Do you want to hear something scary? We live within a 10 mile radius of a nuclear plant. Ever since September 11 it’s been a constant worry with my family. Heaven forbid something happens to that plant. Aside from the fact we’d probably perish immediately, how would I gather up my family? My kids go to different schools and my husband works across the river. Our original plan was to meet at my father’s house upstate, however we don’t know if that is far enough to escape the danger. I honestly think we should plan to meet some place like Vermont, some place far away from the nuclear plant.
Many of us have escape plans in case of fires (if you don’t you SHOULD!). I have to admit my family really doesn’t have one. We live on a top floor condo. We only have one door, with the exception of the balcony. We keep saying we’re going to get one of those metal ladders that roll up and keep one in the kid’s room and one on the balcony but we have yet to purchase them. I feel horrible about that too! We do have fire extinguishers but they are not going to do much good if the whole building is on fire. We lost an entire building two years ago when it burnt to the ground and displaced 10 families.
The Ad Council has a FANTASTIC web site that provides you with information on how to be prepared in case of emergencies. An emergency could be a flood, fire, blizzard, hurricane, ice storms or many other natural and man made disasters. Their site is called Ready America. You can click HERE to visit their site. I also placed their “widget” at the top of this post that you can click on it to visit their site as well.
Did you know that it’s best to have an out of town contact in case of emergencies? I never knew that. It does make perfect sense. All family members should know the number by heart and carry coins or a pre-paid phone card in order to make a phone call in case of an emergency. That really gave me food for thought. I used to keep quarters in my kid’s backpacks in case they needed to call home from school. I haven’t put quarters in their backpacks in the past couple of years. I think it’s a great idea to practice with my kids and make sure they know how to use a pay phone and teach them their grandfather’s phone number just in case. You can’t rely on cell phones. If a tower goes down you won’t have a signal to place a call. You would have to rely on “land lines” (non-cell phones).
We also really need to have an emergency kit. We do try and have a few flashlights and extra batteries on hand, as well as a radio that you can crank to give it power when the batteries go out. But that is not enough. When I was reading the Ready America web site I found a check list for an emergency kit and we clearly need to have more supplies on hand. They suggest moist towelettes and garbage bags for waste disposal. I would have NEVER thought about that! They also suggest local maps, a whistle to signal for help and dust masks and plastic sheeting to cover windows and door openings. We don’t even have any water saved just in case. Ok… now I feel horrible!
It’s really important that you and your family have an emergency kit and a “game plan” in place just in case something happens. Look at all the recent events, like Hurricane Katrina, with all those people displaced and losing contact with family members. Would you want that to happen? Emergencies can happen to anyone at any time, and usually without warning. If you don’t have your plan in place BEFORE an emergency happens then it’s too late.
The Ready America web site contains a ton of great information as well as resources and organizations in your state to help you with your emergency plan. They also have many useful publications that you can either download from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. You can also called 1-800-Get-Ready (438-7323) to order publications (free) and for more information. They even have publications you can download (or order) to help children prepare for emergencies too including an activity book, poster and guide. I plan on printing those out for my children.
Please take some time to create your emergency kit and work on an emergency plan with your family. It’s one of the most important things you can do. It doesn’t take long to do and there are plenty of resources and organizations that can help you too. Your first step would be to arm yourself with all the necessary information by visiting Ready America. Then sit down with your family and come up with your own emergency plan.
