Tips to make family emergency plans less overwhelming
Preparing for an unknown may seem overwhelming. Choose three of these tips and make implementing them a family event.
Make your emergency plan. HERE's how.
Pre-register for Emergency Support Services on Evacuee and Registration Assistance (ERA) HERE .
Add your insurance information to your emergency plan to ensure it’s handy when you need it. You can also keep THIS link handy for any insurance related questions.
Know how to turn off your utilities. Make this part of your emergency plan. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to do this.
Have an out-of-area emergency contact who the family can touch base with if you are separated during an emergency. Make this part of your communication plan.
Make a pet plan. Have leashes, harnesses, cages, food and medicines ready for quick access. Click HERE to learn how.
Build your emergency kit (for shelter in place) and your Grab-and-Go bag (for immediate evacuations). Find out how HERE.
Sign up for emergency messaging through the Alertable app.
Keep an old pair of shoes under each bed. If you need to evacuate your home quickly and household debris (broken glass, building material) is littering the floor, these can be used to allow you to safely move about your house.
Save digital copies of important documents, such as birth certificates and financial records on a memory stick, or make photocopies of them. Place these in your grab-and-go bag.
This is the first in a series of articles by Emergency Support Services (ESS) Manager Mary Brown for Emergency Preparedness Week. Have questions? Leave them along with your comments below, or email us at editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca
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