The 7 Steps to Emergency Preparedness for Families: A Practical and Easy-To-Follow Guide to Prepare for any Disaster

THE 7 STEPS TO

EMERGENCY

PREPAREDNESS

FOR FAMILIES

Copyright © 2016 by Kim Fournier.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief passages quoted by a reviewer in a newspaper or magazine. To perform any of the above is an infringement of copyright law.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

The 7 steps to emergency preparedness for families / Kim Fournier.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-9950360-0-0

ISBN 978-0-9950360-3-1 (e-book)

1. Emergency management--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

2. Survival--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

3. Safety education.

4. Preparedness.

Printed in Canada

Layout and cover design by Cara Robbins

First Paperback Edition

Dedicated to our children’s resilience and survival.

Table of Contents

Seven Steps to Preparedness

Preface

Part I: Get Ready

Step 1: Safeguard Important Documents

Step 2: Create a Communication and Reunion Plan

Step 3: Create a Shelter and Evacuation Plan

Shelter In Place

Evacuate

Step 4: Assemble Emergency Supplies

Emergency Supplies

Grab-and-Go Bag

Disaster Supplies for the House

Food and Water

Work, School, and Vehicle Kits

Preparing Your Pet for a Disaster

Step 5: Prepare the House

General House Preparation Guidelines

Utilities

Multi-Residential Complexes

Annual Maintenance

Part II: Respond

Step 6: Respond to a Disaster

Shelter in Place or Evacuate

Shelter in Place

Evacuate Safely

Living in a Mass Care Shelter

Stay Informed During a Disaster

Power Outages

Response Actions for Unique Hazards

Part III: Return Home

Step 7: Return Home Safely

General Considerations

Flood Safety and Clean Up

Summary

Additional Information

Disaster 101

The Disaster Management Process

Common Hazards

Hygiene and Sanitation

Basic Practices

Handling Garbage and Other Waste

Hygiene and Sanitation Checklist

Collecting Water from Your Hot Water Tank

Collecting and Disinfecting Water

Disinfection Methods

Filtration Methods

Sedimentation

Distillation

Collecting and Treating Water from Alternate Sources

Disaster Mental Wellness

Psychosocial Responses to Disasters

Reducing the Emotional Effects of a Disaster

Special Needs

Planning for Specific Requirements

Disaster Insurance

General Insurance Tips

Insurance Checklist

Shopping List

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Products and Services

Seven Steps to Preparedness

An all-hazards approach

Get READY

Step 1: Safeguard Important Documents (page 3)

Step 2: Create a Communication and Reunion Plan (page 5)

Step 3: Create a Shelter and Evacuation Plan (page 13)

Step 4: Assemble Emergency Supplies (page 19)

a grab-and-go bag

stockpile of items for the home

work, school, and vehicle kits

a kit for your pet, if you have one

Step 5: Prepare the House (page 35)

Annual Maintenance

RESPOND

Step 6: Respond to a Disaster (page 51)

RETURN Home

Step 7: Return Home Safely (page 67)

Let’s get started!

Preface

This practical guide provides an all-hazards approach to help you prepare for any type of disaster. It consolidates research, experience, and practice into one comprehensive and straightforward plan to give you the tools you need to prepare for emergencies. Although the idea of getting yourself prepared for any emergency may seem daunting at first, the process is actually quite simple—and I’m here to escort you through that process step by step.

Why is this so important? The fact is, in this day and age, emergency preparedness is no longer just an option: it’s a necessity. We must be prepared to overcome the challenges created by climate change and extreme weather events. Disasters are increasing in frequency and magnitude, with significant short- and long-term consequences for our health, our society, our economy, and the environment. On every continent, we have seen an array of increasingly frequent disasters, such as wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, heat waves, drought, flooding, disease outbreaks, and rising sea levels. An emergency can even be as simple as the power grid going down for a few days due to a storm and you needing some candles—or food and water!

In an emergency, essential services such as gas stations, roads, pharmacies, telephone and electricity service, water supplies, and grocery and hardware stores may be unavailable for days, or even weeks. While some events are relatively minor, others can be complex, with concurrent disasters creating catastrophic damage and social disruption. Disasters like this not only affect our infrastructure but can also increase poverty and lead to food insecurity and homelessness—the list of potential consequences is staggering. The loss of lives and livelihoods due to disasters across the world is devastating and sobering, and it would be unwise to entertain the notion that it won’t happen to us, or that if it does, it won’t be so bad. Our safety and well-being are not things that can be left to chance.

