OFFICE OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS
735 Middle Creek Road Sevierville, Tennessee 37862
Office: 865-774-3958
Email: pdavis@seviercountytn.org
General advice on disaster prepardeness
General advice on preparing your family and your community for natural and man-made disasters
- Develop a communications plan for your family. Choose someone who does not live with you (preferably an out-of-town relative or friend) whom you and other family members can contact to check on each other in the event that you are separated during a disaster. Carry that person’s contact information in your purse or wallet.
- Make sure children know their last name, phone number, address, and number for the out-of-town contact person.
- Make sure every member of your family knows an alternate route home.
- If family members can’t get home, designate a meeting place.
- Know your community’s emergency evacuation route.
- Learn how to shut off utilities such as gas, electricity, and water.
- Assemble an emergency preparedness kit that will allow your family to camp out for three days. Assume you’ll be without electricity and running water.
- Store your emergency supplies in sealed containers such as plastic tubs - taped shut.
- Keep cash on hand; automated teller machines won’t be working if the power is out.
- Learn CPR and first aid to help with medical emergencies.
- Learn about emergency plans for your children’s school or daycare center.
- If you’re a teen, find out whether your school has a group of student volunteers to help out in emergency situations. If not, offer to help start such a group. Or start a School Crime Watch.
- Learn about your company’s emergency plan. Practice the plan. Learn exit routes.
- Work with your Neighborhood Watch or civic association to create a disaster preparedness plan.
tips for parents
Kids need to know how to keep themselves safe and knowing this will build the self-confidence they need to handle emergencies effectively. You can make sure your children are prepared by teaching them how to act in an emergency and planning ahead.
- Make sure kids know their full name, parents’ full names, address (including city and state), and phone number (including area code).
- Explain to kids that an emergency is a situation where they need the help of a police officer, firefighter, or doctor. Discuss or role-play different situations and ask children to identify the emergencies.
- Teach children to call 911 or 0 in an emergency and explain that this will bring a police officer or firefighter to the emergency. With a play phone or one that’s disconnected, have children practice dialing 911 or 0 and telling the “operator” their emergency, full name, full address, and telephone number. Have children also practice dialing on a cell phone that’s turned off.
- Talk with kids about what to do when they need help if it’s not an emergency, such as if they are home alone and have a headache.
- Make sure your children know how to reach you at all times, and be sure that you can reach them.
- Post emergency numbers by the phone, including your work and cell phone numbers.
- With your children, pick a safe place they can go to near your home if they need help right away.
- Find an alternative place your children can go if they cannot reach home, such as a school, library, fire station, or other safe place.
Planning for Emergencies
What Kinds of Emergencies?
Emergencies are events--natural or human-generated--that disrupt daily life to a high degree. They may have already resulted in death and damage or they may threaten death, injury, and damage.
At the family level, most emergency preparation is similar regardless of the cause of the emergency. Think about past emergencies in your area. Wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes suggest the kinds of disruptions communities and families may face. Hazardous material spills may present different challenges. Terrorist attacks can take many forms. The idea is to know what's likely and what's not. By making your plan based on your specific risks, your family can be better prepared.
What kinds of events are common in your area? If you are not sure, check with the local Red Cross or your city or county emergency management or emergency preparedness office or with firefighters and police officers in your area.
So how do you plan? First, think about your goals. For most people, the prime goal is knowing that all family members are safe and as secure as possible against harm. Most families want to be together if that is at all possible. A second goal is having what you need to make it through the immediate disaster period. The "Making Sure You Have What It Takes" checklist can help with that. A third goal might be communicating with out-of-town family about your family's safety. What other goals should your family's plan address? Talk with other adults in the family. Talk with teens and children. Find out their concerns and help ensure that your disaster preparations address those concerns where possible. Remind everyone that you're being preventive and prepared--not running scared.
Second, develop a plan with these goals and the following outline in mind. Your family's plan is probably going to have some unique features. But there are some basics.
