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Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations.
Family Emergency Plan
- Identify an out-of town contact. It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town
contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
- Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and has a cell phone, coins, or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency
contact. If you have a cell phone, download and enable "ICEcare" (In Case of Emergency Care) on your phone. If you are in an
accident, emergency personnel will often check your mobile phone to get a hold of someone you know. Make sure to tell your family and
friends that you have listed them as your emergency contacts.
- Teach family members how to use text messaging (also knows as SMS). Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a
phone call might not be able to get through.
- Subscribe to alert services. Many communities now have systems that will send instant text alerts or e-mails to let you know about bad
weather, road closings, local emergencies, etc.
Planning to Stay or Go
Depending on your circumstances and the nature of the emergency, the first important decision is whether you stay where you are or evacuate.
You should understand and plan for both possibilities. Use common sense and available information, including what you are learning here, to
determine if there is an immediate danger. In any emergency, local authorities may or may not immediately be able to provide information on
what is happening and what you should do. However, you should watch TV, listen to the radio or check the Internet often for information or
official instruction as it becomes available.
Emergency Information
Find out what kinds of disasters, both natural and man-made, are most likely to occur in your area and how you will be notified. Methods of
getting your attention vary from community to community. One common method is to broadcast via emergency radio and TV broadcasts. You might
hear a special siren, or get a telephone call, or emergency workers may go door-to-door.
Emergency Plans
Use Online Family Emergency Planning Tool created by the Ready Campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council to prepare a printable Comprehensive
Family Emergency Plan. And help your family in assembling a quick reference list of contact information for your family, and a meeting place for
emergency situations.
Alternatively, sign-up and use ICEcare to define a complete emergency plan that you can retain on your mobile phone for quick and easy access
at all times. It includes every detail -- from contact list to a home and work emergency plan to help you survive through the disaster.
Inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to
help create one. Talk to your neighbors about how you can work together in the event of an emergency. You will be better prepared to safely
reunite your family and loved ones during an emergency if you think ahead and communicate with others in advance.
Content credits for this page: http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/index.html
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