Emergency Planning and Preparation:

A key component of the FAC concept is residents who know how to safely and effectively evacuate. Successful community evacuation requires preparation. The following checklists provide recommendations concerning proper evacuation preparations.

Elements of Family Emergency Planning and Preparation

A family emergency plan is essential in the evacuation process.

• Meet with household members. Explain dangers to children, and work as a team to prepare your family for emergencies.
• Discuss what to do about power outages and personal injuries.
• Post emergency phone numbers near phones.
• Learn how to turn off the water, gas (see instructions) and electricity at your home.
• Select a safe meeting point. During an emergency, you may become separated from family members.
• Choose an out-of-town contact because it is often easier to make a long-distance phone call than a local call from a disaster area. Everyone must know the contact's phone number.
• Complete a family communications plan. Your plan should include contact information for family members, work and school.
• Teach children how to make long-distance phone calls.
• Complete an inventory of home contents and photograph/videotape the house and landscape. Place files in your to-go bag. A second copy of these files should be stored in a location away from your community.
• Identify escape routes and safe places. In a fire or other emergency, you may need to evacuate very quickly. Be sure everyone in your family knows the best escape routes out of your home and where safe places are in your home for each type of disaster. Draw an escape plan with your family highlighting two routes out of each room.
• Prepare EVACUATED sign and if you have an emergency water source (pool, pond or hot tub), a WATER SOURCE HERE sign. Select a site to post signs where they will be clearly visible from the street.

To-Go Bag and Disaster Supplies Kit:

Prepare for at least three days, but preferably seven days. The best time to assemble a to-go bag and disaster supplies kit is well before you need them. Most of these items are already in your home and stocking up on emergency supplies now can add to your family's safety and comfort during and after a disaster.

Essentials for a To-Go Bag

The to-go bag should be easily accessible and filled with items needed to help you quickly and safely evacuate your home. When a wildfire is approaching, you may only have enough time to retrieve this bag.

• Clothing and personal toiletries.
• Inventory of home contents and photographs/videotape of the house and landscape. Contact your insurance agent for an inventory checklist.
• Flashlight, portable radio tuned to an emergency radio station and extra batteries. Change batteries annually.
• Extra set of car and house keys.
• Extra pair of eyeglasses.
• Contact information for family, friends and physicians.
• Copy of Fire Adapted Communities - The Next Step in Wildfire Preparedness. Contact us to request a copy or download it from the Learning Center page.

Essentials for a Disaster Supplies Kit

If you anticipate an extended evacuation at an emergency shelter or your family is returning to a home without functioning electricity and water, these items will prove helpful:

• One gallon of water per person, per day stored in unbreakable containers and labeled with the storage date. Replace every six months.
• Supply of non-perishable packaged or canned foods with a hand-operated can opener.
• Anti-bacterial hand wipes or gel.
• First aid kit, including a first aid book.
• At least one blanket or sleeping bag per person.
• ABC-type fire extinguisher.
• Special items for infants, elderly or disabled family members.
• Large plastic trash bags, tarps and rain ponchos.
• A large trash can.
• Bar soap, liquid detergent and household bleach.
• Rubber gloves and duct tape.

Special Needs of Vulnerable Populations:

During a disaster, it is essential that individuals with special needs, including the elderly, people with medical problems and people with certain disabilities, receive proper care.

How to Address the Special Needs of Vulnerable Populations During an Evacuation

• If the family member is dependent upon medications, equipment or has special dietary needs, plan to bring those items with you. Documentation about insurance and medical conditions should also accompany the person.
• Transportation available to the general public during an emergency evacuation may not be suitable for family members with special needs. Plan ahead for their transportation.
• Many special needs populations are easily upset and stressed by sudden and frightening changes. Your plans should ensure that a caregiver or trusted family member is able to stay with them at all times during an evacuation.

Preparing Pets and Livestock for Evacuation:

Plan to take your animals with you and never turn them loose. Animals may not be allowed inside human emergency shelters. Contact your local animal services department for advice on animal evacuation.

• Make sure dogs and cats wear properly fitted collars with identification, vaccination, microchip and license tags.
• Your pet evacuation plan should include routes, transportation needs and host sites. Share this plan with trusted neighbors in your absence.
• Exchange veterinary information with neighbors and file a permission slip with the veterinarian authorizing emergency care for your animals if you cannot be located.
• Make sure all vehicles, trailers and pet carriers needed for evacuation are serviced and ready to be used.
• Assemble a pet to-go bag with a supply of food, non-spill food and water bowls, cat litter and box and a restraint (chain, leash or harness). Additional items to include are newspaper and paper towels, plastic bags, permanent marker, bleach/disinfectant solution and water buckets.

Emergency Notification System:

Several Nevada counties employ emergency notification systems capable of calling telephones and sending emails and text messages to a particular area, providing a prepared message during an emergency. However, you may not receive the message if the electricity fails, if you are not at home when an emergency occurs, or if your contact information is not included in the notification system database. These emergency communication systems may allow you to enter multiple forms of contact information (unlisted home number, cell phone, work phone and email address) into the database. Check with your county's emergency management department, local fire department or Sheriff's department to see if your county employs an emergency notification system and how you can register for alerts.

You Have Prepared Your Family for an Emergency Evacuation When You Have:

Residents of the Lakeview community were evacuated during the Waterfall Fire.

• Made a Family Emergency Plan.
• Registered with your local emergency notification system, if this service is available in your area.
• Registered with your phone tree captain, if one has been established in your community.
• Attended an evacuation drill, if one has been offered in your community, and practiced two of the recommended evacuation routes out of the community.
• Arranged for transportation out of the affected area if you do not drive.
• Familiarized yourself and your family with the location of local evacuation centers.
• Designated a safe meeting place and contact person for you and your family members.
• Assembled a family to-go bag, a disaster supplies kit and a pet to-go bag.
• Inventoried home contents and videotaped/photographed property and placed in to-go bag.
• Reviewed the animal/livestock evacuation recommendations and assembled supplies needed for their care in a pet to-go bag.
• Reviewed the supplemental fire-preparedness information available on this website.
• Prepared EVACUATED and WATER SOURCE HERE signage.