By now, you are familiar with Emergency Action Plans (EAP) for Nebraska Extension office(s)/unit(s). As you create or update your local EAP’s, consider how having an emergency plan in place is also important for your family. Severe Weather Awareness Week is a great time to think about emergency preparedness no matter where you live, work, go to school, or travel.
There are three steps to creating a Family Emergency Communication Plan:
1. COLLECT. Collect the information for family members and important contacts like your physician, veterinarian, school, child care providers and more. Have a paper copy of this information and update it regularly.
2. SHARE. Make sure every member of your family has a copy of the Family Emergency Communication Plan. Go to https://www.ready.gov/plan and fill out the Family Emergency Communication Plan Checklist. Once the plan is complete, you can print it and post it on the refrigerator or a family bulletin board in your home. TIP: A wallet-sized, fill-in-the-blank version of the Family Emergency Communication Plan can be found at https://go.unl.edu/familycommplan-wallet
3. PRACTICE. Hold regular family meetings to review the Family Emergency Communication Plan and practice how you will get in touch with one another in an emergency. Even the youngest members of the family can participate in these important practice exercises.
Choose a Primary Contact: Every family member should know who to contact if there is an emergency. Choose one person for all family members to contact. This person should live in a different town as they may be easier to reach if your community is involved in an emergency situation.
Pick a Meeting Place: Where will you meet up with your family if you have to get out of your house quickly? Your meeting place could be the big tree in the front yard or a neighbor’s house.
Where will you meet if your neighborhood is being evacuated and you’re not at home? Consider a place everyone in the family knows like the local library, fire station or church.
Pets and Livestock: If you have family pets and need to leave your home, where can you go with them? What is your plan for livestock? Make plans before an emergency happens and practice, practice, practice.
**Every member of your household should know how to reach each other or a designated contact in the event of emergency and have a meeting place if you are separated.**
Making Phone Calls in an Emergency: If you make a phone call to emergency personnel, follow their directions carefully, you may be asked to stay on the phone. If you must redial a number, wait 10 seconds. Dialing too soon bogs down networks.
If there is an active emergency in your area, avoid using your phone for casual conversations. Do your part to keep networks free for first responders and emergency communications.
Your Mobile Phone Can be an Important Asset in an Emergency:
Text, don’t talk: If you are using a mobile phone, a text message may get through when a phone call will not. This is because a text message requires far less bandwidth than a phone call. Text messages may also save and then send automatically as soon as capacity becomes available. If driving, do not text, read texts or make a call without a hands-free device. (We all know this doesn’t just apply to “an emergency.”)
If you must make a phone call from a mobile phone during an emergency, keep the call brief and share vital information with your family/plan members. Practice making brief calls and sharing important information.
Save Your Battery! If you know there is severe weather approaching, make sure your mobile devices are fully charged. In an emergency, you can also conserve batteries by:
*Reducing the brightness of your display screen.
*Placing your mobile phone in airplane mode.
*Close any apps you don’t need. Mobile devices can be charged with portable power banks or power packs, solar battery chargers and car chargers. TIP: add a portable charger to your emergency preparedness kit.
Evacuation. If you must evacuate in an emergency and have a call-forwarding feature on your home or business landline, forward calls to your mobile number. Make sure you bring your portable charging devices with you.
Source: The NEBLINE Newsletter (8/2020)
More details at: https://ready.gov/plan