Preparing yourself and your family for emergencies and disasters in your community can be a vital asset in ensuring safety and survival. It is important that you and your family are prepared to survive without help for a minimum of 72 hours and up to 7 days. This can be accomplished by using three basic steps:
- Know The Risks
- Make a Plan
- Get a Kit
Step 1 Know the Risks
It is important for you and your family to become familiar with your location and surrounding geographic features. Information on potential risks in your community can be obtained from the District of Ucluelet. Discuss with all members of your family the potential emergencies and disasters within your community and how these incidents may affect you and your family.
Step 2 Make a Plan
It is important for you and your family to create an emergency plan so that everyone knows what to do in the event of an emergency or disaster. The entire family can be involved in the plan including children and the elderly. Create a separate plan for when everyone is at home, as well as when the family is apart. Include family members who don't live with you such as elderly grandparents. Consult with members of the school board, retirement homes, or other facilities used by your family to become aware of their protocol in the event of an emergency. The memorization and documentation of basic family information such as phone numbers, family names, addresses, and emergency contacts can make it easier for families to be reunited in emergency situations.
Step 3 Get a Kit
It is important for you and your family to assemble emergency kits to ensure safety and survival in the event of an emergency, and in the days following. A minimum of 3 kits is suggested:
- One smaller Grab-and-Go kit located close to the front door and easily accessible
- One large kit inside the house
- One large kit somewhere outside of the house (in your car or garage for example)
Grab-and-Go Kit
A Grab-and-Go Kit is an emergency kit in an easy to carry bag that is located somewhere close to an exit within your home. This kit is designed to be accessible in the event of an emergency that involves evacuating your home quickly. Be sure to inform all family members where the Grab-and-Go bag is located and designate a family member to be in charge of taking the kit when evacuating the house.
Basic Emergency Kit
The Basic Emergency Kit will include enough supplies to sustain you and your family for the first 72 hours and up to 7 days.
It is important that all family members know the location of all emergency kits and how to access them in the event of an emergency or disaster. Following these basic steps will increase your families' chances of survival when facing emergency or disastrous situations. Information on this site was collated from the following websites - please feel free to browse further for more information:
Did You Know?
Nine Emergency Response Organizations Serve Ucluelet and our Visitors
These nine emergency response organizations are trained to deal with emergencies and disasters within the Ucluelet community. It is important for you and your family to be familiar with who these organizations are and what their roles include. Knowing the emergency resources available to you can help our community work together in preparing, responding, and recovering from an emergency or disaster.
West Coast First Responders and their Roles