Had 1st Frost & Preparing Your Family for an Emergency

We had our first night of 32 and below, tonight it also should be around 30 or below.  Last night we pulled everything that was still in good shape and this weekend will pull the cold hardy things to finish out the garden for the season.  We also hung bean plants to dry for seed in the barn strung on rope. That may be how he pulled his shoulder by pulling that rope tight.

Last weekend hubby pulled his left shoulders muscles and he has been miserable all week.  He did everything last night right handed.

I read backdoorsurvival.com on preparing your family for an emergency.

http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/preparing-a-family-emergency-plan/

THE FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN

1.  Sit down with your family members and decide how you will get in contact with each other in an emergency.  Possible methods may be by cell phone, texting, email, or a standard land line.

2.  Once you figure this out, document the contact information on both a master sheet and on wallet sized cards to be carried by all family members.  This document will become your “Family Communication Plan” and it will  form the cornerstone of your family emergency plan.  It will list all family members, their date of birth, and other important information. Include a photo for each person as well as any important medical information. Also include a contact number for an out of town contact person.

3.  Determine a meeting place where you will meet in the event you can’t get home.  This may be your workplace, the home of a parent or relative, your church or even at a school if there are children involved.  Whatever you decide, you will need at least three possible locations:

·    Your home or the home of a designated family member

·    A safe meeting place near home

·    A safe meeting place outside your immediate neighborhood

4.  Determine the best evacuation routes from your home or workplace to the safe meeting places.  Go to Google Maps or some other online tool and create maps showing your evacuation route along with printed directions.  Then take the route and make sure it is accurate and that you understand the directions.  This is important!  You must drill and practice your evacuation procedure.

5.  Prepare a list of all workplaces along with the address, telephone number, and closest evacuation location in the event getting to the pre-designated meeting place is not possible.

6.  Also prepare a list of all schools that are attended by your children along with the address, contact names, and telephone numbers.  Contact the schools now to learn about their own emergency evaluation policies and procedures.

Important Note: In many areas, the State, County or City emergency evacuation plan takes precedence over any school preparedness plan. When it comes to evacuation routes, check with your local  county or city preparedness office or call and find out what their plans are since THEY will be the ones determining which roads are used as evacuation routes and which will not.

7.  Prepare a list of your doctors and your veterinarian along with their telephone numbers.

8.  Prepare a list of your insurance policies, including the carrier, the telephone number for claims, and the policy number itself.  Include health insurance, homeowners or rental insurance, life insurance policies.

9.  Consider creating a phone tree. Think of your phone tree as a pyramid where the person at the top of the pyramid contacts two people, who each call two more people, and so on, until every person on the tree has been contacted. This will allow you to distribute information quickly without redundancy and without placing the burden of work on one person.

Important Note: Be aware, however, that phone lines and cell service may not be functional following a catastrophic disaster. Although a valuable tool, do not count on your phone tree to be the sole mode of communication following a disaster.  If you text, you might want to consider a “texting tree”.  Texting is usually available even when cell service is down.

10.  Store all of the information you have carefully compiled in multiple locations:

Your bug out bags and go-bags, Your family preparedness binder, On a flash drive that you carry with you

In your desk drawer at work, In an email attachment sent to yourself at one of the cloud based email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail)

THE FINAL WORD

One easy way to get started is to go to the Ready.gov website where you can fill out much of this information online.  You can then print out the online document and add the supplemental information on your own.  Whatever you do, do not fall prey to rip-off artists who will want to charge your hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to prepare a Family Emergency Plan for you.  Unless you are independently wealthy, you can do it yourself over the course of one weekend. 

Then don’t forget to practice your evacuation plan and to test your escape routes.  Your safety – and your life – may depend on it.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye from Backdoor Survival