Royersford Police Help Residents Plan for Emergencies

The Royersford Police posted a list to help residents prepare for emergency situations, including creating an emergency contact list and an emergency plan.

Here is what the Royersford Police suggests:

Create an Emergency Contact List

Ask several relatives or friends who live outside your immediate area to act as a point of contact for information about you and your family after a disaster. It is often easier to place an out-of-state long distance call from a disaster area, than to call within the area. All family members should know to call the contact person to report their location and condition. Have the contact person relay messages to your other friends and relatives outside the disaster area. This will help to reduce calling into and out of the affected area once the phones are working.

Create an Emergency Plan

1. Meet with household members and discuss the dangers of possible emergency events, including fire, severe weather, hazardous spills, and terrorism.

2. Discuss how you and your family will respond to each possible emergency.

3. If family members are at different locations when an emergency starts, discuss ahead of time who will pick up the children and where you will meet if an evacuation is ordered. You should plan to meet well outside the danger area, possibly at a relative’s home.

4. Discuss what to do in case of power outages or personal injuries.

5. Draw a floor plan of your home, mark escape routes from each room.

6.Learn how to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at main switches in your home. If for any reason you turn off natural gas service to your home, call your gas company to restore service. Do not attempt to restore service yourself.

7. Post-emergency contact numbers near all telephones. Preprogram emergency numbers into phones with auto-dial features.

8. Teach children how and when to dial 911 to get help during an emergency.

9.Teach children how to make a telephone call to a friend or relative if they are separated from you (it is often easier to call out-of-state during an emergency than with in the affected area).

10. Instruct household members to turn on the radio, the weather radio or television for emergency information.

11. Pick two meeting places—a place near your home and a place outside your neighborhood—in case you cannot return home after an emergency.

12. Take a Basic First Aid and CPR class. Contact the American Red Cross for more information at www.redcross.org or call 1.800.REDCROSS(1.800.733.2767).

13. Keep family records in a waterproof and fire proof safe. Inexpensive safes can be purchased at most hardware stores. Every year, photocopy the front and back of your cards in your wallet and place a copy in your safe and in your emergency kit.