Family Plan
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 and what you will do in different situations.
- Identify an out-of town contact for every member of your household. Phone lines are often busy or out of service during major disasters, and it may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town.
- Equip your family with the contact’s phone number and a cell phone or prepaid phone card. Program your emergency contact as “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) in your phone. If you are in an accident, emergency personnel will often check your ICE listings in order to get a hold of someone you know. You can also add a designated “Home” or “Work” entry so that these phone numbers can be easily accessed in an emergency situation.
- Teach family members how to use text messaging. This tactic can be used when network disruptions prevent a phone call from connecting.
Learn more:
- Download a comprehensive "Disaster Preparedness Tip Sheet ” from the American Red Cross and the Daily Breeze.
- Create a personalized Comprehensive Family Emergency Plan at Ready.gov.
- Assemble a reference list of family contacts and emergency meeting locations with Ready.gov’s Quickshare.
- Download a blank, printable Family Emergency Plan template at Ready.gov.
- Subscribe to AlertOC, a mass emergency notification system for Orange County residents and businesses. Voice or text messages can be sent to your home or cell phone, e-mail account and hearing impaired receiving devices.
