Family Emergency Plan

Being prepared doesn’t need to be hard!

1. Will you receive direct notifications from emergency officials?  Often once of the more challenging pieces of a large emergency if providing accurate information quickly to those who need it.  The best way to ensure you receive information directly to you from officials in Gallatin County is to register in the Community Notification System at Alerts.ReadyGallatin.com.

2. If you can’t leave your home, or place of work, do you have the supplies you need to be self sufficient for several days?  Our society has become an on demand world on many levels with many people not maintaining a stock of their needed supplies, but rather getting replacements when they run out.  For a variety of reasons, this doesn’t work in a disaster.  Identify what you need in order to be self sufficient and maintain a surplus of these items.

3. Frequently the most disrupting parts of a disaster is when it is not safe for individuals to stay where they are (and are comfortable). Have you thought about if you had to quickly leave your home, or place of work (and couldn’t go home)?  Where would you go and is this a common location that your family is also heading to, and what critical items do you need to take?  Critical items include irreplaceable personal belongings, but also the items you will need to function while displaced.

Items to consider include:

• Identification
• Medications
• Pets (and supplies)
• Cash
• Important Documents
• Baby Supplies
• Jewelry and other family heirlooms
• Clothes
• Proof of Address (utility bill)

4.  Does everyone know the plan?  Review the plan periodically with your entire family.  Repetition is important because if you are ever affected by a large event there will be significant stress and it will likely be an experience you have not been through before.  Everyone knowing the plan without having to think about it is critical.