Gov. Scott Walker has declared Nov. 4 to 8 as Winter Awareness Week in Wisconsin. The annual campaign, sponsored by the Oneida County Emergency Management, Wisconsin Emergency Management and its ReadyWisconsin preparedness program and NOAA’s National Weather Service is to remind people to be prepared for winter conditions that could threaten their safety.

Wisconsin residents can sign up for a chance win a winter survival kit on the ReadyWisconsin website at readywisconsin.wi.gov.

Winter storms are considered deceptive killers because most deaths are indirectly related to the storm. For example, in the last five years Wisconsin has averaged 50,000 motor vehicle crashes during the winter months. An average of 45-people are killed and more than 5,000 are injured on icy or snow-covered roads.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is also a danger. According to the Centers for Disease Control, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States, with more than 20,000 people visiting the emergency room and nearly 500 killed each year from overexposure to the gas.

Winterizing cars and homes, gathering items for an emergency kit in a car and making sure there is a working NOAA Weather Radio with fresh batteries present are ways to prepare for winter. Additional winter weather tips and how to put together a winter emergency kit are available at the ReadyWisconsin website. In addition, there are numerous winter storm maps and a history of Wisconsin’s winter weather produced by the National Weather Service.

For more information, call Dawn Robinson, Oneida County Emergency Management, at 715-361-5167.