Preparing a Family Emergeny Plan

When disaster strikes family members often become separated. One family member may be at work, another at home, and still others might be in school, participating in sports activities, or visiting friends.

It is important to plan in advance how members will contact one another; where everyone will eventually meet; and what each will do based on the type and severity of an emergency situation.

Preparing a basic Family Emergency Plan can help minimize the worry and feeling of helplessness experienced in a natural disaster or other emergency situation. Knowing everyone in your family will be following the same game plan can greatly improve the odds of eventually arriving at the same, safer destination.

Information provided here is excerpted from more detailed plans available through Ready America from the FEMA website www.ready.gov.
 

• Believe it or not, it may be easier to make a long-distance telephone call than to try a nearby phone number in the area where the disaster has occurred. An out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate with separated family members.
   
• Ensure that all members of your family know the phone number and address for the emergency contact person. Write this information on a small card and keep it in each family member’s wallet. This goes for even small children. Put a card in their backpack when they go to daycare or school. Include any important medical information and their blood type.
   
• Make sure each family member has immediate access to coins or a pre-paid phone card with which to call the emergency contact person. (Write the name, phone number and address on a small piece of paper. Fold the paper around several coins that can be used in pay phones, or around a pre-paid phone card. Keep the coins and paper as an emergency stash in each family member’s wallet.)
   
• You may experience difficulty getting the call through, or the phone system may be temporarily out of service due to the emergency situation. Be patient.
   
• Understand that cellular phone towers may also be flooded with calls; too many people all trying to call at the same time can overtax the system, and your call may not get through. Be patient.
   
• When preparing a Family Emergency Plan, make sure the directions are easy to follow and simple to remember. Assemble a quick reference list of contact information for your family, and a meeting place for emergency situations.

In the event of a house fire, each family member needs to know at least two different escape routes. Once safely outside, all family members should meet at the predetermined meeting spot. Practice with your children how to safely evacuate your home, and specifically where to meet.

In the event of a larger emergency or disaster, what is the safest meeting location within walking distance of your home? If the family is separated by school, work, sports or other extra-curricular activities, where should the family meet? If travel is not possible, due to the nature of the emergency, specifically whom should all family members try to contact?

You may also want to inquire about what emergency plans are in place where your children attend school or daycare. What emergency plans are in place where you work? If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one.