Emergency Preparedness Activities

Emergency preparedness activities can be life saving exercises in case of an emergency in your home, community or workplace. Completing these activities is an important part of ensuring that you, your family and others around you have the appropriate materials and relief plans for a range of urgent situations. Preparing a plan of action can help resolve emergency circumstances more efficiently and effectively.

Creating an Emergency Contacts List

• Making a list of emergency contacts and posting it in an accessible location ensures that you and those around you are more easily able to reach people who can relay vital health information or offer help in times of emergency. It is important to educate family members on the procedures to be taken, including whom on the list to call first, for every emergency situation. Emergency contact lists typically include family, neighbors, poison control and other emergency officials.

Assembling a First Aid Kit

• Assembling a first aid kit is a useful preparedness activity for minor emergencies. The first aid kit should include isopropyl alcohol, antiseptic, sterile bandages, anti-histamines in case of allergy situations, adhesive tape, scissors and a pair of sterile gloves to protect the user while assisting the injured. The kit should also include a blanket, a flashlight, a battery-powered radio and at least two sets of new batteries.

Keeping Stocks of Water and Canned Goods

• Keeping a plentiful stock of water and canned goods is a critical preparation in case you and your family are unable to leave your home for sustenance after a disaster hits. It is important to store enough rations to last each person in the household one week. Stores should also include a can opener, eating and cooking utensils and a gas stove. In planning for this sort of emergency circumstance, it's also essential to have items such as blankets, flashlights, new batteries and a battery-powered radio prepared for use.

Planning Disaster Weather Shelter

• Planning a shelter in your home or workplace in preparation of tornadoes, floods and other extreme weather is a crucial part of keeping yourself and others safe during serious conditions. Meeting locations in case of emergency at home and at work should be prearranged, and evacuation routes should be established, practiced and posted in accessible locations in preparation for every disaster. Making a plan of when, how and where you will head to shelter, including getting to high ground during floods and underground or secure areas during tornadoes, greatly increases your safety.

Creating a Disaster Relief Plan

• Arranging disaster relief efforts with your neighbors and community can help restore the area's safety after a disaster strikes. Creating a plan with your neighbors and community builds a sense of trust and commitment prompting more preparedness to help one another in the case of disaster or other emergency. Disaster relief plans usually entail planning a communal shelter location and specific recovery steps.

Becoming CPR Certified

• Becoming CPR certified allows you to assist and even save the lives of individuals suffering from cardiac arrest, asthma, choking, electrical shock or a near-drowning episode. To become certified you can take an online course or contact the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross for certification information and available courses.