Elements of Family Emergency Planning and Preparation
Residents in high fire hazard areas should know how to safely and effectively evacuate. The following checklists provide recommendations concerning proper evacuation preparation.
- Meet with household members. Explain dangers to children, and work as a team to prepare your family for emergencies.
- Discuss what to do about power outages and personal injuries.
- Post emergency phone numbers near phones.
- Learn how to turn off the water, gas and electricity at your home.
- Select a safe meeting point, in case you are separated from family members.
- Choose an out-of-town contact because it is often easier to make a long-distance phone call than a local call from a disaster area. Everyone must know the contact’s phone number.
- Complete a family communications plan that includes contact information for family members, work and school.
- Teach children how to make long-distance phone calls.
- Complete an inventory of home contents and photograph/video the house and landscape. Place files in your to-go bag and store a second copy in a location outside of your community.
- Identify escape routes and safe places, and draw an escape plan highlighting two routes out of each room. Be sure everyone in your family knows them.
- Prepare EVACUATED sign. Select a site to post signs where they will be clearly visible from the street.