Emergencies are events--natural or human-generated--that disrupt daily life to a high degree. They may have already resulted in death and damage or they may threaten death, injury, and damage.
At the family level, most emergency preparation is similar regardless of the cause of the emergency. Think about past emergencies in your area. Wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes suggest the kinds of disruptions communities and families may face. Hazardous material spills may present different challenges. Terrorist attacks can take many forms. The idea is to know what's likely and what's not. By making your plan based on your specific risks, your family can be better prepared.
What kinds of events are common in your area? If you are not sure, check with the local Red Cross or your city or county emergency management or emergency preparedness office or with firefighters and police officers in your area.
So how do you plan? First, think about your goals. For most people, the prime goal is knowing that all family members are safe and as secure as possible against harm. Most families want to be together if that is at all possible. A second goal is having what you need to make it through the immediate disaster period. The "Making Sure You Have What It Takes" checklist can help with that. A third goal might be communicating with out-of-town family about your family's safety. What other goals should your family's plan address? Talk with other adults in the family. Talk with teens and children. Find out their concerns and help ensure that your disaster preparations address those concerns where possible. Remind everyone that you're being preventive and prepared--not running scared.
Second, develop a plan with these goals and the following outline in mind. Your family's plan is probably going to have some unique features. But there are some basics.
- Who: Who is included in this plan? Relatives across town? Close friends? Just immediate family members? What about family pets?
- Where: Home is where the heart is, and it's probably going to be the center of your family plan. But what are the back-up locations? It might be the nearby house of worship, the closest elementary school, or a close friend's home. The point is to decide on the back-ups and make sure everyone knows what and where they are.
- What: What will trigger the emergency plan? An official announcement? Notification from authorities to people in your immediate area? A call from one of the adults to all the others involved? A call from a child's school? Remember to think about how other family members will be notified.
- When: What time frames help shape your plan? Does everyone work or go to school within a few miles? Then people should be at home fairly quickly. If some people have a long commute, they may be held up by emergency conditions. How do you cope if the emergency is projected to last several days?
- Why: Family members should understand, to the best of their ability, why the plan includes certain provisions. Why must children stay at school under certain circumstances, for example? Why might a parent stay out of town if on travel during an emergency?
- How: This gets down to the steps of the plan. Think through key points. Who will take what responsibilities? Where will emergency supplies be kept? How will supplies be updated? What about the Family Link-Up Plan--how will it be updated? What different steps are involved in a "shelter in place" situation versus an evacuation order? What if there is no information from authorities? What training do family members need? How often will the family review its plan?
- Make sure everyone has basic family phone contact numbers and business or school addresses. Remember that email may work when phone circuits are overloaded.
- Identify places to meet both near the house and farther away. Set a priority order about which place to go to, why, and when.
- Establish an out-of-town contact that everyone can call and report to. Make sure the contact agrees, and make sure everyone knows how to dial that long-distance number. Consider prepaid calling cards for everyone's convenience.
- Keep vehicles in good working order and keep the gas tank at least half full at all times. Remember, if power fails, gas pumps won't work!
- Stockpile a disaster kit in advance and refresh supplies at least every six months. Consider seasonal changes in your family's needs. For example, you might want to have more blankets available in the fall and winter season.
- Know how to turn off safely the water, electricity, and gas that serve your home.
- "What if?" your plan. What if a major roadway is blocked? What if power is out and the car is low on gas? What if mass transit is unavailable? Where will these family members go? How will they communicate that they are safe?
- What local situations in your neighborhood or community might result in evacuation? How should family members pack for this situation? What about care for pets in cases where they cannot be in shelters?
- Find out about plans that link with yours. What plans do children's schools have in place? What plans are in place where you and other adults work? Make sure school and workplace have updated contact information for all members of your family. What are local authorities' plans for your area?
- How might your family work together with neighbors to prepare and survive an emergency? Are there neighbors with special needs? Who could help them? Talk together; share the skills and equipment you could make available to each other. Devise ways you could help each other's families if the need arises. Third, revisit your plan.
