Mondays Matter: Week 4

From the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza.

PREPARE FOR AN EMERGENCY

Action Steps:

1. Develop a family communication plan by selecting a person outside your local area for your family to call in case of emergency

2. Make sure everyone in the family knows the phone number and has coins or a phone card to contact the family member. Cell phones can get jammed due to high call volume during disasters.

3. Designate a primary and secondary meeting location.

4. Create an emergency supply kit with a 3-day supply of basic items such as:

fresh water, food, first aid, towelettes, garbage bags, flashlight with extra batteries, local maps, a whistle, dust masks, tools, a can opener, cash. Check and rotate supplies every 6 months.

Here in Iowa, over the last few years, we have had a major winter ice storm where some people lost power for over a week, our home for only 2 days thankfully. We have also had a major flood and a tornado that destroyed businesses and homes belonging to hundreds of people. Yet, I really do not have an emergency kit. I do have a lot of items in this list that I keep on hand and keep extras of, but I don't necessarily have them stored in a tub or a specific area of our home. So, I am really thinking I need to do this and soon! We also live near a nuclear plant and after September 11th, my husband and I talked about the evacuation plan if anything happened there. Now we live in a different town and I frankly have no idea where we are supposed to go. Plus, since my husband works in a different town, our evacuations would be to separate areas. I hate to admit that we have no plan in place for this kind of situation. We need to discuss this and look in the phone book for what route we are to take. If anything, this has been a reminder for me to plan for a disaster to make sure our family is safe and taken care of.