The ABC's of Fire Extinguishers!
Family Disaster Plan!
Family Disaster Plan
Family Planning
The key to surviving any disaster situation is planning:
- Discuss these plans with the household members.
- Teenagers and adult members of the household should share in the actual preparation decisions.
- Be sure to consider any special needs or disabilities of family members and unique hazards near your home.
- Make sure everyone in your household knows the location of the closest fire station, hospital, and police station.
In case of fire:
- Have
escape routes planned for each part of your home or work place.
- It is important that every member of your household knows the quickest and safest escape routes from each room, and all the possible hazards that could be in their path.
- Place
a flashlight and a pair of shoes under each person’s bed.
- A major quake will probably disrupt electrical service and, if it happens at night, you will need a flashlight to see. No one wants to cut their feet on broken glass or fallen objects while walking to the closet to get a pair of shoes, so place them, with the flashlight, in a plastic bag. Then tie the bag to the leg of the bed. That way the bag will stay with the bed, and glass will not fall into the shoes.
- Know
where the utility shutoffs are. Locate your gas, electrical, and water
shutoff, and know how to operate them.
- It is recommended that shutoffs be painted white or a light reflective color so they are highly visible in dark or smoky conditions. Have a wrench next to your gas shutoff.
- After
all the preparation is done, practice your plan to see if it actually
works.
- Make it fun, but try to make it real. Practice is especially meaningful if it done at night, when it is dark, with all the electricity off.
Family Reunification Plans
You should decide together where you will meet if a major quake or other disaster hits when the family is separated. Have plans for each member of the family to reach the safe refuge area. Make sure you have adequate emergency supplies in the car as well as at the workplace.
The reunification plan must consider many possibilities:
- Will family members who are at work go home, or will you meet some other place?
- Who will pick up the children at school?
- What about your pets?
- What if a family member is out of the area when a disaster hits? What if the home is structurally damaged and inhabitable?
Your plan should answer all your questions!
The reunification site is also where the family can gather if the disaster has damaged your home.
- At this site, the family can evaluate the situation, make plans for appropriate actions, and be safe from injury due to aftershocks, etc.
- It should be near your home, in the open, and away from any hazards, especially overhead hazards that can fall and injure family members.
- A safe refuge could be your back or front yard, a nearby park, a parking lot, or even the sidewalk.
There may be no means of transportation except by foot if there is severe damage to the roadways. It may take several days for some family members to reunite. It will be easier to deal with the stress of this separation if the household has considered the possibilities beforehand.
Try to have every member of your family prepared to deal appropriately with any emergency, and then trust their good sense and knowledge to help them through it.
Information courtesy of – The Fremont Fire Department Community Emergency Response team Student Training Manual – ci-082/ss – 12/99