Avian Flu Diary: NPM13: Create A Family Communications Plan

Note: This is day 25 of National Preparedness Month. Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NPM or #NPM13 hash tag.

This month, as part of NPM13, I’ll be rerunning some updated preparedness essays (like this one) , along with some new ones.

# 7814

Those of us who were living in Florida during the `bad old days’ of the cold war remember well the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Although it is hard to imagine it today, much of Florida was on a war footing with fears of a nuclear attack that might come at any time, thousands of military streaming into the state, and schools running daily `duck & cover’ and emergency evacuation exercises.

Kids were sent home with civil defense pamphlets on the basics of radiation poisoning and how to build an in-home fallout shelter.

As an 8-year-old with a scientific bent, these were exciting times.

What I didn’t full appreciate at the time was my parents were faced with an agonizing dilemma. My twin-brother and I attended a nearby elementary school, while my 17-year old sister attended high school some distance away.

If the alert went up, they realized they might only have time to get to one school to pick up their kids.

Logic dictated that the pick up my brother and I, based on our ages, and the fact that there were two of us. My sister was given instructions to go to the home of one of her high school friends, and our folks would either contact her or pick her up there.

More than 50 years ago, in the face of a potential crisis, my family cobbled together their own emergency communications plan including an alternate rendezvous point.

While a nuclear attack is (thankfully) far less likely today, the same principles hold true when it comes to having a communications plan, and a meet-up point.

And since a tornado, earthquake, house fire, or some other disaster can strike without warning . . . these are the sorts of plans every family needs to make now. Before they are needed.

This from Ready.gov.

MAKE A PLAN

Your family may not be together when a disaster strikes so it is important to plan in advance: how you will get to a safe place; how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different situations. Read more about Family Communication during an emergency.

Ready.gov has made it simple for you to make a family emergency plan. Download the Family Communication Plan for Parents and Kids (PDF - 1.2 Mb) and fill out the sections before printing it or emailing it to your family and friends.

You should also inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school, faith organizations, sports events and commuting. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one. Talk to community leaders, your colleagues, neighbors and members of faith or civic organizations about how you can work together in the event of an emergency. You will be better prepared to safely reunite your family and loved ones during an emergency if you think ahead and communicate with others in advance. Read more about school and workplace plans.

READY.GOV has made things easier today, as they’ve developed several Family Emergency Communication Kits geared for both adults and kids, which can be downloaded from the net. With just a few minutes effort, you can have your own emergency communications plan and emergency meeting place set up.

While the above version is geared to kids, the version below is more suitable for teenagers and adults.

Appendix C of the Are You Ready? Guide (contains blank contact cards and a family communications plan form)

Filling out these cards may seem a small step, but that's what most preparedness involves.

Taking small, organized steps that, when put together, create a fabric of individual and community preparedness. If you do just one small step each day, in almost no time you’ll find yourself and your family far better prepared to face any emergency.

For more on how to prepare, visit these websites: