Preparing for Emergencies

  1. Emergency Checklist
  2. Fire Safety
  3. Home Hazard Hunt
  4. If You Need to Evacuate
  5. People with Mobility Challenges
  6. Prepare a Car Kit
  7. Prepare a Disaster Supplies Kit
  • Meet with household members or your personal care attendant. Discuss the dangers of fire, severe weather, earthquakes and other emergencies that might occur in your community
  • Determine what you will need to do for each type of emergency
    • For example, most people head for a basement when there is a tornado warning but most basements are not wheelchair accessible. Determine in advance what your alternative shelter will be and how you will get there.
  • Post emergency telephone numbers near telephones and teach your children how and when to call for help
  • Learn what to do in case of power outages and personal injuries. Know how to connect or start a back-up powder supply for essential medical equipment
  • If you or someone in your household uses a wheelchair, make more than one exit from your home wheelchair-accessible in case the primary exit is blocked in a disaster
  • Teach those who may need to assist you in an emergency how to operate necessary equipment
  • Arrange for a relative or neighbor to check on you in an emergency
  • Learn how to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at main valves or switches
  • Plan and practice how to escape from your home in an emergency
  • Consider getting a medical alert system that will allow you to call for help if you are immobilized in an emergency
  • If you live in an apartment, ask the management to identify and mark accessible exits
  • Learn your community's evacuation routes
  • Listen to a battery-operated radio for emergency information
  • Pick one out-of-state and one local friend or relative for family members to call if separated by disaster
  • Pick two meeting places:
    • A place near your home in case of fire
    • A place outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home after a disaster
  • Keep family records in a watertight, fire-proof container

Contact Us

For more information or presentations on a number of topics contact us at 402-441-7441.