Parenting Pointers: Family Emergency Plan

Every family needs to have an emergency preparedness plan. There are many natural disasters and emergency situations that can throw an entire household out of whack. In order to be prepared for these situations, you must plan ahead to ensure that everyone knows where to go, who to contract, where the food storage is and how to find the first aid kit. Everyone needs to be on the same page, even the kids. A good emergency preparedness plan will help to keep everyone calm and safe in the event of an emergency.

Family Emergency Plan

The following is a list of details that everyone in the family should know. This list needs to be updated and reviewed every couple of months to make sure that contact information is still the same. You also want to make sure that no one forgets the plan.

·      Come up with an emergency plan for each type of potential disaster. You should have a separate plan for a fire, storm, hurricane, tornado, earthquake and any other emergency that could happen in your area.

·      Designate a safe spot in your home or near your home for each disaster. For example, in case of a hurricane, everyone should go to the basement. But, if there's a fire, everyone should meet at the home of the neighbor across the street.

·      Have a plan for power outages. Be sure that everyone knows where the food storage, flashlights, extra batteries, candles, matches and battery operated or solar powered radio are located. There should also be a phone in the home that does not require electricity.

·      Instruct everyone in the household to tune-in to the radio to get important emergency information and instructions.

·      Go over your plan for injuries. Everyone in the home needs to know where to find the first aid kit and how to use the basic first aid supplies. Make sure that all of the children in the home know how to dial “911” if there is a serious injury.

·      Draw up a simple, easy-to-read floor plan of your entire home. Use it to clearly mark two escape routes for every single room in the house. This is important because you never know what room you'll be in if an emergency arises. If there's a fire in the hallway, it needs to be clear that it's safer to escape through the window.

·      Emergency phone numbers should be posted near the telephones in the home. It would also be wise to make lists of emergency contacts to place in purses, wallets and backpacks in case an emergency situation occurs when someone is not at home.

·      Make sure everyone knows the names and numbers of at least one local family member or friend, and one non-local family member or friend to contact if a disaster strikes. This is very important if you have loved ones in other states. They may see a report about the disaster on their local news and have no way of reaching you to find out if you're safe. The local contact will help to coordinate your family so everyone can meet up together later.

·      Make sure every child in the home knows their full name, how to spell it, your name, their home phone number and the phone numbers of the two emergency contacts above.

·      Designate at least two locations for your reunion after a disaster: one right outside the home, one outside of your local neighborhood. For household emergencies such as a home fire, everyone should meet somewhere right outside the home, like a neighbor's house. That way, you'll know who may not have made it out safely immediately. For disasters that may have affected your entire neighborhood, such as a tornado, a good meeting place could be Grandma's house or the nearest shelter.

·      Make sure that everyone in the house takes a CPR class. CPR can save a life while you wait for the ambulance or paramedics to arrive. If you have a swimming pool in the home, this is an extremely important part of your Family Emergency Preparedness Plan.

·      Rotate your food storage regularly to extend the shelf life of your emergency food. Use the oldest foods first, and the newest foods last. Take time to check your food storage on a regular basis to ensure that all foods are still good for consumption.