Is Your Family Ready for an Emergency?

Are you and your children ready for a quick evacuation or prepared to shelter in place?  When minutes count, planning could be the difference between life and death. 

Even the most careful family can experience a house fire. The American Red Cross has valuable tips on both fire prevention and what to do if a fire starts.

Here are seven ways to prepare before a home fire.      

Install smoke alarms and don’t be stingy. Place them by bedrooms and other areas where the family gathers. Test them once a month and change the batteries once a year. Make it an annual family project and put it on your calendar.   

Get children used to the sound of the smoke alarm and what to do when they hear one.  A sleeping child can become disoriented or frightened by the unexpected alarm sound and may try to hide. 

Determine two ways to escape from every room of your home, including upstairs bedrooms. Designate a family meeting spot outside of your home.

Create a family emergency communications plan and make sure that every member of the family knows who to contact if they cannot find one another. Could you call friends or family without your cell phone’s contact list? Memorize the number!

Practice your escape at least twice a year with the entire family. Press the smoke alarm test button or yell “Fire.”

Make sure everyone, even your youngest, knows how to call 9-1-1 and what to say.  Can they recite their home address? 

Teach everyone how to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes catch on fire. 

Could your family make a planned evacuation in the event of a wildfire or hurricane?  Could you shelter in place? Ready.gov has great advice on preparing for any disaster, natural or man-made, and it begins by being informed. Know what kind of disasters and emergencies are most common for where you live and sign up for emergency alerts from your state and local municipality. 

You can also download the FEMA App to receive weather alerts, safety tips and reminders and be ready for the unexpected.

Every family should have an evacuation and shelter-in-place kit. You can buy kits online or make your own, for home, work and your family vehicles. Many of the items can be found at your local discount or ‘dollar’ store and you can assemble it over time.

For people with disabilities or chronic health conditions, planning ahead for an evacuation, or sheltering in place, is even more important. Ready.gov has a list of items to pack as well as advice on traveling with a medical apparatus. They also offer good advice on how to document your prescriptions and medical records.  

Can you shelter in place comfortably with your kids and family pets?  

Plan enough supplies for three days at home. The City of Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management has an easy-to-follow list of family necessities to include in your kit, including for your pet and any special medical needs.

Your kit should have at least one gallon of drinking water for each person for each day, plus one for each pet. Every kit should include ready-to-eat or canned foods that won’t spoil quickly, and a manual can opener. Pack a first-aid kit, plus a flashlight and battery-operated AM/FM radio. Include backup batteries or power banks for cell phones.  Personal hygiene items and medical supplies are also on the list, as well as items you might not think of, such as a whistle to signal for help and trash bags. 

Create and place a copy of your family emergency plan in the kit.

Keep your shelter-in-place kit in a place you can get to easily and tell everyone that the kit is only for emergencies.  Check the food and batteries in your kit twice a year to make sure they’re still good.  An easy way to remember is to check the kit each time you check your smoke alarms or reset your clocks for daylight savings time.

Depending on their age, kids see emergencies from a different perspective. Children in kindergarten through second grade learn what to do in case or fire or disaster with help from The American Red Cross and penguin Pedro. Download Prepare with Pedro or play Pedro’s Fire Safety Challenge at their family preparedness site where you’ll find more resources for older youth.