Family Preparedness: Securing Important Documents Before an Emergency

This post educates families on their emergency preparedness by highlighting the importance of securing their important documents before an emergency event.

How Families Can Proactively Keep Records Safe

When emergencies occur, they often come with little to no warning. Creating a family safety plan is an effective way for families to communicate with each member on how to stay safe in the event of severe weather, fire, or other situations. Physical protections like designating a safe meeting place inside or outside the home (depending on the emergency) help ensure a safe and coordinated reaction to unpredictable situations.

Beyond the physical protection of household members, families often face challenges after disaster events if they lose important government, financial, and medical documents due to the destruction or loss of these records.  

Losing a Driver’s License is a nightmare for most Americans, but it could be far worse. Enduring a disaster event only to lose the physical copies of the below documents for an entire family is catastrophic:

• ID cards

• Birth Certificates

• Passports

• Prescription labels

• Proof of ownership documents

• Banking information

Without the above documents in hand, it can prevent families from collecting aid or filing insurance claims in a timely manner to recover from disaster incidents.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides resources like Ready.gov which educates families before a disaster occurs – including how to create family safety plans with certain safety guidelines and how to financially prepare for disaster. It also outlines the importance of digitizing essential records through simple measures like snapping a picture of the documents and either holding them on your phone’s camera roll or simply emailing them to yourself.

This simple approach to securing documents in the digital space can grant peace of mind for families as they make their safety plans and certainly helps as they recover from disaster.

The same peace of mind can be afforded to families who may face different emergencies.

Learning from Disaster Preparedness

Households with dependent adults, elderly members, child custody disputes, or households with members facing severe health conditions or mental health concerns can implement the same proactive approach in how they handle their family’s safety.

While emergencies like wandering, elopement, mental health crises, and abduction are much different than the type of natural disasters alluded to earlier, the importance of securing digital records remains.

Like most calls to a traditional 9-1-1 operator, the ability for the caller to provide up-to-date information is crucial for the operator to connect the proper response agencies. At the start of these events, time is essential.

From the second a call is made, 9-1-1 and hotline operators need as much verified information as possible. By having digital and readily available access to records, families can quickly supply the verified information needed for response. This information can ensure identification, notify law enforcement and EMS of any ongoing medical conditions, and provide situational context to assist in recovery efforts. The ability to easily present and relay the information of those records is crucial in these situations.

Digital record keeping also assists law enforcement in their investigations after emergencies. These records may also play a significant role in civil or criminal legal cases if pursued.

With this in mind, families with members who have additional care needs should similarly apply the same approach in document preparation.

Conclusion

No one knows your family better than you. Digitizing the government and personal records of your household ensures that if an emergency occurs, you can still provide life-saving information in moments of panic and severe stress.

When creating your family safety plan, remember to do this simple and proactive step so that you can be prepared and able to help. Take the time today to secure digital copies of essential documents so that you don’t need to spend it when time matters most.