Health Matters
Simple Steps to Safety: Household Emergency Plan
Create a family emergency communication plan. Communication systems in a disaster area are usually disrupted. Often after disasters, local phone line are down and flooded and the circuits will be busy. This can affect telephones, cell phones, and email.
Ask someone to be your family's contact person. They should be out of the area, readily available to pass messages, and reasonably calm in a crisis.
The Red Cross recommends makinge a list of designated contacts numbers (home, work, cell or pager) and e-mail addresses for everyone in the family or household. Everyone, including the designated contact should have a copy of this list. Provide the emergency contact numbers to your children's schools, workplace, and neighbors.
Keep a list of key telephone numbers and addresses near the phone. If there has been a major disaster, use the phone only if it is absolutely necessary. Emergency crews will need all available lines.
-
Teach children how and when to call 911 or your local emergency medical services number for emergency help and how to make long distance emergency phone calls to reach out-of-town family.
-
Instruct household members to turn on the radio for emergency information.
-
People should know how and when to turn off the supply of water, gas, and electricity at the main switches. Make big easy-to-see signs identifying breaker panel (or main circuit breaker), gas and main water supply and post the signs at those locations.
-
If you live in an apartment building, show everyone in your family the location of the emergency exits, where the fire alarm is, and explain when and how to use it. In a fire or other emergency, do not use the elevators. You will be trapped in the elevator if the power goes out. Determine what your role is in your building's emergency plan, what to do if an alarm sounds and how to safely evacuate the building.
-
Check if you have adequate insurance coverage for the range of risks in your community.
-
Get training from the fire department for each family member on fire extinguisher use and where it is kept.
-
Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
