You will need to print out the following handouts
#1: FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN AND PHONE CARDS
Section 2: Getting Prepared
Many families put off talking about emergencies because they are too busy, or they think it is not really going to happen to them. But a little preparation time now can save your family in case of an emergency. Break it down into three simple steps. The American Red Cross and United States Homeland Security all advocate that families prepare themselves by following a simple 3-step process.
1. Make a kit
2. Make a plan
3. Be Informed.
View this short three minute video that introduces the important parts of the 1-2-3 plan.
Ready America Instructional Video
(If this link doesn't work, try to paste this address in your browser http://www.ready.gov/america/about/_flash/movie15.html )
If you are unable to view this short video, click HERE for a transcript of this short 3 minute video.
VO: It takes just three steps to get ready for an emergency. Get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, and be informed about different types of emergencies. SHOT OF MOTHER WITH HER CHILD USING THE COMPUTER VO: First, go to Ready.gov to get a list of everything your emergency kit should contain. MOTHER: I'm going to print this out. SHOT OF MOTHER GATHERING THE CHECKLIST SHE PRINTED MOTHER: Ok, so we have our emergency supply list. VO: You probably have a lot of the items on hand already. You'll be able to find the rest in your local store. SHOT OF MOTHER SHOPPING WITH HER CHILDREN MOTHER: Ok, let's get some granola bars. SHOT OF CHILDREN GRABBING GRANOLA BARS MOTHER: Ok, we need enough for maybe about three days. So why don't we get... You can get a couple different kinds. SHOT OF FLASHLIGHTS FOR SALE MOTHER: Go, Jordan, grab a flashlight. SHOT OF THE FAMILY APPROACHING A DISPLAY OF BATTERIES MOTHER: Ah... C batteries we need. CAPTION: Basic Emergency Supply Kit: CAPTION: - One gallon of water per person per day for three days CAPTION: - Food for your family for three days CAPTION: - Battery-powered radio CAPTION: - NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert CAPTION: - Flashlight CAPTION: - Extra batteries CAPTION: - First Aid kit CAPTION: - Unique Family Needs - medicines, infant formula and diapers CAPTION: - Pet food and water CAPTION: Download a complete checklist at Ready.gov SHOT OF FAMILY PREPARING THEIR EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT MOTHER: We should have enough food for three days - things that don't have to be refrigerated. VO: Next, put all items together in a box that you can carry with you, if you need to leave home in an emergency. MOTHER: And we have lots of vegetables, 'cause I know you don't want to live without your vegetables. JORDAN: Yeah, right. SHOT OF PARENTS ADDING TO THEIR EMERGENCY SUPPLY KIT VO: Make sure to include any medications and infant care items that your family needs. SHOT OF CHILDREN PLAYING WITH THE FAMILY DOG VO: And, if you have a pet, don't forget enough food and water for that member of the family. SHOT OF PARENTS WITH THEIR COMPLETED KIT MOTHER: Ready? SHOT OF PARENTS LIFTING AND STORING THEIR KIT SHOT OF PARENTS AT DESK WORKING ON THEIR COMMUNICATION PLAN FATHER: Who should be our out of state contact? VO: Your family may not be together when an emergency happens, so it's important to have a communications plan in place. FATHER: How about your parents? MOTHER: My parents would be perfect, because one of them is always there. CAPTION: Basic Family Emergency Plan: CAPTION: - Contact numbers - local and out-of-state CAPTION: - Meeting locations - local and out-of-area CAPTION: - Date of birth, social security number and medical information CAPTION: - School and workplace emergency plans CAPTION: Download a template at Ready.gov to get started. FATHER: What do you think our neighborhood meeting place should be? MOTHER: The kids would know the clubhouse. VO: You should also learn the emergency plans for your workplace and school. MOTHER: They take the kids to the high school if they need to evacuate our school. SHOT OF FAMILY TOGETHER DISCUSSING THEIR EMERGENCY PLAN VO: Make sure everyone in your family is familiar with the plan, and has a copy of all the contact numbers. MOTHER: What this is... It has the information on it for what happens if there is an emergency. SHOT OF MOTHER HANDING EMERGENCY CONTACT CARDS TO THE CHILDREN MOTHER: Ok, so let's put it somewhere very safe, where it won't get mixed up with your homework; where you'll always know where it is. SHOT OF CHILDREN PLACING THEIR CONTACT CARDS IN THEIR BACKPACKS SHOT OF MOTHER WITH HER CHILD USING A COMPUTER MOTHER: So let's say there was a natural disaster... VO: Ready.gov and links to local information will help you learn about the types of emergencies that could affect your area. CAPTION: Different Types of Emergencies: CAPTION: - Floods and Fires CAPTION: - Hurricanes, Tornados and Earthquakes CAPTION: - Winter Storms, Thunderstorms, Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold CAPTION: - Terrorist Threats CAPTION: Find out more at Ready.gov VO: The information will help you know what to do in case of any emergency, natural or man made. You'll find everything you need to prepare yourself and your family for an emergency at Ready.gov SHOT OF READY.GOV VO: It's as simple as... 1, 2, 3. CAPTION: 1. (Get a Kit) CAPTION: 2. (Make a Plan) CAPTION: 3. (Be Informed)
A disaster supply kit is a collection of basic items a family needs to stay safe and be more comfortable during and after a disaster. Disaster supplies kit times should be stored in a portable container. Review the content of your kit at least once per year or as your family needs changes.
