Emergency Preparedness Plan: What You and Your Family Need to Do

An emergency preparedness plan is a written document that contains information on what you and your family will do in the event of an emergency or disaster. It also includes important items to remember, where things are stored, and actions to take when certain events occur. You should have at least one for each member of your household!

Your Preparedness Plan

A preparedness plan is a written document containing several different aspects of your preparedness. In it, you should include what you and your family will do in the event of an emergency or disaster, along with important information and what you have stored, where items are stored, and the actions you need to take when certain events occur. Basically, if it’s important or needs to be remembered, it should be written down in your plan.

Writing down your plan is very important, as everyone in your family needs access to the plan and the information contained within, especially when you’re not available. Your plan needs to contain contact information for family and friends and where to look for extra information (books, documents, TV, radio, internet, apps, Twitter accounts, and so on). It should also have a list of actions to take and the locations of your preparedness supplies. You should review your plan with your family on a regular basis, but life often gets in the way and having it written down allows everyone to quickly access the information when needed.-Make a list of all the necessary personal items for each member of your family, including medications and medical issues that you might have. Make sure it's easy to find this information in case someone needs it quickly!

-Create a list of supplies to store. Include food, water, and other supplies that are necessary for survival.

-Keep a list of emergency phone numbers in case you need them!

-Identify an out-of-state contact person to notify if you or your family are not safe during the event. It's also good to know who will be with each member of your family during the event.

-Figure out what you need to do when different events happen, like a tornado warning or gas leak. Remember: this is your plan for emergencies!

==Afterword==

A preparedness plan can be simple and easy if you take time to think about it now! Figure out what you might need in case an emergency or disaster occurs, and make a plan for it. No one wants to feel unprepared!

-Write the list of all necessary personal items that each member of your family will need in case there is an emergency event: What medications do they take? Do you have any special needs? Make sure this information is easy to find and understand.

-Create a list of supplies to store: Include food, water, and other necessary items for survival in your kit.

-Keep an updated emergency contact phone number list! It's good to know who you want contacting if it is safe for someone else outside the event to call them on your behalf or for their loved one.

-Identify someone to contact if you or your family are not safe during the event. It's also important that each member of your household knows who will be with them in case something happens.

-Figure out what you need to do when different events happen, like a tornado warning or gas leak: Remember, it is always good to have a plan for emergencies!

Historical events have shown us there is a common set of needs in almost every disaster, and this is where you should start your preparations. In general order of importance, the things you will likely need to provide for yourself after a disaster include:

• First Aid
• Shelter
• Fire & Light
• Water
• Communication, Signaling & Navigation
• Food
• Sanitation

The exact order would depend on your situation, but in general, you can consider all of these important enough to include in every preparedness plan.