Be Ready Mesquite: Make a Plan

If a disaster strikes and your family is separated, do you know where you will meet? Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in various situations. The Mesquite Office of Emergency Management would like to encourage you to make a plan so that you and your family are prepared when a disaster strikes.

Family Emergency Plan
• Plan for all hazards that could affect your family, considering potential
hazards and weather patterns in your region. Think through each possible
emergency situation, and determine how your family should respond.
• Think about all the places you and your family may be throughout the day,
such as home, office, school and in transit. Establish meeting places and
discuss situations to use them.
• Identify an out-of town contact as a “check-in” for everyone to call. It may
be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town.
• Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and has a
cell phone, coins, or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact.
• If you have a cell phone, program that person(s) as "ICE" (In Case of
Emergency) in your phone. Make sure to tell your family and friends that
you’ve listed them as emergency contacts.
• Teach family members how to use text messaging (also known as SMS or
Short Message Service). Text messages can often get around network
disruptions when a phone call might not be able to get through.
• Take the next step: Create your own printable family emergency plan at the
following website: http://ready.adcouncil.org/beprepared/fep/index.jsp .

Making a plan is just one step in the process of having you and your family ready for a disaster. This is the second in a series of newsletters focusing on preparedness that shows that small steps can lead your family down the road to being prepared. The Mesquite Office of Emergency Management would like to encourage you to be Ready Mesquite. For more information, please visit www.readymesquite.com or www.cityofmesquite.com/oem.