- Review the plan as a group every few months. Consider holding family rehearsals or drills if you live in areas where there might be little warning of an emergency.
- Don't forget to update the plan to account for new schools children attend, changes in job locations or employers, and the like.
Making Sure You've Got What It Takes
Supplies you should have on hand in the event of an emergency
Getting Set:
Especially for Babies
Especially for Children
Especially for Teens
Cooking Supplies
General But Vital
Supplies you should have on hand in the event of an emergency
Getting Set:
- Think about it this way--you and your family need to get together whatever you will need to camp out for three days. Assume you'll be out of reach of electricity and running water.
- You may have many items on hand; you just need to be sure you've assembled them all (or that you can do so quickly) and that you have sufficient quantities of the consumable items.
- If you are storing items, store them in sealed containers--such as plastic tubs taped shut--if at all possible.
- Store items in a cool, dry place indoors.
- Avoid storing items in glass containers unless absolutely necessary.
- If a complete kit is not possible, list items around the house that need to be in the kit and be prepared to pack them as soon as disaster threatens (for example, a battery-operated radio or medicines that must be refrigerated or taken daily).
- Check all stored supplies every six months. Rotate out any perishable items (including such things as batteries) and use them for daily needs. Replace them in the kit with fresh supplies. If you have not set aside stored supplies, check your household inventory of key items at least once every month or two.
- Water--one gallon per day (per person or pet).
- Food--enough for three meals per person per day. Try to keep on hand canned foods or other prepared foods that don't require cooking or a lot of added water. Stock some energy bars and dried fruit for portability.
- Clothing--at least two or three complete sets of clothing. Switch them off seasonally when you recheck stored supplies. Include rain gear (even disposable ponchos can help) for everyone and sweaters or heavy coats if the next six months' weather demands it.
- Medicines
- Medium to large size first-aid kit
- First-aid instruction book
- Extra bandages, gauze compresses, and first-aid tape
- Antiseptic wipes, creams, etc., as needed
- Pain relief medicines, antacids, cough medicines (including infants'/children's if appropriate)
- Three to four days' supply of medications for each person who is on a regular medical regimen (store copies of prescriptions if possible)
- Disposable latex gloves and household bleach (for disinfection as needed). - Bedding, etc.--one sleeping bag or blanket and pillow per person (more for cold weather); one bath towel per person; and (possibly) inexpensive deflated air mattresses.
Especially for Babies
- Disposable diapers and plastic bags to store used ones; make sure to update stored diapers as the baby grows into new sizes! Bring enough plastic bags to dispose of used diapers twice a day.
- Formula--securely closed cans of dry formula suitable for your child's needs, enough for several bottles a day.
- Baby food--consider dry cereals and similar products that are nourishing but offer a long shelf life. If you store food in glass bottles, wrap the bottles well to avoid breakage.
- Store and use plastic-liner disposable bottles to avoid breakage and to avoid the need for washing, even if your child doesn't use this kind of bottle regularly.
- Special bedding--a folding playpen or some other secure place for baby to sleep, and blanket/sheets to fit.
- Toys--a few age-appropriate toys to amuse and distract the baby.
- Pacifier and/or teething ring--if your child uses one, store a spare.
Especially for Children
- Consider inviting each child to pack some special things--a favorite toy, book, game, blanket, and so on--into an inexpensive backpack or a special bag, so that each knows favorite items will be available.
- Store powdered or evaporated milk along with some extra water to reconstitute it as needed. Also consider storing some snack-style foods, such as fruit gels or presweetened cereal.
- Remember to check children's stored clothing against their growth and new sizes when you check supplies every six months.
Especially for Teens
- Ask teens what special foods they think should be stored. Let them help assemble supplies and update inventories.
- Remind them that there will be no television and only a shared radio if power is out. They may want to take responsibility for a battery-operated CD player, earphones, and a supply of batteries and CDs.
