Visit Ready.gov to work with your family on a preparedness plan. You can also visit Brazos County's Emergency Preparedness Resources page for useful information.
Work with your whole family to make sure you're always ready for any emergency!
COVID Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Texas Health and Human Services | Department of State Health Services
2-1-1 Texas - When calling 2-1-1 pick option 6 for answers to medical questions
State and Local COVID Numbers
General Public
Businesses
Essential Workers
Healthcare Providers
Basic Prevention
- Minimizing exposure is especially important for people who are 65 or older or who have underlying health conditions such as, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or cancer. Those individuals in this group have a higher risk of developing this severe disease. The safest thing for them, during an outbreak, will be to stay home as much as possible to minimize close contact with others
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Those who are are sheltering at home should discuss with the doctor about getting additional prescription medications, have enough household items and groceries on hand
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Limit gatherings to 10 individuals or less
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Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
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Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
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Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
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Wear a well-fitting mask that covers the mouth and nose completely
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Stay home if you are feeling sick
Heat Awareness and Staying Cool
Summer is here and many Brazos County residents will be spending more time outdoors. Whether you are enjoying a cook out with friends, working in your garden, or swimming at Lake Bryan, always be aware of dangers associated with the Texas Heat. Here are some tips to help you stay cool and identify heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and other adversities caused by the Texas summer.
Staying Cool
- Look before you lock - Ensure children and pets are not left in hot, unattended vehicles
- Stay hydrated - Drink more water than usual and avoid sugary, caffeinated beverages
- Dress for the weather - Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing
- Protect your skin - Apply sunscreen with at least SPF 15
- Stay out of the sun when possible - Find shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat when outdoors
- Work and play safely - Avoid high-energy activities and exercise during extreme heat, especially during the afternoon
- Protect your pets - Provide your pets with plenty of water and shade
- Check in on elderly family members, friends and neighbors - Make sure they have access to air conditioners and/or fans and clean water for hydration
Signs of Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stoke
Heat can be dangerous when you least expect it. Watch for signs of heat illness when you are working or playing outside.
|
Heat Stroke |
Heat Exhaustion |
Heat Cramps |
|---|---|---|
| Signs: Throbbing headache; no sweating; red, hot, dry, skin; nausea or vomiting; rapid strong pulse, dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness; body temp 103˚or higher | Signs: Faint or dizzy; excessive sweating; cool, pale, clammy skin; nausea or vomiting; rapid, weak pulse, muscle cramps; heavy sweating, tiredness or weakness; headache; fainting | Signs: Heavy sweating during intense exercise; muscle pains or spasms in the stomach, arms or legs |
| Actions: Call 9-1-1.Take immediate action to cool the person until help arrives. | Actions: Move the person to a cooler location to sip water if fully conscious, loosen clothing, take a cool bath/shower or use cold compresses. If symptoms last longer than one hour or worsen, call 9-1-1. | Actions: Stop physical activity; drink water; wait for cramps to go away before you do any more physical activity; move to a cooler location. If cramps last longer than one hour, the person is on a low-sodium diet and/or the person has heart problems, call 9-1-1. |
Infants, children, older adults, outdoor workers, athletes and people with chronic medical conditions have a higher risk for heat-related illness. Refer to more heat safety tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More information to come. In case of emergency, call 9-1-1.
Water Safety Tips
When cooling off in pools and other bodies of water, be water-wise. Drowning is fast and silent. No one is drown-proof, but drowning is preventable. Prevent drowning-related incidents and learn water safety tips.
- Provide active and constant supervision of children in the water and be a water watcher. Put away phones and other distractions around water. Focus on swimming safety. When in any type of water, toddlers and infants should be no more than arm’s length away from their parent or caregiver at all times.
- Teach children to swim and learn to swim yourself. Five essential water safety skills include being able to:
- Step or jump into water over one’s head and return to the surface.
- Tread water for one minute.
- Turn around in a full circle and find an exit from the pool.
- Swim 25 yards to exit the water.
- Be able to exit the water. If in a pool, exit without using the ladder.
- Children should always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket when on a boat, around open bodies of water and around docks. The life jacket should fit snugly and should not be able to be lifted above the ears.
- Learn CPR and basic water rescue skills so you are prepared in case of an emergency.
- Teach children to ask permission to go near water. Teach children to stay away from pool and spa drains.
- Practice pool safety. Use physical barriers to prevent children from accessing any source of water. Set alarms on pools and doors/windows leading to pools.
- Make sure children stay away from water hazards in your community such as garden ponds, creeks and streams, wells and cisterns, and other bodies of water.
- Teach kids that swimming in open water is different than swimming in a pool. Limited visibility, sudden drop-offs, uneven surfaces, currents and undertow can be dangerous.
- Do not use foam or air-filled toys, (e.g. floaties, water wings, inner tubes, noodles), in place of a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket.
- Empty tubs, buckets and kiddie pools immediately after use. This also helps minimize mosquitoes.
- Watch for signs of water injury even when the swimming is over.
- Never leave a young child unattended in a bathtub. Do not trust a child's life to another child or to aids that help a child sit upright in a tub.
- Use safety locks on toilets and keep bathroom doors closed and toilet-bowl covers down when small children are in the home.
