Emergency Preparedness

An emergency can happen anytime, anywhere.  By setting up an emergency preparedness plan you and your family will likely feel less disorientated during an emergency situation even in the event that it happens in the middle of the night or in the middle of winter. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so plan how you will contact one another.  Think about how you will communicate in different situations.

Prepare now, don’t wait for an emergency to happen.  There are simple things you can do now to prepare yourself.  Read through this section and use the information found here to prepare an emergency preparedness kit. Update your kit once a year, checking contacts, foods, medications, batteries etc.

One of the first things that you can do is contact local authorities to find out more about the hazards in your community:

• Ask how you would be warned
• Find out how to prepare for each type of disaster  
• Meet with your family and discuss the types of disasters that could occur  
• Meet with you family and explain how to prepare and respond to each type of disaster
• Meet with your family and discuss where to go and what to bring if advised to evacuate

It is important that you have everyone in your family learn basic safety skills. Have family members learn CPR, basic first aid and teach them how to operate a fire extinguisher.

Other things to consider include planning an escape route from each room of the home, try to think of two alternatives, and planning an escape route out of the neighborhood. Ask local authorities about emergency evacuation routes and see if maps may are available with evacuation routes marked.

If you haven’t created some type of emergency plan for your family already, please don’t put it off. Use the information and resources found in this section to help create an emergency preparedness plan.

• Prepare Your Family
  Prepare your family for emergencies by practicing with your children the various emergency situations that can happen and what is involved.
  
  
• Being Prepared at Home for Emergencies
  Being prepared at home for emergencies and disasters before they happen because you just may need to survive on your own after a disaster.
  
  
• Pets and Emergencies
  When it comes to pets and emergencies remember some pets are not allowed in some public shelters or hotels.
  
  
• Preparing for Natural Disasters
  It seems now more than ever everyone needs or should be preparing for natural disasters.
  
  
• Recovering After a Disaster
  Recovering after a disaster is usually a gradual process. Safety is a primary issue, as are mental and physical well-being.