Don’t Hibernate on a Preparedness Plan!
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Take this seasonal break to create or review and improve your personal preparedness plan for emergencies. The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands (NF & NGs), in partnership with the Fire Adapted New Mexico learning network (FACNM), agencies and non-governmental organizations conclude the 2023 Wildfire Preparedness is Year-Round campaign with our December message: Don’t Hibernate on a Preparedness Plan.
Although emergencies and disasters can occur at any moment, the winter months – when wildfire risk is at its lowest – is a good time to create a preparedness plan and identify personal needs and prioritize tasks without the urgency of an emergency. The plan should be shared with every member of the family so everyone in your household is on the same page in the event of an emergency, especially if family members will be at work, daycare or school.
• Sit down with family members to discuss topics such as signing up for alerts and warnings, developing a shelter plan, identifying evacuation routes and a meeting location, and creating a family communication plan with everyone’s phone number. This is also a good time to make sure each family member has a “go bag” with emergency supplies and knows where their bag is stored.
• Consider specific needs for your household, how those needs will be met and who will be responsible for what. Specifics for your household could include dietary and medical needs, including prescriptions and medical equipment, ages of family members, pets and service animals, disabilities or access needs, languages spoken in the household, and cultural and religious considerations.
• Write down your plan or fill out one of the forms provided on Ready.gov or Redcross.org and make sure every family member has a copy.
• Practice your plan with your family/household and run through various scenarios such as an emergency occurring on a weekday versus a weekend.
Having an emergency preparedness plan makes it less likely for important tasks and information to fall through the cracks during the chaos of an emergency. And if your plan needs to be implemented, it will hopefully be less stressful because you have tailored your plan to your own priorities and checklists.
Now that you have a personal preparedness plan for your family and pets, here are some other helpful resources for wildfire preparedness: Living with Fire: A guide for the Homeowner, Firewise USA and Home Hazard Assessment Guide and Worksheet.
Partners in the 2023 Wildfire Preparedness Campaign are the Forest Stewards Guild, Fire Adapted NM learning network, New Mexico Forestry Division, New Mexico Coalition of Conservation Districts, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management New Mexico, the Santa Fe National Forest and the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands. Bookmark the wildfire preparedness webpage to continue our wildfire preparedness calendar and share the message across multiple platforms, including social media, webinars and community events. Bookmark the wildfire preparedness webpage to follow the campaign throughout the year.