Emergency Family Plan

Prepare yourself and your family for a disaster by making an emergency plan.

Important things to consider:

Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations.

Contacts:

It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so try to have an out-of-town contact so you can communicate better among separate family members. Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and has coins or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact. You may have trouble getting through, or the telephone system may be down altogether, but be patient.

Escape routes:

Determine two escape routes from each room in your home

Meeting Places:

Pick three places to meet: in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire. Decide a location in your neighborhood and lastly, a regional meeting place in case you can't return home.

Children:

Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1 and other emergency numbers including fire, police, ambulance, etc. Post these numbers near phones in your home.

Fire Safety:

Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms and make sure everyone knows where the fire extinguisher is and how to use it.