Welcome to the ultimate guide to emergency planning and preparedness!
It is my hope that the resources here will help you put together a disaster preparedness and response plan.
Emergency situations are highly unpredictable and can range from natural disasters to man-made catastrophes.
Often people take the time to prepare for a crisis situation, but not natural disasters.
If there is an earthquake, hurricane or tornado in your area and your home comes crumbling down around you, whatever food and water supplies you have stored are going to destroyed.
The structural integrity of your home will be compromised, and it won't be safe to stay there or even safe enough to try to salvage anything that might be left.
At this point, you and your family have no choice but to evacuate.
This is why every prepper needs to have an evacuation plan that the entire family knows and can execute in a moments notice.
This is why packing at least one, if not two, emergency evacuation bug out bags well ahead of time and placing them in several easy to access locations - such as right by your front door and in your vehicle - is so important.
Hopefully these articles will give you a few points to bear in mind when formulating your plan.
Consider The Location When Doing Your Emergency Planning
During a catastrophe of any type the roads may be impassable.
Sometimes this is because of a natural disaster.
For example the roads could be flooded making them unsafe to travel on.
Another possibility is your vehicle could get damaged while trying to evacuate.
Consider how close your shelter is.
In the event that you cannot get there, do you have family, friends or even neighbors who are nearby and could take you in?
If not, is the nearest safe shelter within walking distance or will you need a vehicle to get there?
If you need a vehicle, how will you get one?
Have you thought about the possibility that there could be a fuel shortage and made plans on how to deal with that?
These are all important things to consider and plan for even if you never need to implement them.
Make Sure Your Family Is Familiar With Your Emergency Preparedness Plan
No matter how good your emergency planning and preparedness plan is, it is only good when everyone is onboard and knows what is going on.
What if your spouse is at work?
If the kids are at a friend's house, do they know what to do?
Will everyone meet at home and evacuate, or will they meet you at a secondary location such as a family survival camp?
During a crisis, there is not a lot of time to think and people often panic making it even harder to make rational decisions, especially if it is a man-made catastrophe such as an active shooter situation.
Contacting your family members may not be possible if they don't have access to a phone.
Don't count on cell phones because the grid could be down or there could be so many people trying to use the phone lines that you can't get through.
Any of these scenarios could happen, and they usually do, especially during natural disasters.
So, make a plan, get prepared and go over the plan with every member of your family.
You might even consider having fake drills so everyone has a chance to practice the plan before an actual emergency comes up.
Make Sure Your Emergency Preparedness Plan Is Very Detailed
Ensure that all family members from infants to adults have a laminated card with a list of all their family members and their contact information.
For infants and young children it is a good idea to secure this laminated card to their clothing using safety pins or some other method so if they are separated from you, someone else can find the information and know who to contact.
Include emergency phone numbers such as the hospital, doctors office and police stations.
You might even include the poison control center just in case someone is accidentally poisoned while trying to evacuate.
Best of all, if anyone is alone and injured, first responders will know how to reach the next of kin.
Including information about allergies or medications on this card is a good idea so the first responders have that information before they begin treatment.
If there is panic and everyone is scrambling for their lives, as would happen in a tsunami or other type of natural disaster, you may lose sight of a family member or two because of how chaotic the situation is.
By taking the time before hand to make sure every member of your family has this information easily accessible, there is a much higher chance of finding them sooner.
This means you can get to a safe place as a family sooner instead of later.
Another option is to pick up a copy of my Printable Emergency Prep Journal Coloring Pages.
Even if you don't want to spend your time coloring the pages in, the information you can put into this is quite detailed and perfect to stick in a bug out bag.
Communication Is Important When Executing An Emergency Preparedness Plan
During a crisis there must be a plan of communication.
As mentioned above, if everyone is calling the same person for information, calls may not go through or be delayed.
One way to do it if you have children, will be for one child to call the mother while another child calls the father.
If calls don't work, ask them to try texting.
It is a good idea to make up codes before an emergency situation occurs that everyone remembers, or at least has a list of, so that you do not have to send long texts to get your message across.
Of course, phones are not the only way to communicate.
Consider walkie-talkies, CB radios, email if the grid is up and you can access a computer or simply putting a post on social media and setting it to friends only so the world does not know you have evacuated your home.
Don't Forget To Pack The Emergency Evacuation Kits
It goes without saying that every family member needs a bug out bag or an emergency evacuation bag that they can grab and take with them in an emergency.
The emergency evacuation bag will contain supplies such as food, water and other items that will help you get through the next 72-hours as smoothly as possible.
Include Your Pets In Your Emergency Planning And Preparedness Plan
If you have pets, you will need to evacuate them too in the event that you must leave your home.
While you can't move an aquarium, you can save your cat, dog, hamster or rabbit.
Larger animals such as livestock are also harder to move, but not impossible to move to safety.
Pack an emergency evacuation bag for your pets.
You will need food supplies for them and a portable carrier to transport the pet.
Be aware that evacuation shelters may not allow pets and if they do they will request their shot records, so pack a copy of those in their bug out bag.
This is why it is a good idea to bring a tent or small shelter for them so they stay warm and dry, that way if you must leave them outside, they will have shelter.
It is important for you to check on them at regular intervals and take them for a walk so they can get some exercise and relieve themselves.
