Anyone who spends any time at all watching the news knows that it seems that the number of natural disaster occurring around the world is on the rise. Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods and other emergencies are leaving behind destruction and loss of life. If a disaster were to strike in your area, do you have a family disaster preparedness plan in place? If you don't, you may have to endure the heart wrenching emotions involved in not knowing where you loved ones are, and if they are safe.
Imagine if a disaster hit when some family member were at work, others at school and others running errands. There is a very good chance that you would not be able to gather before evacuating the disaster area. This is where an emergency notification system could make the difference between a long wait to learn the fate of your loved ones and being able to quickly know that everyone is safe.
Of course, the first choice for a family disaster preparedness plan would be that you could all go to the same place. You should certainly have a few set locations that each member of the family should try to reach should disaster strike.
There could, however, be situations in which some of the family members will be able to make it to the set locations and others will not. With spotty phone service and power outages possible, your only hope of being able to stay in touch just might be to have an emergency notification service.
When you are putting together your family disaster preparedness plan, be sure to include an emergency notification service among your emergency essentials. Here is how such services work:
You set up your list of contacts. This can include co-workers, family members and friends. You supply as many points of contact as possible for each person on your contact list such as phone numbers and email addresses.During an emergency, you would need to simply send a message through the emergency notification service. This can typically be done via telephone, email or even instant messaging.
The service will then use the provided contact information to pass along your message to everyone on the list.
Because phone service can sometimes be sporadic in the wake of a disaster, people on the contact list also have the option of calling in to see if there are messages. This is helpful in a situation in which the person's phone may not be working. They could call in from a payphone or from any phone to check messages.
Of course, no system is foolproof, but by subscribing to an emergency notification system, you will be adding a layer of protection should a disaster strike in your area.
The time to start planning for an emergency is now. Even if you do not think that your area is prone to natural disasters, failing to put a plan in place can be a huge mistake. Make plans to keep your family safe and to be able to easily locate your loved ones in the aftermath of a disaster.
Please think about and plan what your family will do in different situations. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together. Using the Contact911 emergency notification and group messaging service is an easy to remember (even for the kids) CENTRAL CONTACT point for your family.