Set a Family Communication Plan

If a wildfire threatens your home or town, you may have only a moment's notice to get what you need and get out. Creating a communication plan so that all members of your household know who to contact in an emergency can help save their lives. 

• Download the recommended communication checklist from FEMA  here.
• Use this handy download FindYourFive_85x11.pdfproduced by the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services to help you increase your emergency preparedness by sharing your plan with five trusted Emergency Allies.
• Consider installing family management apps that provide real-time location sharing on mobile devices so you know where your loved ones are in the event of an emergency. WhatsApp, Life360, and Verizon Smart Family are some examples.
• Remember that Wildfire can happen at anytime, so a plan should include ways to find and contact eachother if something happens while the family is separated from one another. Consider that telephone service may be overloaded or intermittant during a wildfire event. Try to plan contingencies in that case. Designate an out of town contact person for the whole family to contact and act as a hub.
• Consider a few "out of town" meeting places in case your family evacuates seperately from one another, you know where to find each other later. More than 1 place may be necessary depending on where the wildfire occurs, so talk about what situation would make you chosee 1 place over the other to reduce confusion.
• Having a plan, and practicing it can reduce the stress and fear in an emergency situation.