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B eing
prepared for an emergency before disaster strikes involves learning as much as
you can about disasters that could occur in your area and making plans to act.
Reading this article and following the tips you will receive is a good start.
Continue to educate yourself by keeping up with current events.
Do not assume emergency services are going to be available to help you during a disaster. They may have to deal with the severely injured, elderly or trapped individuals first. It may take several hours for emergency services to implement their emergency plans. Power, water and phones may be out, roads could be flooded and 911 lines jammed with thousands of calls. What can you do? BE PREPARED.
General Emergency Preparedness
Phone Numbers
Make a list of local emergency numbers, work numbers, doctors' numbers, and
family numbers. Keep a copy by the phone and in each family member’s wallet.
After, during or just before an emergency, whom do your children contact to get help or directions from? Do not use 911 as a general inquiry line. The 911 line will be jammed with life and death calls at a time of a disaster.
Make a Neighbourhood Directory and Plan
Which neighbours could your children or elderly parents go to for assistance?
Where do they go if this neighbour isn’t home? Which neighbours could you help
after a disaster hits?
Get together with your neighbours and make plans: who helps your children if you are not home and which children will you help when their parents are not home. Make sure your children know the phone numbers and addresses for these
neighbours. Don’t forget to help the elderly or sick who may be living in your
neighbourhood. Make Your House Easy to Find
Make sure your street address number is large and well-lit so emergency
personnel can find your home quickly. Consider posting your address on the back
of your home as well.
Develop and Practice a Home Evacuation Plan
Every member of your family should know at least two ways (if possible) to
get out of your home in case of fire or other emergency. Agree on a place nearby to meet once everyone gets out. This way you will
know if everyone got out.
No one should go back into the house unless an emergency response person has approved it. If you live in an apartment, know the evacuation plan and different routes out of the building. Check on the Emergency Plan of Your Children’s School or Day-care
You need to know if your children will be kept at school until you or a
designated adult can pick them up or whether they will be sent home on their
own. Be sure the school has updated information about how to reach parents and
responsible caregivers to arrange for pick up.
Keep in mind that during times of emergency, school telephone lines may be overwhelmed with calls. Find out ahead of time what type of authorization the school requires to release a child to a designate should you not be able to collect your children yourself.
Plan how to Take Care of Your Pets
Who in the home will make sure the pets get out in an emergency evacuation of
your home? Remember that with the exception of guide dogs, shelters usually do
not allow pets.
Utilities
Make sure every capable person in your home knows how to shut off utilities
such as electricity, water and natural gas/propane. If children are home alone,
do they know how to shut off these services in case of a disaster in your
community?
Know First Aid
Knowing basic first aid is a useful preparedness measure. First aid training
will help you to help yourself and those around you. Don't assume an ambulance is only minutes away during a disaster.
They may have been damaged by the disaster, or they may be busy dealing with the severely
injured. During any major disaster, hospitals may only accept severely injured
people who are hanging onto life. This means you may need to look after your
family and neighbours.
In an emergency, remember you should always tend to your own well-being first.
Home Disaster Supply Kit
Be prepared to be able to live in your home or outside of your home for 72
hours without outside assistance. Understand that in a disaster situation, it’s
not always possible for emergency crews to get to you immediately. The severely
injured, sick, elderly, and the walking wounded will be cared for first.
Essential services, such as water, natural gas, and electricity, may not be reconnected to your home for days. REMEMBER: No power, no water, no phones, and no emergency help for hours or days. Make sure your first aid kit is well stocked. You may be required to deal with smaller medical emergencies in your home or community.
A tornado warning may give you only 10 minutes before it hits your community.
Have the majority of these items in a waterproof container ready to go. It
should only take a couple minutes at the most to have these items put together
to evacuate your home.
If You Are Caught at the Scene of a Hazardous Material Incident
A hazardous material (HAZMAT) is any substance capable of causing harm to people,
animals, property or the environment. A HAZMAT incident is an accidental or
purposeful release of a hazardous material. Communities located near chemical
manufacturing plants are particularly at risk for HAZMAT incidents. However,
hazardous materials are transported on our roads, rails and waterways daily, so
any area is considered vulnerable to an accident.
If You See an Incident, Call 9-1-1
If You Are Advised to Shelter in Place
Local officials may advise you to remain in your home (Shelter in Place) and
protect yourself there. If this happens:
CAUTION must be used when sealing your family in a room. If you do a good job
of sealing the doors, windows, heating vents with plastic and duct tape etc.,
you may be sealing all replacement oxygen out. This is a TEMPORARY solution only.
Special Concerns When Dealing With Children
Disasters are traumatic for children – even if they know what to do. During a
disaster, your family may have to leave your home and daily routine. Children
may become anxious, confused and/or frightened. It is important to give children
guidance that will help them reduce their fears. In a disaster, children will
look to you and other adults for help. How you react to an emergency gives them
clues on how to act. You must stay as calm as possible.
If you react with alarm, a child may become more scared. They will see your fear as proof that the danger is real. If you seem overcome with a sense of loss, a child may feel their losses more strongly. Raw footage of disasters and people’s reactions to the events can be very upsetting to children. It is not generally recommended that children watch television news reports about such events, especially if the images are shown over and over. Immediately after a disaster, try to reduce your child’s fear and anxiety. Keep the family together. Calmly and firmly explain the situation. Encourage children to talk and include them in the recovery activities.
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