We have briefly mentioned the need for making an emergency plan so that you and your family are well prepared whenever an emergency strikes. In the post, we’d like to go in a little more detail about the certain steps you should take. After reading our post, you could head on over to the Canadian Government’s website for a forum that helps you create your own emergency plan and then print it!
Making The Plan
Some of the basic things you should know is a) Make sure every member of your family has a copy of the plan, whether it is a digital or a hard copy! b) Make sure to go through the emergency plan with all the members of your family at least once a year to ensure everyone is aware of what to do.
Okay now that you have those 2 things, let’s get to the actual details of the plan!
8 Steps To Follow
- Step One: The First step is for you to identify escape routes in your home and neighborhood. Where can you exit from in your house if you had to?
- Step Two: Set up a meeting place near your home in case you can’t access it or in case you need to evacuate it!
- Step Three: If you have children and an emergency occurs during school time, ensure there is a designated person to pick them up if you are not available. In your plan, make sure their contact numbers are recorded.
- Step Four: If you have special needs, ensure there are friends, neighbors or healthcare workers who know of them so that someone could help you out in an emergency.
- Step Five: If you have pets, don’t forget about them! The best way to protect them is to take them with you so plan ahead for pet-friendly places you could go in case something happens.
- Step Six: Within your emergency plan, also have smaller plans for disasters specific to your region. Check out our related section below for more tips.
- Step Seven: Numbers, numbers, numbers! Ensure all local emergency numbers are recorded in your plan as you might not know or remember them all.
- Step Eight: Identify and record where safety tools such as a fire extinguisher, emergency kit…etc., are within your home!
We hope these tips were helpful! If you’d like to make your own copy of an emergency plan, make one here in under 20 minutes: https://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/plns/mk-pln-en.aspx
Let us know how you made your emergency plan and if you have any other tips for us!
Related:
The Climate Change Emergency Tips: Food Supplies