Emergency Plan

Level 1

Your family

Nothing above this level works if this level isn't done. Block captains, the bishop, and the stake all assume your family can take care of itself for the first stretch — that assumption is what frees everyone to go help the households that can't.

Write the plan down

Appendix B of the regional plan

Who it covers. List every person in the household with their age, and note any physical or mental special needs — the ward keeps a separate record of who will need help, and it starts with what families report.

Two meeting places. One in your own yard, near the house. One outside the neighborhood, in case nobody can get back in.

Two escape routes from every room. Draw a floor plan of each level. If there's a second story, decide now how someone gets to the ground from a window — chain ladders or window-well ladders in children's bedrooms if you need them.

One local contact and one out-of-state contact. Local phone service is likely to be disrupted, and long distance often survives when local doesn't. Everyone in the family calls the same out-of-state number within the first hour and reports where they are, how they are, and when they'll check in again.

The school's release policy. Know who is authorized to pick up your children and what the school does if parents can't get there.

Your block captain's name and number, and a note to report your family's status to them as soon as you can after an emergency.

Fill in your family's planStays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Know your house

Utility shutoffs

  • Everyone old enough should know where the water, gas, and electric shutoffs are — inside and outside the house.
  • Keep the tools you need to work them within reach of the valves.
  • Only shut off if there's a problem. Water if it's flooding. Gas if you smell or detect a leak. Electricity if there's a dangerous condition. Otherwise leave them alone — a gas line turned off has to be relit by the utility.

Fire

  • What to do for smoke or a kitchen fire.
  • Smoke under the door or a hot door: don't open it.
  • Teach the 18-inch crawl under smoke.
  • Teach never re-enter a burning home.
  • Teach how and when to dial 911.
  • Extinguishers charged, detectors working — change batteries with the daylight saving time changes.

First aid

  • Take classes in First Aid, CPR, and the Heimlich maneuver. You cannot have too much of this.
  • A well-equipped kit in the home and one in the car.
  • Consider CERT training — Community Emergency Response Team members are the ward's first organized help.

Supplies

Targets named in the plan
72-hour kit
Food, water, medications, baby needs, and sanitary supplies in a container you can pick up and carry. Include a way to cook. Rotate the food every six months.
Water
At least two 55-gallon drums, stored and rotated. Plan on 2 gallons per person per day.
Food
A 30-day supply of food close to what you'd normally eat, working toward a year's supply of food, clothing, and where possible fuel. For long-term storage, just the basics.
Skills
Gardening, canning, and food storage. Dry-pack canning opportunities are organized through the ward.
On the year's supply, Harold B. Lee: “Not what we ordinarily use, but in terms of what would keep us alive if there wasn't anything else to eat — and it would be less costly for us to comply.” The plan adds: no one should go into debt or bring financial hardship on their family to prepare.

Important documents

Keep copies in a waterproof, portable container.

  • Birth certificates
  • Marriage certificate
  • Passports or photo IDs
  • Social Security cards
  • Insurance policies — home, auto, life, health
  • Property deeds or rental agreements
  • Bank account information
  • Credit card information
  • Medical records and prescriptions
  • Family photos, digital and physical
  • Patriarchal blessings
Keep digital copies on a USB drive or in secure cloud storage as well.
The regional plan's targets are above. The ward has also asked families to work toward three months of food and water; the two are not in conflict, they were written at different times. Aim for whichever you are further from.

Open the supply checklist

Earthquake

Before · During · After

Before — this weekend's list

  • Strap the water heater, refrigerator, and gas dryer.
  • Secure all tall furniture to studs.
  • Rigid support on natural gas lines up to the flexible connector.
  • Move flammables to outside storage.
  • Heavy objects onto low shelves.
  • Museum wax under anything breakable you'd hate to lose.
  • Bunk beds secured together; nothing heavy over a headboard.
  • Walk the house on a hazard hunt and fix what you find.
  • Emergency lights in children's bedrooms and hallways that switch on when the power fails. Light dispels fear.
  • Keep every vehicle at least half full of gas.

During

  • If you're inside, stay inside. If you're outside, stay outside.
  • Do not run out of older buildings or down stairs while it's shaking.
  • Get under a table or desk, or into an interior doorway. Duck, cover, and hold until the shaking stops.

After

  • Check for injuries and give first aid.
  • Put on shoes if you don't have them on.
  • Smell for natural gas and check for water leaks — shut off only if you find one.
  • Confine frightened pets.
  • Check the house for structural damage and evacuate if you need to.
  • Expect aftershocks.
  • Clean up hazardous materials first.
  • Don't eat food that was sitting near shattered glass.

Other hazards

Carried over from the ward's own guidance

Wildfire

If evacuation is ordered

  • Leave immediately — do not wait
  • Grab your 72-hour kits and important documents
  • Take prescribed medications
  • Bring pets if possible
  • Close all windows and doors
  • Turn off air conditioning
  • Follow designated evacuation routes

Severe winter storm

  • Stay indoors and dress warmly in layers
  • Have an alternative heat source ready (fireplace, generator)
  • Prevent pipes from freezing — let faucets drip, open cabinet doors
  • Keep food that does not require cooking
  • Have a battery-powered radio for updates
  • Check on elderly neighbors

Extended power outage

  • Report the outage to Rocky Mountain Power: 1-877-508-5088
  • Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed
  • Use flashlights rather than candles where you can
  • Unplug electronics to protect them from surges when power returns
  • If using a generator, keep it outside and away from windows
  • Check on neighbors who may need assistance
  • Conserve phone battery
Never run generators or grills indoors — carbon monoxide is the danger, and it gives no warning.

After any emergency

  • Turn on the TV if there's power, or a battery radio if there isn't — KBYU 89.1 FM.
  • Make sure everyone in the family is safe and accounted for.
  • Check the neighbors to your right, your left, and across the street.
  • Check on the families you minister to and report needs to a quorum leader, a member of the bishopric, or your block captain.
  • Report to your block captain at the neighborhood staging area.
  • Expect normal communication to be out and stores and gas stations closed.
  • Before you leave home, hang your marker by the front door so the street knows your family's condition.