September is National Preparedness Month, which makes it a good time to think about something most of us would rather not think about: what would happen if something unexpected happened tomorrow?
A hurricane, severe storm, power outage, fire, cyber incident or other emergency can disrupt our routines with very little warning. And while we can’t predict every emergency—or prevent every one—we can make things a little easier on ourselves, our families and our employees by preparing ahead of time.
The good news? Preparedness doesn’t have to mean spending a weekend assembling a bunker-worthy emergency kit or writing a 50-page contingency plan. Often, it’s the small things that matter most: knowing who to call, knowing where to go and knowing what to do.
Here are six simple steps you can take this month—three at home and three at work.
At Home
1. Know where to get alerts.
When severe weather or another emergency is unfolding, reliable information matters. Make sure you know where to get local emergency alerts and weather information, and consider signing up for notifications from your local emergency management agency.
It can also be helpful to make sure family members know where to find reliable information. In an emergency, you don’t want everyone scrolling through social media trying to figure out what’s actually happening.
A five-minute task: Check your phone’s emergency alert settings and look up your local emergency notification system. Download the official FEMA app for your phone, too. It’s free, and is a great source for real-time weather and emergency alerts from the National Weather Service.
2. Make a simple family plan.
You don’t need a complicated binder full of contingencies. Start with the basics.
Who should you contact if your family becomes separated? Where would you meet if you couldn’t get home? Does everyone know how to reach an out-of-town family member? Do you have important medical information or medication needs accounted for?
The important part isn’t creating the perfect plan. It’s making sure everyone knows the plan exists.
A 10-minute task: Pick an emergency contact and meeting place, then talk through the plan with your family.
3. Check your emergency supplies.
You probably already have many of the things you would need in an emergency. Take a few minutes to see what you have—and what’s missing.
Flashlights, batteries, water, medications, first-aid supplies and basic food can become especially important during a power outage or if you need to shelter in place. Don’t forget the less obvious things, too, such as supplies for pets or backup charging options for your phone.
A 15-minute task: Open the closet where you keep your emergency supplies and see what’s expired, missing or no longer useful.
At Work
4. Review your emergency plan.
Your employees shouldn’t have to figure out what to do during an emergency by watching what everyone else is doing.
Review your Emergency Action Plan and make sure employees know the basics: evacuation routes, assembly locations, emergency contacts and reporting procedures. If you’ve hired new employees, moved offices or changed your building layout, make sure your plan still reflects reality.
A 15-minute task: Pull out your emergency plan and ask: If something happened today, would everyone know what to do?
5. Talk about it.
Preparedness becomes much easier when it’s part of the conversation.
Take a few minutes at a staff meeting to talk about what your team would do in a fire, severe weather event, extended power outage or other emergency. You don’t have to make it formal. Sometimes simply asking, “What would we do if…?” can uncover questions or gaps you hadn’t considered.
And don’t forget that employees have lives outside the workplace. Encouraging your team to think about preparedness at home can help create a culture where being prepared becomes second nature.
A 10-minute task: Pick one realistic scenario and talk through it with your team.
6. Practice.
There’s a reason we practice fire drills. When an emergency happens, people are more likely to respond effectively when they’ve already thought through what they’re supposed to do.
Depending on your workplace, that might mean an evacuation drill, a tabletop exercise or simply walking through a hypothetical scenario with your team. The goal isn’t to create a perfect performance. It’s to find the gaps before those gaps matter. (Which sounds a lot like how the Deeley team approaches building your smarter, safer insurance program!)
A 20-minute task: Pick one emergency scenario and walk through it from beginning to end. What happens first? Who makes the call? Who contacts employees? Where does everyone go?
Preparedness Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect
The goal of National Preparedness Month isn’t to convince you that you need to prepare for every possible disaster. It’s to remind us that a little preparation can go a long way.
You don’t have to do everything this week. Pick one thing from the list above and do it. Then tackle another when you have a few more minutes.
- Five minutes checking emergency alerts.
- Ten minutes talking with your family.
- Fifteen minutes reviewing your workplace plan.
Those small investments of time can mean less confusion, faster decisions and greater peace of mind when the unexpected happens.
And that’s really what preparedness is about: giving yourself and the people around you a better chance to respond when it matters.
For more preparedness information, check out FEMA’s Ready Campaign at Ready.gov.
We’ve Got You Covered
At Deeley Insurance Group, we believe being prepared is part of being a good member of the community—and a good business owner. While we can’t predict what tomorrow may bring, we can help you understand the risks you face and make sure your insurance program is ready to respond when you need it. Call or text us today at 410-213-5600.
