Is your home emergency plan in place?

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Carol Johnson
  • 60th AMW interim command chief
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  While this week we geared up for the 101 critical days of summer with wing and unit safety briefings. We primarily focused on work center safety. But we would be remised in our duties if we didn’t talk about home safety. 

At school, our children go through drills to prepare for emergencies. At work, we initiate exercises to practice emergency actions. But are you prepared at home for an emergency? Are your children equipped with the necessary knowledge to evade danger? 

My emphasis will not be on ensuring you have working smoke alarms or fire extinguishers, you know their importance. What I will cover are some questions to think about when preparing your family for home emergencies. 

When was the last time you talked to your family about emergency action plans in the event of a fire, blackout or earthquake? Do your children know what to do if you aren’t at home and disaster strikes? Can each member tell you two ways out of your house? What is the best exit from the second floor, do you need a ladder? Where will your family meet if they get separated? Do your children know how to reach you or a designated representative in the event of a blackout, and your cell phone doesn’t work? Do your family members know how to shut off the water, gas or electricity if needed? Where are the flashlights kept and are the batteries charged? Do they know how to manually open your garage door, if needed? 

If the above questions having you thinking perhaps it’s time to review your home plan or start one. 

There are a variety of Web sites available on the subject (i.e. American Red Cross, http://www.redcross.org/services/ prepare, National Safety Council http://www.nsc.org/issues/emerg/99esc.htm#SIDEBAR3, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, http://www.ready.gov/kids/) you can review and use as a good baseline. So when you go home tonight take a few minutes and talk to your family about emergency action plans. Then practice what you talked about. We must put as much energy into preparing our families for emergencies as we prepare for emergencies at work. 

Our military families are an integral part of ensuring mission accomplishment so take care of them … prepare them!