Consider your family’s daily schedule. How often is everyone in one place at the same time?
Most likely during the average day, the children are at school or day care and mom and dad are at work, at home or running errands.
When a natural disaster or violent event hits, that separation can make reaching loved ones feel like the earth has split in two.
During or after a crisis, parents often rush to their kids’ schools to retrieve them. The 911 emergency phone lines might be tied up, and cellphone calls might not go through. Things can get chaotic.
Having a family emergency and communication plan in place helps families cope with a disaster or an act of violence or terrorism, law enforcement officials say.
The horror of the shootings in San Bernardino and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut has created a new reality for most parents. The unthinkable may happen, and preparation is a powerful way to help squelch those fears.
“Create a communication plan and discuss it with your kids several times throughout the year,” said Sgt. Jared Dahl, who oversees the Juvenile Services Bureau of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Despite the busy schedules many parents face, consistently updating contact information is essential to any emergency plan, Dahl said.
ReadyOC, Orange County’s primary emergency-preparedness resource, offers families and schools emergency plans and templates, kits and other resources to prepare for earthquakes, floods, landslides, disease outbreaks, power outages, weather emergencies, wildfires and terrorism.
Similarly, the Federal Emergency Management Agency offers family communication plan templates that parents and kids can fill out online and in print.
California schools must annually update their locally developed comprehensive safe school plans, which include responses to an emergency and steps to keep staff and students safe. Parents should learn about their school’s disaster-response plans, authorities said.
If a disaster or act of violence occurs, “do not panic,” said Dahl. “As parents, we all want to know if our kids are safe and get them out of harm’s way. However, parents need to have faith that the schools, if it is a school event, and law enforcement understand the utmost importance is child safety.”
Dahl added that parents sometimes become a bigger distraction than the event when disorder ensues. “I understand the need parents feel to get to a location, but plan on being very patient with staff and law enforcement.”
Annie Brown, spokeswoman for the Irvine Unified School District, said her district uses a phone call system and can also send an email, a recorded voice message or a text, or all of them, to keep parents informed.
“Parents are encouraged to go to our social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, for real-time updates,” Brown said. “We encourage people to get on social media, because in times of major disasters those things won’t go down, generally, and they usually aren’t hampered by overload.”
Annette Franco, spokeswoman for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, said her district’s schools hold regular drills for fires, earthquakes and other disasters, as well as lock-down drills that include tips on when to shelter in place or run-hide-act.
The district also conducts threat assessments, and staff members have emergency response training.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
• Include your kids in the emergency-planning process. Shop for your emergency-supply kit with them and make sure they know where the kits are stored.
• Learn about emergency and evacuation plans for schools, day care providers, workplaces and apartment buildings.
• Make sure your kids’ school emergency contact cards are updated.
• Emergency kits should include food, water, a radio, flashlights, batteries, a first-aid kit, dust masks, duct tape, a wrench or pliers, local maps and more. Visit ready.gov/kit.
• Have a list of your child’s teachers and the times your child will be in specific classes. Take a picture of the class schedule with your cellphone. It should include a phone number for the school. Know the entrances, exits and side streets for auxiliary parking. In an emergency, you may not be able to access the area because of emergency vehicles and the media.
• Make sure all family members know how to text and have your child text you his or her location when it’s safe. Texts often get through when network disruptions prevent calls.
• Have a safe place for your child to go to that is close to the school or near home. If you work out of the area, designate another parent, friend or relative to pick up your child.
• Have your child’s cellphone set up with a GPS locating service that is accessed by the parent. Many phones have this feature through the phone itself or the carrier.
