Is Your Family Prepared For The Next Emergency?

9/9/2020 (Permalink)

Logo for National Preparedness Month provided by ready.gov

September is National Preparedness Month! (NPM). This month we will be promoting family and community disaster planning.  Each week we will highlight a specific theme to help you stay proactive and safe. 

Week 1: Make a Plan

Each region of the United States deals with different natural disasters. Therefore, each household must know the most common national disaster for that area. Each emergency plan will be different. So, with the help of ready.gov, we provided a guide to help with strategizing your custom Emergency Plan.

Step 1: Communicate with household members

Make sure all household members are present during the meeting, to eliminate any misunderstandings.  Establish important protocols such as

1. Best way to receive emergency alerts/warnings
2. House shelter plan
3. Evacuation route
4. Household communication plan
5. Creating or updating emergency preparedness kit
6. Review the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) Coronavirus prevention guide and update the proposed plan if necessary.

Step 2: Understand the specific needs of the household 

As you craft your emergency plan, make sure it is a realistic plan for each member.  Here some factors to take into consideration when executing your plan

• Did you assign a designated assistant?
• Does the emergency food fit everyone’s dietary needs? (Diabetes, Baby Formula, Vegan, etc.)
• Does your first aid kit reflect everyone medical needs (Extra Inhaler, Epi-pen, Vital Medications, etc.)
• Does the plan respect each house member’s cultural and religious consideration? 
• Did you think about the Pets/Service animals?
• Is the proposed plan functional for each member? ( Disabled members, infants, and young children, etc.)

Step 3: Fill out the Emergency Plan

A PDF Emergency plan for parents is available for download at ready.gov/plan, Or you can write your own.

Step 4: Practice, Practice, Practice 

Hold practice drills with all household members with different scenarios.

If you’d like more information about disaster planning, please visit ready.gov. Stay safe everyone!