Author: Ready or Not Team

Plans are nothing. Planning is everything
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Talk to your family
Don’t shy away from conversations with your family about what to do in case of an emergency. Are emergencies scary? Yes. In our experience, using age appropriate language to help your family be prepared, gives them the tools to act during a crisis.

Do you have a plan for if you need to leave your home in case of an emergency? Consider these simple steps to help your family be prepared for when life happens.

Call for Help
Talk to your family about when they should call 911.
Identify a neighbor or local family member who can be contacted by emergency personnel.

Meeting Place
If you need to leave your home due to an emergency, identify a meeting place for your family. Depending on where you live, it could be a neighbor’s front porch, a spot in your apartment complex parking lot, or the end of your long driveway.

Fire Drill
Just like we practice fire drills in school or at work, practice leaving your home and getting to the meeting place: open windows, remove screens, use escape ladders.

Listen
Ask your family members how this makes them feel. Do they feel prepared to follow the plan? What parts of the plan are they worried about?

By failing to plan, you are preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin

One of the first steps we took to build our family action plan was to document essential information that would help when life happens.

Ready to get started?

1. Complete and download the Ready or Not: Essential Information Guide Template for each person in your family. The personal details you’ll be documenting are sensitive and should be treated as such.
2. Place the documents in a fire-proof safe or pouch.
3. Identify a secure place in your home to store this information. Consider including a back-up version in a safety deposit box at your bank.
4. Set a calendar reminder to review and update the information at least semi-annually.