Family Emergency Plans

Every family must be prepared for serious home emergencies. Fires and floods present many different threats, and everyone in your house must be trained to know what to do when they are in a bad situation. Learning all about home flood and fire safety is the only way to keep everyone in your house safe.

Fire Emergencies

Fires in the home require many different responses from the people in the house. Regardless of where the fire is, every family must have functional smoke detectors that will go off to alert you that there is a problem.

First, everyone should make sure that they check the door of the room they are in to know if there is danger on the other side. If the door knob is hot, the people in the room must go out a window with an emergency ladder. These ladders can be installed in every room and make it very easy for people to climb down to the ground level. The fire department will assist individuals stuck behind a hot doorknob.

When you can move freely about most of the house during a fire, everyone should get out of the house as quickly as possible. Your family must set up a safe place outside to meet that is nearby but far enough away from the flames. This way everyone can be accounted for as quickly as possible. Without a meeting place, it is hard to know if everyone has gotten out of the house safely and who may still be trapped inside.

Flood Emergencies

During floods, every family must have a plan to either get out of the house in advance or hole up in the house in a safe place. When you have the benefit of an advanced warning of the flooding, you may have some time to prepare. Take essential belongings with you. Move other possessions that you cannot reasonably take to higher parts of your home. There will be a better chance that these items will still be dry upon your return. Evacuating is often the best plan when severe flooding is predicted, and it may even be a mandatory order from local officials.

If your family cannot evacuate and is caught in a flash flood, stay on the upper floors of your home and have supplies ready. For a flood preparation plan, the family must have food and clean water on the upper floors of the house along with a generator or small power source that will allow them to communicate with rescue crews during a flood.

Having a family emergency plan is very important for every homeowner and their children to ensure everyone’s safety. Planning for a fire or flood must be done well in advance to ensure that the entire family is safe and sound in case disaster strikes.