Plan & Prepare

Where will your family be when disaster strikes? They could be anywhere–at work, at school or in the car.

How will you find each other? Will you know if your children are safe?

Four Steps to Safety

1. Find Out What Could Happen to You:

Contact your local Emergency Management Office and the American Red Cross chapter nearest you and be prepared to take notes:

• Ask what types of disasters are most likely to happen.
  Request information on how to prepare for each.
• Learn about your community’s warning signals: what they sound like and what you should do when you hear them.
• Ask about animal care after disaster. Animals may not be allowed inside emergency shelters due to health regulations.
• Find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed.
• Next, find out about the disaster plans at your workplace, your children’s school or daycare center and other places where your family spends time

2. Create a Disaster Plan

Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for disaster. Explain the dangers of fire, severe weather and earthquakes to children. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team.

• Discuss the types of disasters that are most likely to happen. Explain what to do in each case.
• Pick two meeting places. One near your home in case of a fire. And, one outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home after a disaster.
• Ask an out-of-state friend to be your “family contact.” After a disaster, its often easier to call long distance. Other family members should call this person and tell them where they are. Everyone must know your contact’s phone number.
• Discuss what to do in an evacuation. Plan how to take care of your pets.

3. Complete This Checklist

• Post emergency telephone numbers by phones (fire, police, ambulance, etc.).
• Teach children how and when to call 911 or your local Emergency Medical Services number for emergency help.
• Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas and electricity at the main switches.
• Check if you have adequate insurance coverage.
• Teach each family member how to use the fire extinguisher (ABC type), and show them where it’s kept.
• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home, especially near bedrooms.
• Conduct a home hazard hunt.
• Stock emergency supplies and assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit.
• Take a Red Cross first aid and CPR class.
• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Find two ways out of each room.
• Find the safe spots in your home for each type of disaster.

4. Practice and Maintain Your Plan

• Quiz your kids every six months so they remember what to do.
• Conduct fire and emergency evacuation drills.
• Replace stored food and water every six months
• Test and recharge your fire extinguisher(s) according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• Test your smoke detectors monthly and change the batteries at least once a year.

Emergency Supplies

Keep enough supplies in your home to meet your needs for at least three days. Assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit with items you may need in an evacuation. Store these supplies in sturdy, easy-to-carry containers such as backpacks, duffel bags or covered trash containers.

Include:

• A three-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day) and food that won’t spoil.
• One change of clothing and footwear per person, and one blanket or sleeping bag per person.
• A first aid kit that includes your family’s prescription medications.
• Emergency tools including a battery powered radio, flashlight and plenty of extra batteries.
• An extra set of car keys and a credit card, cash or traveler’s checks.
• Sanitation supplies.
• Special items for infant, elderly or disabled family members.
• An extra pair of glasses.
• Keep important family documents in a waterproof container. Keep a smaller kit in the trunk of your car.
• Remember that if you anticipate staying in an evacuation shelter that there may not be a cot for you. Bring bedding material and something to sleep on.

Utilities

Locate the main electric fuse box, water service main and natural gas main. Learn how and when to turn these utilities off. Teach all responsible family members. Keep necessary tools near gas and water shut-off valves.

Remember, turn off the utilities only if you suspect the lines are damaged or if you are instructed to do so. If you turn the gas off, you will need a professional to turn it back on.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Working with neighbors can save lives and property. Meet with your neighbors to plan how the neighborhood could work together after a disaster until help arrives. If you’re a member of a neighborhood organization, such as a home association or crime watch group, introduce disaster preparedness as a new activity. Know your neighbors’ special skills (e.g., medical, technical) and consider how you could help neighbors who have special needs, such as disabled and elderly persons. Make plans for child care in case parents can’t get home.

Home Hazard Hunt

During a disaster, ordinary objects in your home can cause injury or damage. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause a fire is a home hazard. For example, a hot water heater or a bookshelf can fall. Inspect your home at least once a year and fix potential hazards.

Contact your local fire department to learn about home fire hazards.

Additional Resources

Please visit the Web Links provided on this page for additional information. You may also request free family protection publications by visiting Ready.gov or writing to:
FEMA Distribution Center
PO Box 430
Buckeystown, MD 21717
Telephone: (800) 480-2520
Fax: (240) 699-0525

Sign up for Register Ready – New Jersey’s Special Needs Registry for Disasters

Register Ready – New Jersey’s Special Needs Registry for Disasters – allows New Jersey residents with disabilities or access and functional needs and their families, friends, caregivers and associates an opportunity to provide information to emergency management agencies so they can better plan to serve the public in a disaster or other emergency. The information collected here is confidential and will not be available to the public. The information will be held securely and only used for emergency response and planning.

Being prepared for emergencies can reduce the fear, panic, and inconvenience that surrounds a disaster.

Check for Hazards in the Home
During and right after a disaster, ordinary items in the home can cause injury or damage. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause fire is a home hazard. Check for items such as bookcases, hanging pictures, or overhead lights that could fall in an earthquake or a flood and block an escape path.

Be Ready to Evacuate
Have a plan for getting out of your home or building (ask your family or friends for assistance, if necessary). Also, plan two evacuation routes because some roads may be closed or blocked in a disaster.
Have disaster supplies on hand. Click here for more information on disaster supplies.

• Flashlight with extra batteries.
• Portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
• First aid kit and manual.
• Emergency food and water.
• Nonelectric can opener.
• Essential medicines
• Cash and credit cards
• Sturdy shoes.

Maintain a list of the following important items and store it with the emergency supplies. Give a copy to another family member and a friend or neighbor.

