Emergency Preparedness

May 2016 Safety Topic

Disasters—ranging from wildfires, tropical storms, earthquakes and hurricanes—highlight the risks facing all Americans and stress the importance of emergency preparedness.

Before an emergency strikes make sure your family has a plan. Sit down together and decide how you will get in contact with each other, where you will go and what you will do in an emergency.

Why Plan?

  • Remember, a disaster can strike quickly and without warning.
  • Your family will be more confident and comfortable in the event of a disaster.
  • Everyone in your household will know what to do.
  • You may be separated from one another. If so, family members will be on the same page when they are apart.
  • Emergency personnel may be overwhelmed and may not be quickly available to attend to your specific needs.
  • You and/or members of your family may be on their own for a minimum of 3 days. A plan will ensure everyone’s safe when apart.

How to create a plan?

  • Meet with your family and discuss disaster preparedness.
  • Discuss various disasters that your location might be vulnerable to and explain what to do in each case.
  • Discuss Evacuation: (Do you?) if so (when and where).
  • Have an Emergency Contact Plan and Phone Numbers readily available.
  • Identify meeting places: (Home, Schools, Work, and Place of Worship).
  • Attend training courses that will equip you with useful skills that you can use during an emergency (CPR and first aid classes).
  • Have insurance as needed: (fire, earthquake, flood).

Practice and maintain your plan!

  • Be sure to collectively review your family’s plans every six months.
  • Conduct fire & emergency evacuation drills to make sure that everyone is always ready.
  • Test and recharge fire extinguishers yearly if your home has one.
  • Test all smoke alarms monthly and change the batteries yearly.
  • Replace any stored water and food every six months/yearly.

For more detailed information on creating a plan, contact a member of the Campus Life Safety and Regulatory Compliance.