Having a family communication plan is key, especially during an emergency

Disasters can strike when you least expect them, and you may not be with your family when they happen. Having a family communication plan can help you get in contact with your loved ones during an emergency.

 

In our latest podcast, APHA’s Get Ready team speaks with Jeffrey Mitchell, clinical professor of emergency health services at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and co-founder of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, about the importance of including communications in family emergency preparedness planning.

 

“Make sure that you don’t make the plan so complex that people are not able to follow it,” Mitchell says. “It needs to be simple; it needs to be done with some degree of speed, and it has to be very effective so it works for the family system.”

 

Social media tools and text messaging can be fast, effective ways to communicate during a disaster, and Mitchell encourages incorporating them into your plan. Facebook and Twitter can be especially useful tools if you can’t get to a phone or if phone lines are down or overloaded, he noted. For family members who don’t use social media, it’s important to have other communication plans.

 

“If you have elderly people in the family who are not on the Internet, and they rely heavily on phone communication, then that needs to be built into the process as well,” he adds.

Here are some more things to consider when developing your family’s communication plan, courtesy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency:

• Make a contact card for each family member including children. Put it in your everyday wallet, purse, briefcase or backpack.
• Identify an out-of-town relative or family friend who can be another contact for your family, especially in the event of an evacuation. Make sure every member of your family knows the emergency contact’s information.
• Make sure every family member has a cellphone, money or a prepaid phone card to use for calls.
• If you have a cellphone, program your “in case of emergency” contact into your phone.
• Teach family members how to use text messaging, which can work around network problems that prevent a phone call from going through.
• Subscribe to alert services. Many communities have systems that send emails or text messages in the event of an emergency.

For more information, listen to the podcast or read the transcript. For more family preparedness tips, visit the Get Ready Parents page on our website.

Get ready! It’s National Preparedness Month

It can be impossible to prevent disasters, particularly when it comes to something like tornadoes or earthquakes. But you can be better prepared for them. As September is National Preparedness Month, now’s a great time to get ready!

Here are a few quick steps to put you on the road to readiness this month:

• Build an emergency supply kit. Make sure to include the basics, such as at least a three-day supply of food and water. Choose foods that don’t require refrigeration and are not high in salt. Other items to include are batteries, flashlights, a manual can opener, a radio, a battery-operated cellphone charger and copies of important documents.
• Create a family communication plan so everyone knows what needs to be done before and during an emergency or in an evacuation. Review and practice the plan with all family members. If you need to evacuate, know where the nearest shelter is and how to get there safely.
• Stay informed! Keep up to date on all the information your local emergency management officials send out during an emergency. Make sure to heed all advice from local emergency officials, such as evacuation notices.

Your organization or business can become a part of National Preparedness Month by joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Preparedness Community. Members — who include APHA’s Get Ready campaign! — pledge to promote preparedness and have access to free resources and a planning toolkit.

For more preparedness tips and tools, check out our Get Ready fact sheets, perfect to hand out at community events, on campus or at work and to share with those you care about.