Here are links to great resources, forms and lists to experts and sites that have the critical information that can help you be prepared. You can use the FIVE STEPS as a guideline or what ever source you like. We believe that options are important and these resources are here to help you customize your plan for you, your family or your community.
Build An Emergency Plan Overview
KnoWhat2Do has a full guide available. For over all planning this is the best one designed for the North Texas region- KnoWhat2Do_Guide We prefer the hard copy of it and keep several copies available. Copies are available at Prep2Bless and you can order free copies from the website or download it now. The site is worth a visit KnoWhat2Do.com.
Wiki-how has a great guide on ‘How to build an emergency kit“. This is in a narrative style and helps you understand your needs and assess what you will need. They even have a simple video to explain it. The same site has other videos to help you cope with emergencies and learn step-by step procedures.
Here are links to sites that are more creative and interactive
Loving this interactive “Build a Kit” site at 72hours.org from San Francisco Emergency Department. They also have a 12 page booklet that is more focused for West Coast but is still a good guide.77_72HourEmergencyBrochure_Eng_0112
To build a 7 day plan gradually – here is a 24 week plan from Alaska that breaks things into a weekly shopping list. This can be compressed into less time or even 24 days.
The Red Cross Ready Checklist suggests the following to be prepared:
- I know what emergencies or disasters are most likely to occur in my community.
- I have a family disaster plan and have practiced it.
- I have an emergency preparedness kit.
- At least one member of my household is trained in first aid and CPR/AED.
- I have taken action to help my community prepare.
Here is the Red Cross one page summary which is a solid overview. By the way. . check our the Red Cross Mobile Apps, we love them.
Here’s
1. Family Emergency Plan and Family Kit–
Ready.gov has a great fill-in form to start your Family Emergency Plan and the site has a list of suggested supplies for a Family Emergency Kit.
2. 72 Hour Kit or 3-7 Days of Provision –
Would you have enough water, food, medicine and cash for your family’s needs? This is what is contained in a “Go Bag”. Basic rule is one gallon of water person, 3 meals plus snacks for each person for 3 days (that do not require cooking), medicine is important and you need to have enough to last a week, finally having a cash reserve is important especially if banks were closed. As mentioned on the Get Started page here are links to several sites that have lists to build your 72 hour Kit:
Here are
the links for Building an Emergency Kit from the experts:
- This is the official FEMA Homeland Security suggested list Ready.gov
- Red Cross has a nice guide for a Family Kit. We suggest their 3 day Food and Water m4440181_Food_and_Water-English.revised_7-09 the site has it in other languages.
- KnoWhat2Do provides similar materials but here is a one page shopping list.
- Medical Kit – Here are the suggested items for an emergency medical kit.
Texas has the most tornadoes of any state and if one hits your area it could mean that you are without electricity and utilites for several days if not week. Where would you stay if a disaster hit? At home or elsewhere? Will you need to hunker down and “Shelter In?” Or will you need to relocate to safer location and do you have a plan? How will you deal with extreme heat or cold. All of the major websites deal with these issues. But here are questions to be addressed:
- Do you Shelter In or Evacuate and if so where to?Will all your family members know where to come if you are separated?
- How would you cope without electricity and do you have enough batteries or a generator?
- How would you cook your food?
- Do you have ways to secure your home if the windows were damaged?
- How would you handle sanitation issues?
- Do you have anyone in your home have special needs that require continual electricity? In the case of emergencies, were you aware that there is support for those individuals from the city health departments.
4. Safety – Family, Physical, Neighborhood Watch, who do you trust? Fire Prevention is also important for families and business to remember.
Red Cross has an excellent Disaster Safety Library with information sheets on every type of emergency and what to do. Most of the sheets are in Spanish, Chinese and other languages. There are also helpful sheets from the Red Cross on Fire Safety and Fire Escape from your home.
5. Long Range Planning — For extended disasters are you prepared and what is your support network? Have you thought about getting some training or getting involved with other organizations that do. Remember that all disasters are local and it is the local people who have to engage first to handle problems. Check out the Get Training page for suggestions.