Family Emergency Response Plans

Well, well, well.....We just completed a fun filled evening of trying to develop an extended family emergency response plan. After approximately two hours of discussions about the types of potential crises that could happen in our particular area, and the types of responses that would minimize suffering and injury within our extended family group, I can assure you that the biggest disaster so far, is our plan. It's extremely challenging to come up with a cohesive yet flexible plan, that involves mulitiple individuals, in different locations, dealing with a variety of potential crises, presumably while operating impaired modern communication equipment. Oh, and did I mention the part about trying to collect my children if anything were to happen while they're in school? There is an official evacuation plan in our area, which encompasses the schools, in case of a crisis at the nearby Mcguire Nuclear Power Plant http://www.dukepower.com/community/safety/nuclear/mcguire/McGuire_Map.pdf. That's comforting, except for the part where they immediately bus my kids to another school in the event of an emergency evacuation. OK, not to be the "doubting Thomas" here, but if there's a major crisis at the nuclear plant, and the phone lines all get tied up, and mandatory immediate evacuation is ordered, I expect pandemonium at the school. Lots of parents won't know the plan because they never read the materials so they'll be trying to pick up their kids. Teachers, bus drivers, and administrators will have their own children (not necessarily at that school) they want to evacuate. I'll be trying to figure out whether or not my kids actually made it onto an evacuation bus to get to the alternate pick-up location or whether they are still back at school. This added to the fact that I'll be trying to get our essentials after leaving work and following the remainder of our family crisis plan. Neat-O! That's just one potential crisis for which to develop a plan. Suffice it to say we have a few more details that we'll be working out in the near future. Hopefully, we'll never need to enact the plan but it's always better to be prepared for hardship rather than get caught with your pants down. Das Office of Homeland Security (Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil), http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/index.html , has a site with some preparedness suggestions that may be helpful in developing your own plan. http://www.ready.gov/