The year 2024 has seen pretty harsh weather. Billions of dollars in damage has been amassed this year alone. While somewhat unpredictable, planning for natural disasters and other emergencies is well within our control. The first and most important step is planning. Creating and implementing effective emergency action plans (EAPs) is crucial for ensuring safety and preparedness in various scenarios, such as natural disasters or personal attacks. An EAP is a comprehensive, structured approach that outlines procedures to follow during emergencies, aiming to minimize harm and facilitate a quick, organized response.
Here’s how to develop and execute effective EAPs for different situations:
- Risk Assessment & Vulnerability Study
- Emergency Contact List & Communication Plan
- Water & Basic Recommendations
- Non-Perishable Food & Training
- The Importance of Rehearsals
- Common Crisis’s Considerations
Take a Close Look at Danger
Analyzing risk is the critical first step when creating an effective Emergency Action Plan (EAP). Start by identifying potential hazards or emergencies. Consider natural emergencies such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes; technological hazards such as power outages and cyber-attacks. Lastly, human caused events such as riots, personal attacks and home invasions. Take into consideration your geographical location and the relevant hazards and think about areas of vulnerability—physical vulnerabilities such as living in a floodplain; procedural vulnerabilities such as lack of a home fire escape plan; personal vulnerabilities such as health conditions or sickness. Once the vulnerabilities are assessed, determine the likelihood and impact. Consult historical data and experts for probability then compare the results to the potential impact. What are the consequences, loss of property, injury or death. Now comes the hard part, prioritizing all these risks and vulnerabilities. Each family will need to consider these individually. After completing this process, next comes developing mitigation strategies, the basis of your EAP.
Who Is Important and How Will You Communicate
Let’s start with the plan’s easy stuff, creating an emergency contact list. This list will include local emergency services, family, friends and neighbors. Determine the communication strategy. Some will involve group texts/messages, phone tree and social media updates to receive and transmit timely information. Consider evacuation routes, particularly those living along the borders or waterfront. Map out primary and secondary routes from home, workplace and frequently visited locations. Look over the routes and create a minimum fuel requirement to safely evacuate, then add 20–25% to cover contingencies. Evacuation may not be possible so sheltering in place may be the next best option. Identify specific locations within the home for natural emergencies or public shelters if home shelters are no longer safe. Keep a record of essential medical information, including prescriptions, allergies and contact details for doctors and medical centers. We will talk about medical supplies and first aid kits shortly.
The Bare Necessities
The next step in your EAP is assembling your emergency kit. Each family will be different due to many variables. This is not an exhaustive list, just something to start the process. Consider the difference between home sheltering and evacuating. Home sheltering will allow for the stockpiling of essentials, evacuating will reduce the overall amount of emergency supplies to be transported. Reducing the emergency kit to the bare essentials will be something to think about in advance should evacuating become necessary. Water is life, stockpile as much as possible. A 10–14-day supply is a good start. FEMA recommends storing at least one gallon of water per day per person. Have a solution to purify water if the stockpile is low. Boiling water is time consuming but can be lifesaving. Purification tablets are helpful, but water purification pumps are more convenient and affordable. Having on hand plenty of durable and safe water containers will go a long way towards monitoring daily consumption as well as storage. Old clothes are great for emergencies. Before you donate old clothes, consider adding them to your emergency kit and rotate them out as needed. They make for a great grab and go option. Add inclement weather clothes as necessary, but the bare minimum—hats, gloves and blankets should have a permanent home in your kit. Hygiene products and methods are another often overlooked consideration. Not just how to keep clean and sanitary, but how to manage waste. Plastic buckets and trash bags are much better than a shovel. The bottom line is to consider the worst case. You would be amazed how much waste can be created by a single family in a short period of time.