- Urge them to select a few favorite books and perhaps some writing materials (a notebook and pen for journal writing could be good).
- Ask teens to consider what medications--for example for acne treatments--that they might need.
- Remind teens to make up a list of addresses and phone numbers for their close friends.
- Remind older people to ensure that their medications are up to date and that they have copies of prescriptions as well as at least a five- to seven-day supply on hand.
- If any special medical supplies are needed, make sure they are on hand in sufficient quantity at all times.
- Ask older family members to think about specially treasured items they may want to keep with them, such as jewelry with high sentimental value or a family photo album.
- Make sure that financial records for older family members are stored securely, either with general family records or in a separate box.
- Remind older family members to list names, addresses, and phone numbers of relatives whom they may want to contact.
Cooking Supplies
- Keep a few older pots and pans in storage along with a few basic cooking utensils such as a slotted spoon, ladle, spatula, cooking fork, and serrated-edge knives (which don't need sharpening).
- Store enough paper plates (two sizes if possible) and bowls to feed those who might be at home.
- Include sturdy plastic forks, knives, and spoons--at least two complete sets for each person.
- Store at least two inexpensive manual can openers.
- For cooking, consider purchasing a "Sterno (tm)" (canned) fuel burner and several cans of the fuel. These can be used safely indoors. If you can cook outside, consider storing a small grill and self-lighting charcoal. Do not use charcoal burners indoors; the fumes can be dangerous in enclosed spaces.
- Wooden matches--at least a few dozen--in a waterproof container are a must.
- Pack away at least a dozen or so large (yard-work size) and medium (kitchen-trash size) plastic bags for trash and other debris.
- Store a small container of dish washing liquid and a scrubbing-style sponge or two.
- Make sure to include a bar or two of bath-grade soap.
- Include any supplies needed for bathing babies, if relevant.
- Include feminine hygiene supplies if relevant and small, sealable plastic bags in which to dispose of used products.
- Don't forget toilet paper--probably three to six rolls at minimum.
- Take along a roll or two of paper towels--always handy.
- Aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and sealable plastic bags may be useful.
General But Vital
- Make up a shutdown list--doors locked, water and gas turned off (if directed by authorities), materials in use gathered for storage.
- Take along a battery-powered radio. Some models can operate by being hand cranked as well. Be sure you have an ample supply of fresh batteries.
- Have at least one flashlight per person, if possible. Make sure to have several sets of batteries to fit each flashlight.
- Consider buying a lantern-style, battery-operated light, which can illuminate a small room. Make certain to have a supply of the batteries needed for this light; they can be difficult to locate.
- If for some reason you elect to store candles, ensure that you also store sturdy, enclosed devices in which to burn them--and don't leave them unattended while they are lighted.
- Think about packing playing cards, board games, crayons, paper, songbooks, and books that can involve the whole family. They may be the only form of entertainment for a while.
- Financial records can be vital--copies of marriage, birth, and death certificate; passports; deeds; major loan agreements; account numbers and key phone numbers; lists of various account numbers; and similar papers should already be stored in a fire-safe box. Bring them with you.
- Consider having some cash on hand. Automatic teller machines may be inoperable.
- Some inexpensive tools can be lifesavers. A hammer, a saw, several screwdrivers and wrenches, a pair of pliers, and similar tools can be extremely helpful to you and others in emergencies. Glue, duct tape, and similar supplies can come in handy.
- Autos--make it a family rule that the gas tank is always at least half full. If potential for emergencies is high, keep the tank as full as possible at all times, because if power goes out, gas pumps stop working.
- Pets need your advance consideration, too. Make sure you have an adequate supply of foods for pets. Consider pet carriers or crates so animals will not roam into danger. Remember leashes and any needed medications. Know shelter policies in case you are directed to evacuate and consider who might care for pets if shelters do not allow them.
Information on this page was gathered from the National Crime Prevention Council