Through a partnership with the Ad Council, FEMA recently released several humorous PSAs that mock family emergency action plans…which, all-too-often, consist of not having one.
Mom: So, I’ve come up with an family emergency plan.
Daughter: What is it?
Mom: It’s difficult to explain so I’m not telling you.
Daughter: How will we know what to do?
Mom: You won’t.{Smiles}
Daughter: I’m so glad I won’t have to remember anything. {Hugs mom}
Dad: Me too.
It’s safe to say that if 6 out of 10 families don’t have emergency plans, a sizeable number of churches probably don’t either. This is a conversation that must be had! And the difficulty of educating an always evolving congregation cannot be an obstacle.
Don’t Know Where to Start?
Start here, with our Emergency Plan Checklist. Additionally, insurance companies, local emergency response officials, the American Red Cross, the local office of FEMA, and denominational disaster response offices will have resources to use in developing the plan.
Once the plan has been developed and in place, training will be required. The plan must also be evaluated periodically to determine if the needs of the congregation and any new situations have been addressed.
While you’re at it, go ahead and encourage your families to create their own family emergency action plans. You might even consider your facility becoming an established community hub in the event of an area disaster.
Hopefully you’ll never need your plan, but one thing is for sure: You’ll never regret having it.
