DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLANNING

I. Gather information about your community emergency plan from your local emergency management or Civil Defense Office. The Local American Red Cross Chapter can also be contacted.

¢ Find out about designated disaster centers and health care facilities that can and will accept infectious disease and biochemical exposure cases. Where are these facilities in relation to your home? your travel routes? and where others work, play, or go to school?

¢ Does your community have a warning signal via television, radio, etc.? What does it sound like? What does it mean? What are you supposed to do if you hear it?

¢ Find out about pet care facilities or "best action plans." Most shelters don't accept animals.

¢ Find out about the disaster plans that may have been developed at your partner's workplace, children's school, parent's nursing care facility.

¢ Identify resources to deal with special circumstances (i.e., a non-ambulatory family member, someone who needs access to regular life sustaining medical care like dialysis, etc.).

II. Develop a plan which factors into account that people may be at home, school, work or traveling.

¢ Develop a communication process. Does everyone have a list of each other's current phone numbers and e-mail addresses (e-mail sometimes works when phones are jammed). Do they have access to that list at all times? Identify an out-of-state relative whom everyone can call to say "I'm at this location and this is what is happening to me." Often, it is easier to reach someone outside the disaster zone than someone in it. Let that out-of-state relative serve as a "safety check-in" monitor.

¢ Develop a plan which factors into account an emergency directive to:

1. Evacuate your home.
2. Evacuate your community.
3. Remain "in-sheltered" (do not leave the safety of your current position).

Set up a safe room at home. Pick an upstairs room to serve as shelter from gas or toxins since gas will tend to drop to ground level (heavier than air).

¢ Where and how will everyone ultimately reconnect once it is safe to move around? Develop at least two rendezvous points - one near your house and one outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home after an emergency.

¢ Give your contact numbers and written plans to anyone providing oversight to "dependent family members." 

¢ Don't expect everyone to remember the details of the plan. Prepare a portable reference card with phone numbers and rendezvous points. Tape 35? to the back of the card. Pay phones may be working even though cell phones are jammed.

III. Gather emergency supplies for "in-sheltering" 3-5 days. Prepare a modified go-kit if evacuation is necessary. Essentials should include:

- Water (one gallon per person per day)
- Non-perishable packaged or canned food (like peanut butter)
- First aid kit with prescription medications
- Extra glasses and contact lenses
- Flashlights with batteries
- Radio with batteries
- Blankets, sleeping bags (plan for no heat)
- Important family documents
- Toiletries and feminine hygiene articles
- Covered heavy weight plastic bin to serve as a makeshift port-a-potty

IV. Prepare a financial plan. You may need cash for the first few days or weeks following a disaster. Make sure all family members have knowledge and access to the money in case you are traveling. To help stay solvent, consider the following:

¢ Keep a small amount of cash or traveler's checks readily available. A disaster can shut down local ATM machines and banks. The money should be in small denominations for easier use.

¢ Set aside money in an emergency fund. Keep the fund in an easily accessible account. Consider an account outside the local area since a disaster could also affect your local financial institution.

¢ Keep one credit card with a credit line available. You may have to draw on that credit line to tide you over.

For future assistance in preparing a plan, request a copy of the free brochure "Your Family Disaster Plan" (A4466) from your Local Red Cross or at www.redcross.org/services/disaster.