You've gone through the process this month of talking about what could happen and what you could do now to protect against it. You've made a plan for when it happens, and assembled the necessary supplies for your own or your family's needs. That's GREAT!
You feel pretty prepared, right?
Well, the truth is, you are, and you're doing better than the 90-93% of American households who haven't done the above…BUT unless your plan reflects current needs, your kit fills them, and everyone can remember exactly what to do, your efforts may be lacking when action is required.
The final step in staying prepared is to practice and update your emergency procedures, so when you have to make a phone call to your out-of-state contact, the number is correct (because they moved 6 months ago); or if you have to pick your child up from a school evacuation, you know that they changed the parent pick-up site to the lower baseball field because of construction over the last year; or when you go to turn on the flashlight (because the power is out) you don't find the batteries are all dead because they expired.
So make sure:
- Info is up to date and any changes are reflected and known about
- It still works for you. It not, make revisions.
Circle a date on your calendar twice a year- April 30th and September 30th , the Spring and Fall "PrepareAThon!" dates, are great places to start; clock changes are another– and pull the plan, kit, and family together for a quick check-up.
