All the preparation in the world won’t make a difference if you haven’t explained to the people you love and care about what to do when trouble strikes. For this reason, it is important to have a plan, a backup plan and practice these often, in case there is an emergency.
The first step in creating a plan is to talk about different responses to various emergencies and situations that can arise. Every person that’s a part of the plan needs to know what it is. It is probably wise to refer to this plan regularly as plans can be forgotten if they’re only mentioned once. Once this is done, you may want to take the next step of practicing.
Practicing and drilling responses for emergencies can help solidify the plan in the minds of those who are part of the equation. This will also help identify potential pitfalls and correct them before real disaster strikes. Practicing walk through plans often can make it a fun exercise for the kids. In doing this, it will help them to remember and make you feel more comfortable when a problem happens. It is the exact reason that schools have mandatory fire drills, earthquake drills, tornado drills, and other location appropriate practice runs.
It is best to have a designated meeting place where everyone should know to meet if something were to separate people in the group. In some disaster situations, this meeting place might not be safe to get to or stay at. In that case, you should have a secondary location. This location shouldn’t be susceptible to the same concerns that the initial location you picked is. So look for somewhere at least a short distance away from your first meeting spot with different geography and accessibility where possible.
No situation is perfect, but if you can create a simple plan that will help everyone in your group know where to meet and what to do in the event of an emergency, it will help out in the long run.