• Special equipment and supplies, e.g.,hearing aid batteries
• Current prescriptions names and dosages
• Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of doctors and pharmacist
• Detailed information about the specifications of your medication regime

Create a Self-Help Network of Relatives, Friends or Co-Workers to Assist in an Emergency
If you think you may need assistance in a disaster, discuss your disability with relatives, friends, and co-workers and ask for their help. For example, if you need help moving or require special arrangements to receive emergency messages, make a plan with friends. Make sure they know where you keep emergency supplies. Give a key to a neighbor or friend who may be able to assist you in a disaster. Contact your local emergency management office now. Many local emergency management offices maintain registers of people with disabilities so they can be located and assisted quickly in a disaster, make sure you have done this. Wearing medical alert tags or bracelets to identify your disability may help in case of an emergency. Know the location and availability of more than one facility if you are dependent on a dialysis machine or other life-sustaining equipment or treatment.

If you have a Severe Speech, Language or Hearing Disability

• When you dial 9-1-1, tap space bar to indicate TDD call.
• Store a writing pad and pencils to communicate with others.
• Keep a flashlight handy to signal whereabouts to other people and for illumination to aid in communication.
• Remind friends that you cannot completely hear warnings or emergency instructions. Ask them to be your source of emergency information as it comes over their radio.
• If you have a hearing ear dog, be aware that the dog may become confused or disoriented in an emergency. Store extra food, water and supplies for your dog.

If you need a Wheelchair
Show friends how to operate your wheelchair so they can move you if necessary. Make sure your friends know the size of your wheelchair in case it has to be transported.

Planning for an Evacuation
People with disabilities have the same choices as other community residents about whether to evacuate their homes and where to go when an emergency threatens. Listen to the advice of local officials. Decide whether it is better to leave the area, stay with a friend or go to a public shelter. Each of these decisions requires planning and preparation.

Preparing Makes Sense for Older Americans
The likelihood that you and your family will recover from an emergency tomorrow often depends on the planning and preparation done today. While each person’s abilities and needs are unique, every individual can take steps to prepare for all kinds of emergencies. By evaluating your own personal needs and making an emergency plan that fits those needs, you and your loved ones can be better prepared.

There are commonsense measures older Americans can take to start preparing for emergencies before they happen.
Create a network of neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers to aid you in an emergency. Discuss your needs and make sure everyone knows how to operate necessary equipment. If appropriate, discuss your needs with your employer.

Seniors should keep specialized items ready, including extra wheelchair batteries, oxygen, catheters, medication, food for service animals and any other items you might need. Keep a list of the type and model numbers of the medical devices you require. Be sure to make provisions for medications that require refrigeration. Make arrangements for any assistance to get to a shelter.

Preparedness Planning for Your Business
Businesses can do much to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today’s world including natural hazards like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and widespread serious illness such as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic. Human-caused hazards include accidents, acts of violence by people and acts of terrorism. Examples of technology-related hazards are the failure or malfunction of systems, equipment or software.

Ready Business will assist businesses in developing a preparedness program by providing tools to create a plan that addresses the impact of many hazards. This website and its tools utilize an “all hazards approach” and follows the program elements within National Fire Protection Association 1600, Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs. NFPA 1600 is an American National Standard and has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Five Steps in Developing a Preparedness Program

Program Management

•  Organize, develop and administer your preparedness program
•  Identify regulations that establish minimum requirements for your program

Planning

•  Gather information about hazards and assess risks
•  Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)
•  Examine ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks

Implementation

Write a preparedness plan addressing:

• Resource management
•  Emergency response
• Crisis communications
•  Business continuity
•  Information technology
•  Employee assistance
•  Incident management
•  Training
•  Testing and Exercises
•  Test and evaluate your plan
• Define different types of exercises
•  Learn how to conduct exercises
•  Use exercise results to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan

Program Improvement

• Identify when the preparedness program needs to be reviewed
•  Discover methods to evaluate the preparedness program
• Utilize the review to make necessary changes and plan improvements

Additional Information

• Flood Safety Tips
• Emergency Response Plan
• Business Continuity Plan
• Fema
• Free Business Preparedness Test

Disaster Preparedness for Farm Animals

Disaster Preparedness for Farm Animals
Large animals and livestock need extra consideration in disaster planning

Why Livestock Owners Need to Be Prepared
Disaster preparedness is important for all animals, but it is especially important for livestock because of the size of the animals and their shelter and transportation needs. Disasters can happen anywhere and take many different forms—from hurricanes to barn fires, floods to hazardous materials spills—forcing possible evacuation. Whether you evacuate or shelter in place, it’s important to be prepared to protect your livestock.

Take Precautions
One of the smartest things you can do to protect your family and livestock is to make sure you regularly review and update your disaster plan, supplies, and information regularly.Read more tips

Sheltering in Place
If evacuation is not possible, a decision must be made whether to confine large animals to an available shelter on your farm or leave them out in pastures. Many factors need to be taken into consideration to figure out what’s best in varying situations. Read more»

Barn Fires: The Most Common Disaster
Preventing barn fires and being prepared in the event of a fire can mean the difference between life and death for your livestock. Knowledge of the danger of fires and how to deal with them is essential, and vigilance is key to prevention. Read more

Evacuation Planning
A successful evacuation plan depends on many factors. We’ve compiled a detailed list of precautions and do’s and don’ts to help you develop a foolproof strategy.

Farm Disaster Kit
Make a disaster kit so you have supplies on hand in the event of a disaster. Place the kit in a central location and let everyone know where it is. Check the contents regularly to ensure fresh and complete supplies. Here are suggested items to include then add items that you use every day.

Your local humane organization, agricultural extension agent, or local emergency management agency may be able to provide you with information about your community’s disaster response plans.

Tip Sheet Resources

• Disaster Preparedness for Horses
• Disaster Preparedness: Barn Fires
• Taking Precautions for Protecting Livestock