5 Ways To Prepare Your Family For Disasters

Well let's face it, disasters seem to be happening more often than ever before. Whether or not you are counting, you have thought about it. We all should prepare for the eventual earthquake or storm which will leave us without many options for going to the neighborhood market or hardware store for supplies. This article is to help you plan for such an event in your life. Your needs at home, school or the office need to be planned for ahead of time. After the event is not the time to look for essentials. So, let's discuss some of the basics allowing you to modify the essentials for your particular situation. The family home is our mainstay of family life. We have our family, our belongings and our lives there. If you live in an earthquake prone area, you need to prepare for the eventuality of a disaster involving you and your family. Sit down with your family and decide how you are going to get in touch with each other if an emergency occurs. Gather your family together and figure out how to contact each other. Your family will need to be able to contact each other so be sure to make plans with the entire family. Designate one person who does not live with you to be your family contact person. You will need a person who does live with you to be the designated contact. A close friend or relative who does not live with you should be the designated contact person. Make sure everyone in the family carries the phone number of the contact person with them. In the event of an emergency and the family is not together, everyone should contact that person to let them know where they are. The person whom you have designated as the contact person should be available most days, in another words, do not pick someone who travels or is gone quite often. Designate a meeting place near your home so everyone can be assembled. Everyone should know the place you have decided to assemble after an emergency. Emergencies are hectic and everyone should know where to meet afterwards. Run through a mock evacuation of your home to determine the best escape route for each part of the home. Time the evacuation to make sure the routes you have chosen are the shortest and safest. Your home might have multiple escape routes and these should be evaluated to insure a quick escape from emergencies. Think about what items you might wish to take with you. Be sure to remember mementos, family heirlooms, wills or pictures. You will need to keep valuable and non-replaceable in mind when an emergency happens. Take care to have the items you want to take nearby if you need to move quickly Have an emergency kit handy and assemble in a designated place, making sure the kit has the essentials you will need for at least 3 days. Fully stocked emergency kits are vital and should be kept near the escape routes in your home. Keep the emergency kit where it is accessible to the whole family, think of the laundry room, or the closet near the door. Remember to keep enough water and food for at least 3 days in your emergency kit, including a can opener if can goods are included. Include a can opener if can goods are included in your emergency kit, along with 3 days of food and water for your family. Keep 3 day's water and food handy for quick evacuation. Remember to include First Aid supplies, including bandages, scissors, rubber gloves, tape, radio, a flashlight along with the food, water and shelter in your emergency kit are some vital things to remember. If possible include some sort of shelter, for example a tarp and light rope. Keep a portable light source like a lantern filled with fuel or batteries ready at all times. If you have pets, include pet food and supplies so our animals can survive also. Your pets will need food and water to be provided in the event of an emergency. This can be a trying time for pets so remember to provide food and water for them along with the families' 3 day supply. This article has been prepared to make you aware of the basics of preparing for the inevitable eventuality of a disaster involving your home and family. It is not a complete essay of everything possible you can do, but a short list of things you can do at little expense that could save lives. Good luck and think about the forgoing as prudent planning.