Make a Plan- National Preparedness Month Week Two

The month of September marks National Preparedness Month and Midland Radio is encouraging households to act now.

It's part of the federal government's efforts to encourage families across the country to prepare for an emergency that could impact their lives at any given moment.

Whether it's a wildfire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, or other disaster, you'll need to have a plan for you and your family to navigate an emergency safely.

MAKE A PLAN

Making a plan is an important step in ensuring your household is prepared for any disaster or emergency.

Disasters and emergencies don't wait for you to be ready to respond so it's key to understand that not everyone in the household could be home at the time one strikes.

Having a plan established ahead of time means responding right away, potentially giving you the seconds and minutes needed to save the life of you and those in your household.

Part of making your plan should also include knowing which types of disasters could affect the area in which you live and work.

Your disaster and emergency plan should also include information about how your household will contact each other and determining a family meeting place that is familiar and easy to find.

STEP 1- DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS WITH YOUR FAMILY

Go through the below questions with your entire household to get your emergency pan started.

How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
What is my shelter plan?
What is my evacuation route?
What is my family/household communication plan?
Do I need to update my emergency preparedness kit?

STEP 2- DISCUSS SPECIFIC NEEDS

When putting your plan together, you'll need to keep in mind your specific daily living needs and responsibilities.

This includes consideration of communication, childcare, business, pets, and medical equipment.

Here are some factors the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends you consider:

Different ages of members within your household
Responsibilities for assisting others
Frequent locations
Dietary needs
Medical needs including prescriptions and equipment
Disabilities or access and functional needs including devices and equipment
Languages spoken
Cultural and religious considerations
Pets or service animals
Households with school-aged children

STEP 3- CREATE THE PLAN

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has put together a form for your household to fill out. You can also use it as a guide to put together your own plan.

STEP 4- PRACTICE YOUR PLAN

Making a plan is an important first step, but it's even more crucial to walk through your plan with the entire household.

This way, household members will know not only when and how to react to an emergency, but also it will help the family determine if they need to make changes to the plan or add to it.

Emergency experts often recommend running through these drills at least once a year.

COMMUNICATION CRUCIAL TO RESPONSE

As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has mentioned in its plan recommendations, communication is crucial in a household's response to an emergency or disaster and should be determined ahead of time.

Discussions between all members of your household should include how family members plan to communicate during and after a disaster could determine how smoothly a response goes. Communication impacts each individual aspect of putting together a plan and executing it.

While cellphones should be considered, towers are often overwhelmed or destroyed in a disaster. Households should have the right devices to use in this case or in situations in which power is out, is incredibly instrumental.

Families will also need a reliable way to receive important information and alerts.

Midland has you covered with its two-way walkie talkies and emergency radios.

EMERGENCY RADIO

In any emergency, you'll want to make sure you're receiving the latest alerts and information. The quickest way to receive alerts issued by the National Weather Service and emergency officials is through NOAA Weather Radio. Each of Midland's emergency radios are equipped with this feature.

Every emergency go kit should have multiple chargers for your household's cellphones, but disasters can wipe out or destroy cellphone towers, making it difficult or impossible for everyone to receive emergency alerts on their phones. With an emergency radio in tow, you won't have to worry about getting important, life-saving alerts.

Midland's ER40 Emergency Radio has multiple power sources to keep your radio charged no matter what the state of electricity is. This includes a lithium rechargeable battery, solar panel, hand crank, and a USB charging chord.

Not to mention, emergency radios have a flashlight with SOS strobe, checking off multiple items on your emergency go kit checklist.

The ER40 is coming soon and will be available for purchase this month.

WALKIE TALKIES

Emergencies or a natural disasters have the potential to wreak havoc on cellphone towers and electricity, but that doesn't mean communication isn't just as important.

Walkie talkie two-way radios bring reliable, strong, and clear communication to any location. Whether it's splitting up with members of your family as you asses the damage of a storm or caravanning as part of a wildfire evacuation order, walkie talkies will keep you connected.

Midland's X-Talker T77VP5 Walkie Talkie Two-Way Radios have an impressive battery life, important during and after an emergency. These walkie talkies come loaded with extra features including battery packs, a desktop charger, AC wall adapter, boom microphone headsets, and mico-USB charging cable. The walkie talkies have Weather Alert Radio with Midland's Weather Scan Technology, giving your family another way to receive important alerts.