Action Guides
Easy Ideas
- Teach your little brother or sister about disaster preparedness.
- Sign up for text message alerts on your phone.
- Pack a change of clothes for each person in your family that's ready to to go in case you need to leave your house quickly.
- Make sure you have flashlights with fresh batteries in your house in case the power goes out.
- Make a list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your relatives in case of an emergency.
- Take an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) course at your local ambulance association.
- Join a volunteer fire department in your community.
- Ask a teacher to dedicate a class to disaster preparation. Offer to prepare the presentation yourself.
- Learn the hurricane evacuation routes for your area.
- Work with local emergency services to prepare special reports for people with disabilities on what to do during a disaster.
- Contact your local Red Cross and find out how you can help.
- Send an e-blast to your friends and loved ones about disaster preparation and response.
- Sign up to give blood.
- Sign up as a volunteer for your town's next blood drive.
- Organize a puppet show for kids to teach them about disaster preparation in a fun way.
- Practice using your fire escape if you live in an apartment building.
- Ask your parents to show you where your fuse or breaker box is located.
- Make sure your family has enough food and water for 3-4 days in case of a natural disaster.
- Start an email chain with 11 of these ideas.
- Plan emergency meeting places in your neighborhood, outside your city, and outside your state with your family.
- Practice getting out of your house with your eyes closed - if there's a fire, you might not be able to see at all.
- Go to the next open house at your fire department and practice using a fire extinguisher.
- Ask your parents to show you where your water main shut-off is.
- Check all the fire extinguishers in your house; make sure the meter is in the green and that they haven't expired.
- Find out where the nearest fire station to your home is.
