How to Make a Disaster Plan

(Modern Survival.org) – Emergencies and disasters strike without warning, creating chaos in their wake. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the foresight to plan ahead for these events, leaving them vulnerable to hasty decision-making, foolish mistakes, and panic. There are ways to prepare for the worst ahead of time, such as developing a disaster plan.

Knowing is Half the Battle

To increase the odds of survival following any type of emergency, from a flood to a house fire, preparing a family disaster plan is key. By establishing and practicing a family disaster plan, every member of the household will know exactly what to do and how to do it. This will ensure they are prepared, focused, and not succumbing to panic.

To create your own plan, here are some important steps to consider:

Where are the entrances and exits to the home, including windows?
Where are the meeting places, both inside and outside of the home?
In a large-scale disaster, where will the family evacuate to? What are the evacuation routes?
Where are the emergency kits or bug out bags located, and whose responsibility is it to gather them?
Who are the family’s emergency contacts, and what are their phone numbers/addresses?

These are the basic necessities of a disaster plan. However, there are more specific criteria based on the type of emergency at hand. A home invasion plan will be different from a house fire evacuation plan, for instance.

One easy way to train the family on how to recognize which disaster plan is required for the current situation is to develop keywords that are easily recognizable.

Practice is Vital

A disaster plan is only as good as its implementation. This means that practicing the plan repeatedly is vital to its success. Emergencies can be high-stress events that lead to panic. A well-rehearsed disaster plan can bypass much panic by allowing the family to act on muscle memory rather than trying to remember each step as they go along. The more practice ahead of a disaster, the better.

To ensure everyone is ready to go at the drop of a hat, do emergency drills — even in the middle of the night — and see how they perform. Evaluate how the plan worked, and practice more where needed.

Even if a full-blown prepper lifestyle isn’t for your family, having a plan in place to handle an emergency should be. Taking the time to practice fire drills and home invasion drills is a small price to pay when survival is at stake.

To see how to survive a house fire and why a disaster plan is so important, check out our article here.

~Here’s to Your Survival!