Most authorities advise families to have enough supplies on hand for each of your family members to make it for 3 to 5 days if no help was available. It is advisable to make it portable such as in a large plastic buckets or storage container so that if you had to evacuate and run, it would be easily accessible and ready to go.
What should go in? First, the basic supplies. When preparing for a possible emergency situation, it's best to think first about the basics of survival: fresh water, food, clean air and warmth.
Consider Including in Your Emergency Kit:
Then, consider your family's special needs. This is especially important when you have young children or family members with special needs.
You can easily make an emergency kit on your own. However, if you prefer to buy a ready made kit, check out some of these resources.
LINKS: For Emergency Kits, commercially buy or more information:
Red Cross Store ( http://www.redcrossstore.org/shopper/ProdList.aspx?LocationId=1)
American Family Safety Website (http://www.americanfamilysafety.com/)
You often can find reasonably priced Emergency Kits and First Aid Kits at Wal-mart, Sam's Club and Costco Stores in Alaska. All of the stores will take bush orders.
BUILDING OUR OWN KIT:
Sometimes it is easier to build a kit bit by bit. Here is a publication on the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management that will help you build a Seven Day Survival Kit (http://www.ak-prepared.com/homelandsecurity/pdf/DHSEM 7 Day Survival Kit.pdf ) 7 Day Survival Kit.pdf over the span of several weeks.
The regulations specify that every foster home needs to have a first aid kit at home and one for extended outings from your home. Your at-home first aid kit should include:
As a foster parent, you should have readily available any child information such as a copy of the Consent Form for Emergency or Routine Medical Care and any emergency contact information specific to the child. You should also custom design your kit to include any supplies specific to the medical needs of your family, remembering about allergies and the special needs of your children.
We want to think that we will always be there for our children. But what would happen if your children were at school, you were at work, and your spouse was out of town when a disaster hit? What would happen if the phones didn’t work? Would your children be prepared?
When people know what to do in an emergency, they are more likely to stay safe and keep calm. The same for your kids. They are more likely to make good decisions for themselves and not panic if you talk to them ahead of time.
Watch this video called Preparedness Minute:"Creating An Action Plan" . (Click on your choice of Real Player or Windows Media Player to start the video.) If you are unable to view the video, read Creating An Action Plan Flyer below.
Creating An Action Plan
Disasters can be as overwhelming as a major storm, and as personal as a house fire. The common thread
to all emergencies is that often there is not much time to react. That's why "preparing for the worst" now is
important to you and your family. The best preparation always begins with a plan.1. Figure out what kind of natural and man-made disasters could occur where you live. Think how you would be notified in such an emergency.
2. Write down as many escape routes from your home as you can design. Ideally, there should be at least two ways out of each room in your house.
3. Decide where you and your family members would meet after making it to safety. You should choose two places…one right outside your home…and a
second place outside your neighborhood in case you have to evacuate the area. Write down both of these locations.
4. Designate an out-of-town contact in case local communications are disrupted.
5. Make an emergency contact card for each family member.
6.Try to ensure that each person has a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact.
7. Put a copy of the plan in each room and post one copy on the refrigerator. A simple plan will work as long as every member of your household
understands it.
For more information, visit our Web site: www.SouthCentralPartnership.org/Preparedness
First of all, keep it simple and talk about it often. Make sure your plan includes these basic elements.
Choose an out of town contact. Long distance communication may still work even if local phone lines are down.
