Planning for Emergencies

Emergencies can take many forms and occur with or without warning. By taking a few simple steps now, you can ensure that you, your family, and your community are better prepared to handle emergencies.

Make a plan today. Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area.  Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find.

Step 1: Put together a plan by discussing these 4 questions with your family, friends, or household to start your emergency plan.

  1. How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings? Sign up for Alert Montgomery.
  2. What is my shelter-in-place plan?
  3. What is my evacuation plan?
  4. What is my family/household communication plan?

Step 2:  Consider specific needs in your household.

As you prepare your plan tailor your plans and supplies to your specific daily living needs and responsibilities. Discuss your needs and responsibilities and how people in the network can assist each other with communication, care of children, business, pets, or specific needs like the operation of durable medical equipment. Create your own personal network for specific areas where you need assistance.  Keep in mind some these factors when developing your plan:

  • Different ages of members within your household
  • Responsibilities for assisting others
  • Locations frequented
  • Dietary needs
  • Medical needs including prescriptions and equipment
  • Disabilities or access and functional needs including devices and equipment
  • Languages spoken
  • Cultural and religious considerations
  • Pets or service animals
  • Households with school-aged children

Step 3: Fill out a Family Emergency Plan

Use our Fill-in-the-blank templates to guide your emergency planning process:

Step 4: Practice your plan with your family/household

 

Routinely practice your emergency plan so your houshold knows how to respond. It can be as simple as a conversation over dinner or fire drill. Knowing that there is a plan in place for your household can help reduce fear and anxiety associate with emergencies and empower people to take action. 
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Additional Considerations

Follow the links below for more specific information and to learn how you can create emergency preparedness plans:

 

Additional Planning Resources

You can find more resources on emergency planning in our OEMHS Resource Library & at Ready.gov