At the end of this article you will find a link to some printable emergency cards that you can fill out and give to each member of the family to have the information that they need in case of an emergency.
No one ever want to have to use these cards but it is a good idea to have a Family Emergency Plan, and to teach children what should be expected in case of an emergency.
Here are a few ideas of things to discuss with children to help them be prepared in case of an emergency.
Plan as a family and agree on the following items:
A place to meet in the event of an emergency or natural disaster
You should pick two meeting places:
(1) near your home — in the event of an immediate emergency, like a fire; and
(2) outside your neighborhood — in case you can’t immediately return home.
A contact person to Call
Select a relative or friend who lives in another state who can be your point of contact (long-distance calls are often more likely to go through after a disaster than local calls). Each family member should call the contact person and tell that person where he or she is in the event of an emergency.
This card is reprinted here to show what they look like. A full printable page of these is available on the Homeland Security Site. Click on the link to go there, download the pdf file and print it.