Choose two places to meet if you get separated. Choose a place near your home where you can meet, for example, in case of a fire, and a second place outside your neighborhood in case you cannot go home.
Have a plan in case you are separated. Make sure all family members and babysitters know the location and contact number for these two places.
Complete a family communication plan. Fill out the local emergency phone number and have by your phone. Children should know how to call for help and when to call each emergency number. They should know to call the family contact if separated and keep personal identification information in their possession at all times.
Know your escape routes and safe places. In your home, practice evacuating your home through your fire drills. Also, think about where you would go if you were told to evacuate your home.
Become familiar with the specifics of your child’s child care or school disaster plans as you could be separated from your child during a disaster.
Plan for pets. Do you have animals? What will happen to them in an emergency? If you evacuate with your pet, make sure that there is pet food and supplies in your emergency kit.
Plan for special needs. If your child has medical issues, or disabilities, or other special needs, think about what you might need to do to evacuate him quickly from your home or neighborhood.
Now, Practice Your Plan.
Remember the video at the beginning of this course? The one where the parents seem to know what they want to happen but the kids don't know what the plan is? Don't make that mistake! Plan a family meeting to discuss your plan.
Plan a Family Meeting. Print out this Emergency Plan template and sit down with your kids and make an emergency plan. Print out the cards and make sure that every child knows who to call and what to do in an emergency. Make sure you talk about what to do if the phones don't work/
FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN AND PHONE CARDS
Now, plan a family meeting to share your plan or to develop it further with your family.
Foster families have an added responsibility. Because the foster children in your care are in the custody of the State of Alaska, you need to think about what your responsibilities are to the State.
When New Orleans was evacuated because of Hurricane Katrina, foster families had no idea that they would not be returning home in just a few days. Because the population was scattered, hundreds of foster children were "lost" or were unable to be located until months after the hurricane. The State of Alaska is in the process of developing an Emergency Response Plan for child protective services so that situation doesn't happen in our state.
When you make a family plan, you just need to share parts of your plan with OCS so they know where to find you in case of an evacuation. You also need to know how to contact OCS to let them know where you are and if the child in your care is safe.
In the proposed State of Alaska OCS Emergency Response Plan, foster families with children under state's care will be asked to have a Resource Family Emergency Response Plan (RF ERP) in each child's file. The RF ERP for your family will be very similar to every family's emergency plan with a few additions. You will be also be asked to identify the following information for each child in case of an emergency:
Resource Family Information such as name, address, phone numbers and directions to your home.
Birth Family Information such as name, address, phone numbers, and directions to their home. Your social worker may need to provide out this information.
For Each Child include school name, address, phone number, social worker, and principal of the school
Names of Emergency Contacts who do not live with you and who you will use as your emergency contacts.
Medical Providers Information for Pediatrician, Mental Health Providers or any other specialists the child might be seeing
Alternative Locations for Evacuations: OCS wants to have some kind of idea of where you might go in an emergency if you had to leave home (such as in a fire). or leave your neighborhood or community (such as in a natural disaster such as flood or earthquake.) You will need to identify where you might go (hotel or stay with families) and give any contact information your might have. This also help you think about where you might go before disaster happens.
A form is being developed called the Resource Family Emergency Response Plan that will be able to be filled out and kept in the child file. If you follow this course and put a plan in place, you will have all the information you need to complete this plan and return it to your Office of Children's Services social worker.
This Lesson looked at Getting Prepared. Let's review what you have done and what you need to do as a family to prepare for an emergency. For each of the questions below, click the answers to the right. Click the link in the last column if you need to review this information.
NOTE: You may wish to print this page for reference before you go to the next page.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ...
We have not done this.
We have done some of this.
We have done this!
Do we have a easy to carry container for our emergency kit ? Make A Kit
Is our kit in an easy to reach place so we can find it fast? Make A Kit
Do we have enough food, water for our family for three days ? Make A Kit
Is the first aid kit near or in the emergency supplies kit ? First Aid Kit
Do we have warm clothes or blankets in or near our kit? Make A Kit
Does our kit have a flashlight, radio and extra batteries? Make A Kit
Does each family member know the out of town contact and have the name and phone number written down? Make A Plan
Have we had a family meeting to talk about our plan? Make A Plan
Did we write down our plan and keep it for reference? Make A Plan
Do we have two emergency places to meet-- one near our home and one outside of our neighborhood? Make A Plan
Have we shared this plan with OCS? Share Plan
