Fire Prevention Week: School Fires

Since it is fire prevention week, you might want to take the time to review the fire emergency plans that your child’s school and/or daycare has in place. This would most likely be similar to what would happen in the case of an emergency or a school lockdown. Here are five things that you should learn about: 1) You should learn the procedure for the children to evacuate the building. You can call the school and ask about how this takes place. In many schools, the teachers will take attendance after the students have left the building to make sure … Continue reading →

Preparing for a Trip to the Emergency Room

Accidents will happen, and you may find yourself suddenly needing to take a family member to the emergency room, or urgent care. It is important to be prepared to handle these events in calm and quick manner. Recently I took my twenty-month-old in for stitches on his chin. It was a relatively easy process, because I had prepared for the possibility in advance. Here are five things you should have ready in case you need to make a trip. 1) You should have your insurance cards and other important medical information on hand. If you are going to an emergency … Continue reading →

Volunteer to Help Promote Emergency Preparedness

Once you have prepared yourself and your family, you may think of those in the community around you. There are ways that you can help those around you in the event of a disaster. One way is to volunteer to help the government after a disaster. In the United States you can do this by volunteering for Citizen’s Corps. There are several different programs sponsored through the Corps, which you can participate in. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program encourages citizens to receive training to respond to emergencies. After completing the training participants are encouraged to help their communities … Continue reading →

Planning for an Evacuation

You may have considered how portable your emergency kit is, but have you considered how portable your family is in the event of an emergency. Depending on the age and health of your family members you may want to plan now for what you will need to do during an evacuation. You should also plan in case you need to hike out. You may need to hike because roads are impassable due to an earthquake or other natural disaster. Here are five things to consider. 1) You should consider planning for children under the age of five. Depending on the … Continue reading →

Planning for a Tsunami

Did you know that if you live near a beach that you should prepare for the possibility of a tsunami? Although I knew tsunamis were out there, it had never occurred to me that it was a natural disaster that could happen in the United States. Eighty percent of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, because of the large amount of seismic activity that occurs there. If you live near a beach, you should be prepared to deal with a tsunami. You should also tell your children what to do and why. The only basic thing that you can do … Continue reading →

Five Ways to Make Emergency Drills Fun and Effective

It is important to have your family practice what to do during an emergency. Schools are required to have fire drills on a regular basis, and you should too. If you live in an earthquake prone area you should have earthquake drills as well. The goal of these drills is to help your children know what to do during an emergency. You should avoid scaring your children or making them worry unnecessarily. Here are five tips to help make the drills effective and fun. 1) Before your first drill teach your family what you expect of them. This can include … Continue reading →

Fall Deals on Outdoor Preparedness Equipment

This is a great time of year to purchase outdoor camping equipment to include in your emergency kit. Often sporting good stores offers great sales on these items to make room for the seasonal winter sports equipment. We have managed to purchase tents and sleeping bags for over fifty percent off in the fall. This involved watching the sales, visiting the clearance rack at the store several times, and waiting until the items were the agreed on price. Here are five items you should consider purchasing at this time: 1) Backpacks are often an essential tool for an emergency kit. … Continue reading →

Five Ways to Protect Your Family and Home During an Earthquake

It is important to make your home safe during and after an earthquake. Earthquakes come with no warning, and at all times of the day or night. You need to have prepared for an earthquake in order to survive and protect your family. You should also know and practice what to do immediately following an earthquake. This will help your family make the best of a shaky situation. Here are five things to consider: 1) Check the wall hangings and bookshelves in your home. This includes any large furniture that may tip over or items, which may fall off of … Continue reading →

Teach Your Kids About Hurricanes

With the recent tropical storm and the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, your children may be interested in learning about the dangers of hurricanes and tropical storms. They may be asking questions on what they can do to prepare and how you can protect the family. You can teach your kids more by having them visit the Weather Bullies. The kid’s section includes different weather bullies that accompany a hurricane. Each weather bully has a section, which explains what causes these types of weather to occur. You can also print out “Wanted” posters for each bully. There is also scavenger list … Continue reading →

Plan a Rehearsal for an Emergency Situation

One thing that may help you is to have a rehearsal to prepare yourself for an emergency situation. This could be as simple as sitting down as a family to talk over different scenarios to as elaborate as actually having the children picked up from school and taken home in the middle of the day. It depends on what your family needs to do in order to be comfortable in the situation. If you have a child with special needs an actual run through of the event may help to prepare them more for an emergency. Here are some specific … Continue reading →