Be sure to follow these tips when creating your emergency preparedness plan.
It is imperative that you have a good plan in place long before you need it and a good support network to help you implement the plan if you need to.
Get to know the people around your neighborhood and know who you can and cannot count on in an emergency situation.
Below are links to very specific situations that require emergency planning ahead of time and a very well thought out preparedness plan.
There is also some good information to help you make an emergency readiness plan for your entire family.
Armed Shooter And Riot Tips
Stay Safe by Raising Your Situational Awareness Levels
One of the best ways to stay safe in any situation is to raise your situational awareness levels. Being aware of what is going on around you is one of the most important skills you can develop. It is also important to teach children what to say and do in case they have to deal with a stranger.
How To Prepare For Civil Unrest So It Does Not Severely Impact You
Understanding how to prepare for civil unrest is extremely important. Escaping riots and violent demonstrations safely is one of the main reasons to prepare for civil unrest.
Civil Unrest Survival Planning
In times of civil unrest, survival planning ahead of time is the best way to be sure to keep your family safe. Family survival planning is a smart move.
Emergency Survival Tips For Escaping A Riot
Check out these emergency survival tips for escaping a riot! These tips also work well for other types of survival prepping plans.
Top Survival Tips And Strategies When Facing An Armed Shooter
Active shooter situations are very common these days. This is why understanding the top survival tips and strategies is so important. The more prepared you are and the calmer you are, the more likely you are to survive.
Tips For Cooking In An Emergency Situation
How To Build An Efficient Portable Stove For Grid Down Survival
Learn how to build an efficient portable stove for grid down survival using readily available items. Make this stove part of your emergency readiness plan.
Tips For Cooking On A Wood Stove
Cooking on a wood stove was the reality for everyone not so long ago, but today it is less common because there are more convenient ways to cook.
Easy Wood Stove Recipe For A Grilled Cheese Sandwich
This easy wood stove recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich paired with tomato soup is the perfect comfort food for a cold winter day.
Gluten-Free Brownie Wood Stove Recipe
This Gluten-Free Brownie wood stove recipe is ideal for those times when the electricity goes down or when you want something sweet but don’t want to fire up the electric or gas oven. It is also great for people who live off-grid or cook with their wood burning cook stove all the time.
Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe Baked In A Wood Stove
This delicious homemade dinner rolls recipe is easy to bake in a wood stove or over an open campfire. Get the printable recipe and give it a try!
Hurricane Emergency Readiness Tips
Family Survival Planning For Hurricane Season
Family survival planning for hurricane season is essential. Check out these natural disaster survival tips and prepare your emergency readiness plan now.
4 Ways To Prepare For Hurricane Season
Save time and stay safe when you prepare for hurricane season ahead of time by stocking up on supplies and getting your home hurricane ready.
Tips For Prepping For Disaster During Hurricane Season
It's a good idea to begin prepping for disaster no matter where you live. Check out these hurricane season prepping and survival tips.
Eight Ways Homeowners Need To Be Prepping For Severe Summer Storms and Hurricane Season
Are you prepping on a tight budget? Here are eight ways homeowners need to be prepping for severe summer storms or hurricanes!
How To Survive A Hurricane
To survive a hurricane it is important to understand the different categories and the risks each one poses. Prepare ahead of time and evacuate early!
Natural Disaster Emergency Readiness Tips
The Essentials Of A 72 Hour Natural Disaster Survival Kit And Their Uses
Learn what items are essential to put in a 72 hour natural disaster survival kit. You will also learn what those items are used for.
How To Create Your Own Short-Term Emergency Preparedness Disaster Survival Kit
An important part of survival prepping is being ready for any situation - long or short-term. Start prepping today by creating your own short-term emergency disaster survival kit!
Natural Disaster Survival Emergency Plan
Do you have a natural disaster survival plan in place? If not, here are some great survival tips for disasters that you can use to formulate your plan.
How To Prepare For Disaster Survival
Now is the time to learn how to prepare for disaster survival! Disaster prepping helps with everything from nuclear threats to natural disaster survival.
Natural Disaster Survival Prepping Tips
Natural disasters happen everywhere, sometimes with no advance notice. Check out these survival prepping tips and start prepping for survival now!
Urban Survival Essentials For Beginners
When SHTF, living in the city has its own set of challenges. Find what urban survival essentials for beginners you need to learn and store.
Top 10 Survival Tips For Disasters
Being prepared for disaster survival is essential. Check out these ten survival tips for disasters and start preparing today!
Tips For Shopping Online For Survival Gear
If you're thinking of buying supplies for an emergency situation or natural disaster, be sure to check out these tips for shopping online for survival gear.
Winter Storm Survival Tips
4 Essential Winter Storm Survival Preparedness Tips
Get your emergency readiness plan in order with these winter storm survival preparedness tips. Includes a free downloadable emergency checklist.
How To Stay Warm When Your Power Goes Out
Learn how to stay warm when your power goes out. Learn what products can help conserve heat or even produce small amounts of heat.
Shammy Peterson
Saturday 2nd of October 2021
You made a good point when you said that your family must be aware of your emergency plan so they know exactly what to do. I will consider this tip because I would like to have an emergency plan created for our peace of mind even when there are emergency situations. Maybe, it would be best to order photoluminescent exit signs that would be placed at visible spots for an easy evacuation process as necessary.