The “Get Ready; Stay Ready” campaign focus for the month of April is on developing/improving evacuation plans. Evacuation planning for hotels, government buildings, commercial space and other official places of business is required by law. However, evacuation planning for the household is a highly encouraged, yet frequently overlooked, practice for all responsible heads of household. The development and annual review of a household evacuation plan is critical not only for large-scale disaster preparedness but smaller; structure-specific emergencies as well such as fires, release of hazardous materials and other dangers within the home.
When creating an evacuation for your home it is important to remember the following:
• Identify two escape routes for each room. Ensure that these routes remain clear.
• Test all windows & doors to ensure that they open.
• Identify the location of any throw ladder, or other special equipment.
• Identify the location of fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, first aid kits & 72 hour disaster kit.
• Identify the locations of the shutoffs for gas, water & electricity.
• Draw your floor plan, then draw your evacuation routes & two separate meeting locations outside of the home. Meeting locations should be far enough away from all anticipated hazards.
• If you live in a two-story home, make one drawing for each story.
• Identify outside hazards (Fences, trees, power lines, etc.)
• Practice evacuation drills 2x per year with the time change (Spring & Fall) & involve all members of the household in drills.
The process of developing a household evacuation plan can be simple as getting a pen, paper and 1 hour of your loved ones time/attention. Now obviously, the more time and thought you can invest in properly identifying the resources, hazards, special considerations etc. on your plan the better, but at the same time don’t overthink it. The key concept is “get everybody out and do it safely.” Keeping this theme in mind coupled with the recommendations above, you should have no problem developing an effective evacuation plan and increasing the safety of all household members.
Visit ReadyOC http://www.readyoc.org/prepare/plan.html or Ready.gov for more information http://www.ready.gov/emergency-planning-checklists
Also, we highly encourage all members of the UCI community to know and practice the evacuation routes of the buildings that you frequently visit as well as the assembly areas for those buildings (see http://www.ehs.uci.edu/em/zonemap.html). Likewise, if you are one of the thousands of students living on campus we highly encourage you to reference the emergency evacuation plan posted in your residence hall/apartment complex or speak with your resident advisor/apartment management for more information.
We encourage the community to partner with the UC Irvine Police Department to prevent or report crime by calling (949) 824-5223. If you wish to remain Anonymous, call “OC Crime Stoppers” by dialing 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227), text "OCCS" plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or use the website http://occrimestoppers.org/
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