Are you prepared for an emergency?
March is Red Cross Month. As we approach the season of increased 
weather related emergencies, we are reminded of the unprecidented natural disasters of 2008. At no time in my lifetime can I remember so many natural emergencies occurring so close together.
Regardless of how busy our daily lives are, we must take personal responsibility for our own care and safety by developing a preparedness plan in the event of a national emergency. As the Red Cross says “Help Starts with You.” Preparedness is all about planning ahead, having what you need on hand, storing things in an accessible way and making sure you know what to do before you need to put that knowledge into practice. Even though predicting every disaster scenario is impossible, preparing the basics is smart and simple. Take the time NOW to accomplish the below steps and your family will be basically prepared for any natural or unnatural disaster.
- Prepare a Family Communication/Reunion Plan. The Plan enables your family to communicate and to meet during a disaster. It records all important phone numbers, email addresses, and meet-up locations so that family members can reach one another by phone, email or in person. But keep in mind that you may not be able to rely on land or mobile phone communication, so be sure to have a back up plan.
- Stock three days and three nights of provisions to get you through 72-hours of living without electricity. The provisions are obtainable at any Walmart or Target and most large grocery stores. Just add these items to your regular shopping list.
- One gallon of water per person per day (for three days). For a family of four, you’ll need 12 gallons of water.
- Ready to eat, non-perishable food (dried fruit, cereal. protein bars, canned food, crackers, soups, pasta, rice, peanut butter and jelly, pudding cups, powdered milk are highly recommended)
- Paper plates, cups, dinnerware, paper towels, plastic food bags, plastic gloves and a manual can opener
- One flashlight per person plus extra batteries
- Travel size toiletries, including sun screen
- A First Aid Kit for the home, one for the car and one for the grab and go bag.
- In a central location put a change of clothes for each family member plus extra underwear and blankets and basic toiletries like soap, toothbrush, shampoo, toilet paper and razors. Use a shelf, an extra large plastic trash bin, or an extra large plastic container for these items.
- Have a supply of cash for a 72-hour period. ATMs may not be an option.
- Prepare a supply of family over-the counter and prescription medicines. Remember the pets too.
- Purchase a NOAA weather radio. Radio Shack, Walmart, Home Depot and Ace Hardware carry them. Set it for your county. It will tell you the status of the disaster, evacuation information, and alerts. Get a transistor radio with batteries. It will tell you local conditions, school closings, travel hazards, and local shelters. While you’re there pick up a landline telephone (it costs under $12.00)
- Pack a grab and go bag (backpack or small rolling luggage) in case you have to evacuate your home to a hotel, shelter or relative’s home. Keep it light with just the basics: toiletries, change of clothes, medicine, 2 bottles of water, protein bars and cell phone.
- One person in the family needs to carry a first aid kit.
- Depending on your family, add special items like extra eyeglasses, favorite plush toys, or portable electronic games.
- A dust mask, duck tape, scissors, a whistle, can opener and other similar items.
- Copy the contents of your wallet (both sides of credit cards, insurance cards, and license). Stick it in a grab and go bag.
- Prepare for the care of your pets too – food, water and food bowl, leash, a toy, medications, vet records.
- For a complete, portable document system, get a PortaVault at http://www.securitaonline.com.
Schedule a natural preparedness day to review your plan with your family. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their own safety when a natural disaster does occur. Then practice your family disaster plan at least twice per year.
For more information on developing your family’s disaster plan, visit:
American Red Cross - “Help Starts With You”
Originally posted 2009-03-17 10:50:07. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Organize for an Emergency: 5 Tips To Get Your Home Insurance Buttoned Up!
Filed under: Family Management, Home Organization, Organizing Products & Reviews
In recognition of Emergency Preparedness Month, I found a great article by Guru Sarah Welch of Buttoned Up that I wanted to share.
Homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance is a necessity; it covers you for unexpected occurrences ranging from robberies to fires.
However, when it comes to assessing whether or not you have adequate coverage, the devil is in the details. For example, did you know that the majority of these plans do not cover floods or earthquakes or that some cover fire damage but not wildfire damage? With more and more extreme cases of weather and natural disasters, it is more important than ever to review your coverage and be certain that you have the best level of protection you can get given your budget constraints.
Here are 5 tips for getting your home insurance organized.
1. Watch What You Claim
Did you know that if you keep making small claims over and over, you may exhaust your insurance funds more quickly than you anticipated or be dropped from the plan? It may also cause your premiums significantly increase, in which case paying for that roof repair out of your pocket may be smarter financially. Look carefully at your plan before you make a claim or talk to your agent to find out all of the nitty gritty details on small claims and their effect on your coverage.
2. Take Inventory
Do you know exactly what is in your home? First of all, write down from memory everything of value in your living room from electronics to DVDs. Now take that list to the living room. Did you remember it all? Now imagine doing that for your entire home after a fire rips through your home. Everyone has valuables; they are so much more than just artwork or televisions. Think about your CD’s, iPods, clothing, outerwear, golf clubs, Corningware, picture frames. They are all valuable and worth something. Go through your home and take an inventory of everything in your house room by room. Take photos, keep the proofs of purchase for anything in your home over $200, get appraisals done on all luxury items like jewelry, and keep it all in an easy to grab binder that you can take with you at a moment’s notice. The other reason this step is important is you may find that you are carrying insurance for $25,000 worth of goods in your home, but actually have close to $50,000 worth of items in the house. You can also hire an insurance appraiser to go through your home after you take inventory if you would like. At the bare minimum, however, having the inventory log of the valuables in your home will get you a lot more in reimbursement if the worst does occur.
3. Determine Exactly What IS Covered
Insurance packets and their corresponding websites are not written for the layperson. They can be highly confusing, full of legal mumbo-jumbo, and contain asterisked scenarios such as “If your home is damaged in a fire you are covered for X amount of dollars.”* The small print under the asterisk then clarifies along the lines of *Note: Unless you own a red car, a monkey, or have ever eaten at Dale’s Deli.” These papers can be overwhelming, so schedule an appointment with your agent and discuss the ins and outs of your current coverage. To make the conversation easier, bring your valuables binder to talk about your home inventory, and discuss events that aren’t covered by your current plan, like sewage, hurricane, flood, earthquake, etc.
4. Equip and Prepare
Owning Insurance is one piece of the puzzle, but you can also take insurance into your own hands with proper emergency planning and preparation. For example, if you live in an area that has frequent wildfires, you should clear the brush around your property on a regular basis. You may also want to consider applying a coat or two of fire deterrent paint. If you live in a hurricane prone area, do you have proper roofing reinforcements and windows installed? Even if you don’t live in an area with extreme weather, simply having an alarm system means fire departments will be quickly alerted of flames and police of burglaries. These safety defenses also have an added bonus: they can lower your insurance rates dramatically.
5. Have an Insurance Assessor on Deck:
Keep the contact information of a trusted insurance assessor who is not affiliated with your insurance provider in your valuables inventory log. If you ever need to file a claim, have that third party assess your damage immediately. Your insurance company is going to do the same and they will try to pay you back as little as possible. Cover your bases and fight back by having another professional document the claim and cost so you get what you rightfully deserve. Your home is your safe haven, your livelihood. You should do everything you can to protect those assets by planning ahead.
We love Buttoned Up products and carry a wide variety in The Simplified Home. Here are a couple that I recommend for organizing home records and paper so you have what you need at your fingertips in the event of an emergency.
Life.doc - The only complete system for organizing all of your critical information in one spot.
The Life.doc binder by Buttoned Up will guide you through the process of capturing your critical information so it’s ready when you need it. Give yourself and your family peace of mind.
Receipt.catcher – your receipts buttoned up.
The perfect spot for all those pesky receipts.
When it’s time to pay the taxes, balance your checkbook or return an item, you’ll know where it find the receipts when you use the convenient and compact Receipt.Catcher.
It includes nine tabbed sections that make it easy to classify receipts now and find them again later.
Learn more about Receipt.catcher
Collision.kit – The ONLY kit that ensures you have everything you need to accurately capture the details surrounding any car accident.
If you’ve ever been in a car accident, you know how critical it is to remember and document the facts after the accident. But when you’re shaken and upset it’s easy to leave the scene without complete information. Collision.kit from Buttoned Up ensures you have everything you need to record the details of the incident.
Learn more about Collision.kit
Pocket.doc – The ONLY perfectly portable record book for your essential information.
The Pocket.doc provides simple to fill out forms that easily fit into a wallet, purse or backpack. So you have critical emergency, medical, and contact information when and where you need it.
Originally posted 2009-09-28 15:13:52. Republished by Old Post Promoter
