How to Create an Emergency Plan for a Family
The smoke alarm goes off. An earthquake strikes. The unexpected can be very frightening. But if you have an emergency plan in place, you can minimize the fear and protect your family. Set some basic rules and you'll find that even when the unexpected strikes, you are prepared.
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Instructions
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Make sure children know where to meet. For fires at home, designate a meeting spot near your property--perhaps a mailbox or the sidewalk directly across the street. You don't want to spend time plunging back into your burning house searching for your five-year-old, so make sure you outline for your kids where they should go. For natural disasters, let them know to stay at school (a first response for emergency service) until you are certain it's safe to return home.
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Have an out of area contact facilitate emergency communication. When phones go down, international numbers or out of state numbers are often still available, so designate a person that everyone in the family can contact. That way, you can all call in to the person to give your status and get messages from the other members of your family.
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Create a sheet with everyone's information and laminate it. Include each family member's date of birth, medical conditions and medications (if any) as well as doctor and dentist contact information. Place a copy in each car and near the main house telephone. Make sure your children, neighbors and babysitters know where to find this in an emergency.
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Teach your kids how to use 911. In an emergency, if you're incapacitated, make sure the children know how to call for emergency services. Stress that this is to be used for emergencies, never ever as a fun call to see what happens as many communities will fine for a false alarm.
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Show older children or the babysitter how to turn off the gas, water and electricity. Walk them through the process and make sure you keep any required tools in a weatherproof enclosure near the utility source.
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Test your kids on the emergency plan--where to meet, the emergency contact and the emergency sheet--once a year or once a quarter to make sure that they have remembered the plan.
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