Blog About Safety

Is your partner on your emergency contact list or will they call your ex?

Making sure ALL of your loved ones know where you are.

If you were sick or injured and unable to communicate your emergency contact information to hospital workers, how would they know who to call? How would your partner or significant other know where you were? Contrary to popular belief there‘s no database of contact information for hospitals to pull from, so EverybodySafe.com provides a way to let everyone important to you know where you are.

It can take up to 18 hours for your family and loved ones to find out where you are, and even then, it might not be who you particularly want contacted.

What is that, you ask?

The “It Won’t Happen to Me” syndrome is, basically, denial. I won’t get into a really bad car accident and be rushed to the hospital. I won’t have a heart attack, even though there is family history. Yes, tornadoes, mudslides, hurricanes, forest fires… are around here but it won’t hit my house. There are terrorist attacks in large cities and at large events but it won’t happen when I’m there. My house won’t catch fire…

The list could go on and on. None of us wants to think about anything bad happening. However, if we don’t think about it, how can we prepare for it?

The answer is to think about these things long enough to be prepared. Once we have a plan for emergencies and disasters, we can go back to living our happy lives. But we have to plan !!

According to Ready.gov -

1. Get a Kit / To-Go Bag
2. Make a Plan
3. Stay Informed

There is another blog post that explains the details of what is needed – Make a Plan, Get a Kit, Stay Informed.

EverybodySafe.com can be used for the third item on the list. Part of staying informed is informing others on your status. Let them know if you are hurt by sending an alert, or if you are OK by sending an “I’m OK” message.

Don’t put this off any longer. Let’s go out and enjoy life, knowing that we will be prepared in the event of an emergency or disaster.

While talking to someone recently, they mentioned that we had a micro-notification system. That was food for thought. We don’t have a mass notification system, that will alert a community regarding a disaster. That is a mass notification system. That system is very important and everyone should find out about the type of system in your area. Sign up for the mass notification system. We won’t always have a radio or television on to hear about what has happened, so getting alerts sent to your phone or email is very important.

Instead, our system notifies the people close to you in the event of an emergency. We alert your friends, family, neighbors and anyone else on your list in the event of an emergency that has happened to you. That is the micro-notification system. This type of system is more personal. It can be used in times of a major disaster, or if you have been involved in a car accident. The accident can be very major to you, but may not be on the news.

Another time when the micro-notification system helps is to let people know that you are OK when a major disaster does strike. Maybe there is an earthquake. Do you have a Mom that worries all the time? Send out an “I’m OK” message with our system to let her and others know that the earthquake did not effect you. Mom will be so releived!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could prevent bad things from happening? Make the world a better place? That would be wonderful, but it just is not what is happening today. Disasters happen – tornadoes, hurricanes, shootings, accidents, the list goes on. If we can’t prevent something from happening wouldn’t it be better to at least know if someone you care about is either hurt or OK? We have a service for both.

If you are in an accident that has made the news, you can call our 800# and let the people on your list know your status.

Emergencies happen, Natural disasters happen, Accidents happen. Many of these are preventable. For example, many accidents can be prevented by being more careful and using safety precautions. Thinking about how to do something more carefully and taking the extra few minutes to do that can make a huge difference. We are all guilty of carelessness. I’ve pulled a chair over to step on to reach something high rather than getting the stepladder just because the chair is closer. How much more time would it have taken to get the stepladder? In reality, that would have been 2 or 3 minutes total, to get it out, set it up, and put it away. Compare that to days or months or more to recuperate from an injury caused by falling from the chair. That is one small example in a world of ways that we can be more carful. It is very important to be careful and prepared. Since tornadoes can tear a town apart in minutes, it’s better to be prepared than to be apathetic. Have a plan, get an emergency kit, sign up with us so the people important to you will be notified when something does happen.

Many of us don’t really think about emergency plans. We have the attitude of “it won’t happen to me.”

I was also guilty of in years past. But, the truth is, bad things do happen. Emergencies occur, natural disasters happen, shootings, car accidents, serious illness…. the list goes on. I don’t want to think about these things on a daily basis! Worrying about this is not something we should do either! That causes it’s own stress. I don’t like to listen to the news since there is so much negativism. But, I do want to be prepared.

Letting people know that something has happened if an emergency occurs is part of being prepared. With my EverybodySafe.com account, I have everyone listed that I want to know immediately if something happens to me. Then, with each person, I have the choice of having them notified in different ways.

Make EverybodySafe.com part of your emergency plan.

1. Make a Plan Write up a plan for emergencies & disasters.
2. Get a Kit – Buy or put together an emergency kit. This should include food and water for three days.
3. Stay Informed – Use our system to notify your contacts in the event of an emergency.

Make a Plan – This should apply to emergencies and disasters small and large. It is best to have a written plan, and discuss it with your family. Include where to meet in case of fire or natural disaster. If someone goes into the hospital, have a plan for who will take over certain things for that person, either at work or at home. The plan can also specify one person to take care of medical needs, another person to make sure the kids/pets are taken care of, and so on. Make sure to include the specifics that apply to your household. If a young child needs medication, having a specific person to make sure that child has the medication is better than the child either missing a dose or getting double the medication. These seemingly small items are very important.

Get a Kit - An emergency kit is very important for a natural disaster. Everyone should have enough food and water to last for 3 days. Ready.gov suggests the following for the basics of your kit:

Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit:

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Local maps
• Specifics for you and your household, such as perscriptions and eyeglasses

Kits can be purchased or put together on your own. Either way you choose to go, have the emergency kit ready.

Stay Informed – You’ll need to know what is happening and have a way of notifying others. A portable, battery powered radio can keep you up-to-date on the news. EveybodySafe.com can notify family, friends, neighbors and anyone else you specify in the event of an emergency or disaster. A good disaster/emergency plan will include a notification system.