Before an Emergency

Make a Plan 

Be prepared for any emergency by creating a household emergency plan. With your household members, discuss the hazards that are in your community and how you can be prepared if they occur. You can learn about some hazards that are present in Belleville by visiting the Types of Emergencies page. Some things that your emergency plan should include are:

• Evacuation routes from your home, identify how you will get out of your home if there is an emergency
• Two meeting places for your household members, choose two locations where your household will meet if you have to leave your home. You should choose one location near your home and one outside of your immediate neighbourhood
• Emergency contact information, you should identify who you will need to contact if an emergency occurs. You should include one person who lives outside of your area so they will not be impacted by the same emergency
• Important service provider contact information, it is a good idea to keep contact information for utility providers in case you need to evacuate
• Pet information, include information about your pets
• Responsibilities of household members, identify who from your household will be responsible for taking care of your pet during an emergency 
• Communications plan, emergencies can happen at nay time and your household may not be together when an emergency occurs. A communications plan will identify how you will contact each other during an emergency 

Once you have completed your emergency plan you should practice your plan. It is best to practice your plan twice a year, so your household will be ready when an emergency occurs.  

Keep your emergency plan somewhere that is easily accessible and make sure that everyone in your household knows where your plan is kept. It is also a good idea to save a copy of your emergency plan to your computer, phone and other devices so you can have access where ever you are.

Emergencies can happen at any time, inquire at your workplace and kids schools to learn about their emergency plans.

When creating your emergency plan be sure to include your pets in your plan.  Some items to consider are:

• Where will your pet go if you have to evacuate? Most evacuation centres and shelters to not allow pets other than service animals, you should keep a list of pet-friendly hotels in your emergency plan if case you need to evacuate with your pets.
• Who will get your pet if you are not at home when an emergency occurs? If possible you should identify someone who will be able to get your pet if you are not at home when an emergency occurs. This could be a neighbour or friend who lives in your neighbourhood.

Build a Kit

Emergencies can cause disruptions to essential services like electricity, water, gas, supermarkets, pharmacies, and other critical suppliers. Having an emergency kit will help you be more prepared for any emergency. An emergency kit should be able to sustain you and your household for at least 72-hours. When an emergency occurs, emergency services may not be able to provide assistance immediately after an emergency occurs. Some items that you should have in your emergency kit are:

• Food, non-perishable
• Water, at least 3 liters per person per day for drinking and cleaning/hygiene
• Manual can opener
• Radio, hand-crank or battery powered.
• Extra batteries
• Phone changer, having a power bank would also be good
• Flashlight, hand-crank or battery powered
• First-aid Kit
• Copy of your emergency plan
• Emergency contact information
• Cash, in small bills
• Copies of important documents
• Emergency blanket
• Personal  hygiene items 

When building your emergency kit, consider any unique needs that your household may have. Every household is different and will have different needs when an emergency occurs. Special needs such as extra glasses, medications, senior needs, and baby needs should be included when building your emergency kit. Some items that you could include in your kit depending on your household could be:

• An extra pair of glasses
• Medications
• Books, games or puzzles

Vehicle Emergency Kit

Emergencies can happen at any time, be prepared by building an emergency kit for your vehicle. A basic emergency kit for your vehicle should include:

• Food, something that won't spoil such as energy bars, nuts or dried fruit
• Water 
• Emergency Blanket
• First Aid Kit
• Small shovel
• Flashlight, wind-up if possible. Keep extra batteries if not
• Reflective vest
• Phone Charger
• Rain Poncho
• Road Maps
• Compass

Having an emergency kit in your vehicle is even more important during the winter as road and weather conditions can change quickly. For more information on preparing your vehicle for winter visit GetPrepared.ca

Pet Preparedness

Make your pets part of your emergency plan. When you are creating your household emergency plan, think about your pets and what their needs will be in the event of an emergency.  Just like with your household emergency kit, your pet emergency kit will need to be able to care for your pets for at least 72 hours. Some items that your should include in your pets emergency kit are:

• Food and water
• Can opener
• Bowls for food and water
• Small Toys
• Medical records and current vaccination status
• Medications                                                                                        

• A list of pet-friendly hotels/motels and any boarding facilities in your area
• Current photo of your pet
• Leash and collar
• Blankets
• Crate or carrier
• Pet first aid kit

Learn more