Nutrients and Food Supply
The next most important part of your emergency kit is food. Food should be part of any emergency kit but requires greater thought. Non-perishable food such as dried or canned food is ideal for these types of situations, however they do require thought as to hot versus cold. Will the means to heat food be available and if so, how will the dishes be cleaned. This type of cleaning will require the use of water and the most important consideration is avoiding cross contamination that could ruin your water supply. Minimize dishes and silverware by having plasticware handy. While the plan should be based around 10–14 days, three days is the minimum. First aid kits are complicated. They can be simple, pre-packed purchased kits or more personalized, well thought out DYI kits. Whatever option is selected, know the contents and invest in basic first aid training. For families with small children, this should be pretty obvious. One of the best investments families can make is attending group first aid training. Other items such as illumination, batteries, games and supplies for pets would make up the rest of your emergency kit.
Repetition Is the Key to Success
This may seem a little corny, but practicing or drilling is an important piece of your EAP. Rehearsing for these types of events is hugely valuable and has far-reaching applications. Not only is the plan tested, but there’s the opportunity to tweak the plan based off lessons learned during rehearsals. Starting with the simple things such as a home fire drill can be a great way to familiarize all family members with the plan and their responsibilities. We still see schools rehearsing fire drills, but how many families have done a real fire drill in their own homes. These drills will help create a sense of order in the chaos. Children should be assigned basic tasks such as getting dressed and grabbing their favorite doll, then waiting for their parents. Parents should be getting dressed and moving to their children’s location. Once the fire drill has been worked out, periodically practice updating any new needs or responsibilities. Regular training ensures everyone knows their roles and responsibilities during an emergency. Practice evacuations procedures, shelter in place protocols and communications strategies as much as possible. Repetition helps ingrain actions, making the response more automatic during a real emergency. As children grow, they can handle more responsibilities and should be given opportunities to help stay focused and calm. Reviewing your fire drill will help express the importance of reviewing the EAP. Review and update to reflect changes in risks, health or life events. The goal is to keep the EAP relevant and effective.
Suggested Details in Times of Crisis
What about specific scenarios to implement the EAP? Reflect back on natural disasters. 1) For earthquakes, locate a safe spot in each room. Getting under sturdy furniture is one method, but lying next to sturdy furniture in the void created when crushed is another option. When safe to do so, turning off utilities is the next action to reduce dangers in collapsed structures. 2) Hurricanes require serious consideration about evacuation and generally have early warnings. Sheltering in place would be an option if the doors and windows were reinforced. 3) Flooding review would start by researching if the area is prone to flooding or located in a flood plain. Elevate family to higher ground along with other important items. 4) Fire emergencies would start by installing and periodically checking smoke detectors. Keep fire extinguishers and other firefighting gear handy and ensure everyone knows how and when to use them. Ensure all family members know their escape route from their rooms and other rooms in the house, have a backup route should the fire prevent escape. Identify a safe meeting place outside the home, likely a neighbor’s home. While the bulk of this article discusses natural disasters, there are other types of emergencies, such as personal attacks. For home invasions, start with upgrading door locks to heavy-grade deadbolts. Do not answer the door at night or to strangers. Teach children to never open the door, instead to get an adult. Install DIY security cameras and external lights and use them often. Consider carrying a firearm or having a firearm easily accessible, yet securely stored. If outside the home, stay alert and aware of the surroundings. Avoid transitional spaces when possible or be on high alert. Consider carrying concealed along with other personal safety devices such as pepper spray. Invest in quality firearms training and then regularly practice. Establish a code word for all family members to use for trusted contacts or to signal distress discreetly.
Disasters can strike at any time and there are many things outside of our control. There are also many things within our control. Developing and implementing effective emergency action plans involves thorough risk assessment, detailed planning and regular practice. By preparing for various scenarios, you can enhance your ability to respond swiftly and effectively, ensuring safety, and reducing the potential impact of emergencies. Regularly updating and practicing your plan will keep you and your loved ones ready for any situation that may arise. The goal for all should be self-sufficiency or autonomy, to be self-reliant to navigate the chaos in the world. The better prepared, the better the experience and outcome. Many of this article may seem obvious, but just remember Noah built the ark before the flood.