Disasters have become an important part of our reality, but we are not entirely at the mercy of their effects. We can prepare for disasters, and the fruits of such planning and efforts can pay off exponentially. And there is more good news. As I’ll demonstrate in this book, this preparation is not complicated. With the step-by-step instructions in this book, getting prepared for emergencies is simple and manageable, and can include the whole family!

Effective preparedness decreases the negative impacts of disasters on our families and livelihoods, protecting our children today and giving them tools to manage the potential disasters they may experience in their lifetimes. The environment and climate have undergone tremendous changes in the last fifty years. We can only imagine what the next fifty years might look like. Only we can determine the legacy we leave our future generations—a legacy of preparedness, self-sufficiency, resilience, and survival.

We cannot leave a better legacy than a family that is prepared for its future.

Throughout my career in disaster management and public health, I’ve witnessed the many effects of disasters, and it has become clear to me that we are universally ill-prepared for disasters. This lack of preparation impacts our ability to manage and provide for our needs and the needs of those for whom we are responsible. With just a little effort, much can be done to help ensure the safety and livelihoods of those we love. The majority of the actions necessary to ensure this safety are simple. However, practical and reliable tools to motivate and help us prepare have been limited, which has led me to develop this book.

Together, we can build a culture of preparedness and self-sufficiency.

The first step in reaching preparedness and self-sufficiency is to adjust our mindset and know that the process of preparation is doable—anyone can do it. Following my 7 Steps, you can make preparedness part of your routine and simultaneously teach your children these essential skills. This guide makes the process easy by providing one plan that helps you prepare for all types of hazards. You won’t have to flip through thirty websites and fifty brochures to determine what you need for every type of disaster or extreme weather. It is all here, made simple with easy-to-follow checklists.

The information in this book combines the latest research, science-based evidence, and practical lessons learned from past disasters, as well as my thirty-plus years of experience in disaster management, public health, and survival techniques. I’ve done the work and the research, and I’ve brought it all together so that you have everything you need in one resource to get prepared. Once you have completed the 7 Steps, you’ll be ready for any disaster!

Step 1: Safeguard Important Documents

Step 2: Create a Communication and Reunion Plan

Step 3: Create a Shelter and Evacuation Plan

Step 4: Assemble Emergency Supplies

Step 5: Prepare the House

Step 6: Respond to a Disaster

Step 7: Return Home Safely

The book is laid out in several parts. In Part I: Get Ready, I outline the first five steps of the preparation process. Each step gives key information at the beginning of the chapter, followed by additional material for interested readers. In Part II: Respond, I show you how best to respond should a disaster strike. Part III: Return Home explores what happens once the disaster has passed. Finally, Additional Information acquaints you with the disaster management process, describes common hazards, and provides advice on everything from practicing proper sanitation to disinfecting water, accommodating special needs, and choosing insurance.

As you develop your emergency plan and go through the 7 Steps, make it fun and informative. Include your children, nieces or nephews, or grandchildren in the process; this could be the most important lesson you teach them. Engage them! Discuss the plan with your family and practice it so that everyone is aware of and comfortable with their role. Encourage or challenge your neighbors, relatives, friends, and co-workers to join you in your efforts. Most of all, luxuriate in the confidence and peace of mind that come with being prepared!

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. —Helen Keller

Now, enough talk! Turn the page, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to be self-sufficient!

Part I: Get Ready

Part I is the heart of this book, providing everything you need to know to get READY. If you’re eager to dive in, start here. If you prefer to know the why and how of things before you start, or would just like a better understanding of what disasters are and what typically happens during a disaster, turn to Disaster 101 in the additional information section (starting on page 77). This section is important reading for anyone who lives in a region prone to a certain type of hazard.

Part I comprises the first five steps:

Step 1: Safeguard Important Documents (page 3)

Step 2: Create a Communication and Reunion Plan (page 5)

Step 3: Create a Shelter and Evacuation Plan (page 13)

Step 4: Assemble Emergency Supplies (page 19)

Step 5: Prepare the House (page 35)

As you read these steps, consider how to seamlessly incorporate the directions provided into your daily activities. Keep in mind that there is no need to reinvent the wheel! The forms and checklists in this book are available as free downloads from my website (details provided further in this book). You can also use the shopping list I’ve provided in the back of the book (see page 105) to make it simple to