Creating a Family Emergency Plan That Everyone Can Follow

Protecting yourself and your family from emergency situations can be achieved with good preparation. When you’re aware of the risks of your area, you can plan ahead so that you’re ready just in case anything goes awry. This can be making sure that you have all the appropriate supplies, deciding on a meet up point or protecting your home’s integrity.

There’s many types of emergencies that can affect your family like fires, severe weather or unexpected evacuations. The key to success is simplicity and clear communication, as this will ensure that all of your family are on the same page. You need to involve every family member in the creation process, so everyone knows exactly what to do, where to go and how to stay in contact with one another.

This guide will make the planning process for an emergency much easier, as we breakdown everything you need to consider for your families safety. Continue reading to find out more.

Build a Communication and Action Plan

Planning with your family what each of you have to do during the event is very important, as it will make everything more organised. Choosing a meeting place for everyone is essential just in case you get split up during the event. Having a backup will also be good, in the instance that someone can’t make it to the first location.

It’s also important to plan what you’ll do if members of your family are in different places when an emergency incident occurs:

• Where will you meet each other?
• Who will be in charge of picking up your kids from school?
• Who is your emergency contact outside of your immediate location?

You never know what might happen, so you need to plan appropriately to cover all bases as you figure out the immediate actions that need to happen.

For the days after the disaster, you will also want to consider:

• Can you go to a rental home?
• Where are your important documents and contact information?
• How will you evacuate, if needed?

Read: Why Shopping Centres Are Becoming Family Hubs

Stocking up on Emergency Supplies

You need to make sure that your emergency supplies have been gathered in the event that an emergency occurs. Having several kits that are suitable for different locations will be the most beneficial, so you can be prepared if something happens while you’re at home, at work or during a commute. They should always be easily accessible, so you can grab your kit whenever it’s needed.

Items in the kit should help you and your family survive for two weeks, as this gives you enough time to gather your bearings and seek help elsewhere. Make sure that you don’t use these supplies for any other scenario, but keep reviewing them every six months to ensure that they don’t exceed their expiration dates. This will keep the kit safe to use for longer periods of time.

Essential preparedness supplies are water, non-perishable food and first aid that will keep your health steady. You should think about having these contents in your emergency kits:

• Water
• Non-perishable food
• First aid
• Prescription medicine
• Legal documents
• Pet safety
• Infant care items
• Protective clothing
• Flashlight
• Hygiene items
• Cash

Having all of these essentials will keep you covered in a variety of situations, so all of your family can stay protected during an emergency event.

Preparing Your Home For an Emergency

Shut Off Utilities

Your utilities can be affected by some disaster situations and can even make things worse. Shutting these off before an emergency event occurs will be very important, so you should clue up the entire family on how to do this safely, even if you have young children. Keep a wrench by the gas valve so you will have it handy in an emergency, as this will be the most essential to turn off to prevent unwanted gas leaks in the home.

Secure Furniture

Secure heavy furniture to walls to prevent it from falling during an event like an earthquake. Falling furniture can be detrimental and can block exit routes. Even without the threat of an emergency, furniture should be secured for child safety. Place the heaviest items on the lowest shelves or in the bottom drawers of tall furniture to lower its center of gravity, reducing its risk of injury.

Have Alternative Sanitation

Finding different ways to wash and keep yourself clean will be essential, as it could be that you won’t be able to do this at home after an emergency like a natural disaster. You might also need to create makeshift toilets. You can use the two-bucket method with camping toilet seats and sawdust for an alternate toilet.

Get Insurance

Only you can determine your risk tolerance and what kind of insurance coverage is right for you. If an emergency has occurred due to professional negligence, such as an engineer installing fault gas piping, you could contact solicitors who will give you advice on what your next steps should be.

Final Thoughts

Creating a family emergency plan that will keep everyone safe during an unexpected event is essential. You need to make sure that everyone in your family is clued up about the entire process, including any young children, as this will give them the best chance of staying safe. Protecting your home is a big part of this, so you can keep everyone safe inside your home even if you’ve been let down and need professional negligence solicitors to help you.