Personal Action Guide for Community Emergencies
- Make sure your vehicles have been properly serviced before the onset of winter.
- Stock each vehicle with emergency items...
Shovel, gravel or sand, sleeping bag, heat candles, matches, flares, high energy food such as granola bars, spare socks, walking boots, mittens and a hat, blanket, a container for melting snow, a brightly coloured cloth to signal assistance. Ideally these items should be in the car (not the trunk), as trunks can freeze shut.
- Make sure you have a safe, alternative heat source available in case of power interruptions. If you have a fireplace, sufficient supplies of firewood should be kept dry and accessible.
- Have containers available to store a sufficient supply of drinking water in case pipes freeze. Be prepared to fill a bathtub with water.
- Have on hand sufficient supplies of canned or prepared foods, in case you cannot use your stove or microwave oven for an extended period of time. Your barbecue offers an alternative cooking source, but you are cautioned NOT to use it inside the house.
- Always dress appropriately for winter weather conditions. Protection of extremities (head, hands, feet) is vital. Several layers of clothing will trap warm air around your body more effectively than a single layer.
- Move your car out of the way of traffic.
- Stay calm. Do not leave your vehicle to seek other shelter unless appropriate shelter is very close, visible and obviously inhabited.
- Tie your distress flag to your aerial or outside door handle.
- Take steps to stay warm. If clothing is wet, remove it and replace with dry items. Wrap yourself in a sleeping bag, if two or more people are in the vehicle, sit close together to share each other's body heat. If you are alone, huddle in the fetal position.
- Running your car heater to keep warm should be done only as a last resort. If you must run the heater, run it intermittently on low until fuel runs out. KEEP A WINDOW OPEN TO ALLOW FRESH AIR TO CIRCULATE. Carbon monoxide poisoning and death could result if your vehicle is tightly shut. AT THE FIRST SIGN OF DROWSINESS, open all windows, breathe deeply, shut off the car, and use alternative methods to stay warm.
- Exercise regularly, enough to stay warm and maintain circulation, but not enough to work up a sweat. Pay particular attention to hands and feet.
- Stay with your vehicle, until help arrives.
- If you are travelling and see a vehicle in distress, and you are unsure of your ability to assist the occupants, notify the police at your first opportunity! Be prepared to give a description of the vehicle and its location.
- Turn on the Radio (station & frequency):
- Our emergency radio is located Extra batteries are located :
- Assemble all people and pets at the agreed meeting place.
- Stay calm, stay warm and stay put.
- If your regular heat source fails put on additional layers of clothing and use your emergency heat source. Our emergency heat source is:
located:
- Close doors to unused rooms to conserve heat.
- Flashlight I candles are located:
- Special notes for our family:
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