While everyone hopes that their family will never be involved in an emergency or crisis, it is important to plan with loved ones so that everyone is prepared to handle any situation. Here are a few tips from Carilion Clinic's Senior Emergency Management Consultant, Roger Glick, to help your family begin planning:
1. Make sure everyone knows how to receive emergency alerts and warnings.
Discuss where to find accurate information with all of your family members. More importantly, make sure that everyone has a way of receiving up-to-date messages and alerts. To learn about alerts near you, check out ready.gov/alerts.
2. Familiarize yourself with local emergency plans.
It is helpful in an emergency to already be familiar with emergency plans of local schools and other organizations that your family spends a lot of time with. Being aware of existing plans will help your family best respond to any situation.
3. Identify safe places at home.
Make sure you know which spaces in your home are appropriate safe spaces for different situations. For instance, you will want to prepare for things like earthquakes, tornadoes or wildfire. Figure out which places in your home are best at ready.gov/shelter.
4. Decide on alternate meeting locations.
In a situation in which your family is separated during the time of a disaster, you will want to have predetermined meeting places depending on the incident. Where could you meet that would be safe to get to and to reunite? If you have pets, consider pet-friendly locations.
Some meeting places to consider:
- In your neighborhood: Your front porch or a neighbor's house.
- Outside of your neighborhood: A friend's home, a school or a community meeting place.
- Outside of your town or city: Homes of friends or family.
Be sure to discuss where it is and ways to get there.
5. Build a safety kit.
Build a kit that could sustain your family for at least three days. Some good things to consider include medicines, food/water and batteries. Also think about diapers, formula, etc. as appropriate. Lastly, remember to include cash. You do not want to have to rely on credit/debit cards.
6. Create a master list of contact information.
Compile a contact list that includes phone numbers, email addresses and social media options for every member of your family. Also be sure to include contact information for medical facilities, schools or any relevant organizations.
7. Make copies!
Print out hard copies of your plan and master contact list. Give a copy to every member of your family and have a few extra copies somewhere in your home.
Make sure to check out FEMA's Family Emergency Plan template to get your family's planning started.
