An emergency preparedness plan is your family's guide to safety. Learn about potential disasters that
can occur in your community and discuss what each family member should do. To help your family
survive and cope during an emergency consider the following:
• Identify a place for family members to meet if separated by a disaster.
• Establish an out-of-town friend or relative to act as a point of contact for separated family
members to call. Make sure everyone has the number.
• Ask your local emergency management office about your community's warning system,
evacuation plans and routes and the location of public shelters near your home, work or school.
• Complete an emergency preparedness checklist and review it with your family.
• Depending on the type of disaster, determine the best escape routes from your house, and find
the safest place in your house.
• Locate the main electric fuse box, water service main, and natural gas main. Teach responsible
family members how and when to turn these utilities off. Keep necessary tools near gas and
water shut-off valves.
• Post emergency numbers by the telephone. The National Neighborhood Watch Program offers
phone stickers for this purpose.
• Learn emergency first aid and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Contact your local Red
Cross chapter for details.
• Install smoke detectors on every level of your home. Test them monthly and change the
batteries at least once a year. Use the change over from daylight savings time to standard time
at the end of every October to help you remember when batteries are to be changed.
• Show each family member where the fire extinguisher is kept. Get training on how to use it.
• Identify potential hazards in your home and take corrective action to help reduce the risk of
injury. Secure large or heavy items that could fall and cause damage or injury.
• Practice implementing your plan.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers a wealth of information on disaster preparedness
planning on their web site: www.fema.gov