jennifer Winkler
City Records Manager
City of Seattle City Clerks Office
600 4th Ave, FL. 3
P.O. Box 94728
Seattle, WA. 98124-4728
(206) 684-8154
(260) 386-9025 (fax)
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