In the event of an emergency or a disaster, protecting your family should always be your highest priority. Do you know what to do if a disaster forces you to evacuate your neighborhood or confines you to your home? What if basic services--water, gas, electricity or telephones--are cut off? What if you or a family member needs help and local officials and relief workers cannot reach you right away?

Four Steps to Safety

1. Find Out What Could Happen to You

• Ask what types of disasters are most likely to happen in your area. Request information on how to prepare for each.
• Learn about your community's warning signals: What they sound like? What you should do when you hear them?
• Ask about animal care after a disaster. Due to health regulations, animals are not allowed inside emergency shelters.
• Find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed.
• Find out about the disaster plans at your workplace, your children's school or day care center, and other places where your family spends time.

2. Create a Disaster Plan

• Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for disaster. Explain the dangers of fire, severe weather, and earthquakes to children and what to do in each case. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.
• Pick two places to meet:
  • Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire.
  • Outside your neighborhood in case you can't return home. Everyone must know the address and phone number.

• Ask an out-of-state friend to be your "family contact." After a disaster, it's often easier to call long distance. Other family members should call this person and tell them where they are. Everyone must know your contact's phone number.
• Discuss what to do in an evacuation. Plan how to take care of your pets.

Your planning should include not only family members, but neighbors as well. Meet with your neighbors to plan how the neighborhood could work together until help arrives. Introduce disaster preparedness as a new activity for your neighborhood organization or homeowners association. Know neighbors' special skills (e.g., medical, technical) and consider how you will help neighbors who have special needs, such as disabled and elderly persons. Make plans for child care in case parents can't get home.

There may also be people in your neighborhood with special needs or disabilities. Be sure your plans include how you will assist them (e.g., they may need a generator for a life support system or special transportation if they are wheelchair bound). Ensure that they have an emergency kit prepared with medications and any other special equipment they may need.

3. Complete This Preparation Checklist

Use the following checklist to identify ordinary items in the home that could cause injury, fire or  damage in the event of a disaster.

• Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections.
• Fasten shelves securely.
• Place large, heavy objects on lower shelves.
• Hang pictures and mirrors away from beds.
• Brace overhead light fixtures.
• Secure water heater. Strap to wall studs.
• Repair cracks in ceilings or foundations.
• Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products away from heat sources.
• Place oily polishing rags or waste in covered metal cans.
• Clean and repair chimneys, flue pipes, vent connectors, and gas vents.
• Post emergency telephone numbers by phones (fire, police, ambulance, etc.) and place these numbers in your cell phone.
• Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1 or your local Emergency Medical Services number for emergency help.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the utilities (water, gas, and electricity) at the main switches.
• Check if you have adequate insurance coverage.
• Get training from the fire department for each family member on how to use the fire extinguisher (ABC type), and show them where it's kept.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
• Conduct a home hazard hunt .
• Stock emergency supplies and assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit.
• Take a Red Cross first aid and CPR class.
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
• Find the safe places in your home for each type of disaster.

4. Practice and Maintain Your Plan

Once your plan is created…

• Quiz your children every six months or so.
• Conduct fire and emergency evacuations.
• Replace stored water and stored food every six months.
• Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Test your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.

If a Disaster Happens

1. React Calmly
If a disaster strikes, remain calm and patient. Put your plan into action. Check for injuries and give first aid or get help for seriously injured people. Listen to your battery-powered radio for news and instructions.

2. Check for Damage in Your Home
First, sniff for gas leaks, starting at the water heater. If you smell gas or suspect a leak, turn off the main gas valve, open windows, and get everyone outside quickly. Use flashlights. Do not light matches or turn on electrical switches, if you suspect damage. Shut off any other damaged utilities. (You will need a professional to turn the gas back on.) Clean up spilled medicines, bleaches, gasoline, and other flammable liquids immediately.

3. Remember also to...

• Confine or secure your pets.
• Call your family contact--do not use the telephone again unless it is a life-threatening emergency.
• Check on your neighbors, especially elderly or disabled persons.
• Make sure you have an adequate water supply in case service is cut off.
• Stay away from downed power lines.

To get copies of American Red Cross community disaster education materials, contact the Disaster Preparedness Hotline at (314) 516.2838 or e-mail us.  

The text on this page is in the public domain. We request that attribution to this information be given as follows: From "Family Disaster Plan" developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross.