Before an emergency occurs, make a communications plan for your family.
During an emergency, local phone lines may be overwhelmed and may give perpetual busy signals.
The lines that go out-of-state, however, are different and may work when others won’t.
If cell phone towers are down, you might not even have a cell signal.
Know what to do if this happens.
Landlines
Know where you can find a landline phone.
Regular landlines, not VOIP lines from your cable company, work on a low voltage system that will still work even if the power is out.
Most people don’t have landlines anymore, and they may not be available in your area. If you live in a new or recently renovated house, you might not even have the necessary wiring for a landline.
Ask your neighbors. Find out who has a landline and make arrangements NOW to use their phone in an emergency.
Pay Phones
Using a pay phone can be an option in your plan.
Pay phones are hard to find, but they still exist. Locate one before an emergency occurs.
Make sure ALL family members know where it is and how to use it.
Many of the younger generation have never seen a payphone much less actually used one.
Make sure they know how to use it if this is part of your plan.
Out-Of-State Contact
Find an out-of-state friend or relative TODAY and ask them to be your emergency contact.
Make sure EVERY MEMBER of your family knows who to call and has the phone number.
Put the phone number in everyone’s phone, on a card in each emergency kit, and put it on your fridge with your other emergency numbers.
It’s so quick and easy to do. Do it now.
Do you know who will be your contact? Have you let them know?
If possible, your out-of-state contact should be someone who is calm and doesn’t get easily frazzled in stressful times.
Make sure your contact knows what will be expected of them when family members start calling. These expectations may include:
- Taking messages
- Relaying messages to others
- Tracking locations of family members
- Facilitating 3-way calls between family members
- Notifying others of your status
- Notifying authorities of emergency needs
Not sure how to bring the subject up? You might be surprised how easy it is.