Family Communications Planning
During the First and the Second World Wars, one of the most important emergency training procedures done by family members was the making up of a usable family communications plan, in case they got separated. They designated a gathering place outside the house or the city where they would meet. They also designated a relative or a friend out of the state or out of the city who could be contacted in times of emergency. The sensible option is definitely a good idea which should be implemented by every person who is developing an emergency evacuation plan.
But why do you need a family communications plan? What if there is a baby in the family? That is when you need to assign responsible members of a family to take care of the smaller members. Once you start practising a family evacuation drill in case of an emergency, the members of your family are going to do their assigned routine duties.
One good idea is for each member of your family to have a small emergency bag. This bag of emergency essentials should include clothes, shoes, medicines, a flashlight and batteries, fire lighting equipment and some long-lasting items from survival kits. This can be kept under each bed to grab and go if something happens in the middle of the night.
Family communication plans also mean that you have quick access to emergency phone numbers of people who need to be contacted in an emergency. These numbers need to be coded in your cell phone. Have cell phones with long-lasting batteries. Have a list of these emergency numbers placed in every family member’s survival Kit Bag.
Make up a survival kit bag for more than a week. That could be about the time it takes for emergency rescue services to reach you. Make sure that important emergency service numbers are also coded in the cell phones, or are memorized.
A little bit of practice now is going to make all the difference between disaster and survival. So get your family communication plan in hand and have your family members familiarize themselves with this practical and sensible plan.
