Here are the key steps in preparing the evacuation plan:
Step 1: Create an Emergency Support Network
- Create a list of people who can help you in an emergency. These people could include your immediate family, friends, caregivers, neighbors, colleagues, etc.
- Make sure to give at least one trusted member of your support network a key to your home or apartment or inform them of its location.
- Ensure that your support network includes at least three people you can contact for help.
- Inform the members of your support network where you keep your emergency kit. It is also recommended to store an additional personal emergency kit with one of the network members.
Step 2: Learn and Familiarize Yourself with Different Emergency Situations
There is a wide range of emergency events, each requiring different public behaviors. It is essential to know how to act, protect yourself, or evacuate in various events, such as missile attacks, security incidents, earthquakes, storms, floods, and hazardous materials incidents.
Step 3: Identify and Arrange the Most Protected Space in Your Home
Determine the safest place in your home for protection. This space could be a secure room, shelter, stairwell, or an internal room without windows. Ensure that this space is equipped with the items you need, is suitable for prolonged stays, and that the area and path to it are free of any equipment that could become obstacles during an emergency.
Step 4: Know Your Surroundings
Familiarize yourself with the accessible shelters and gathering points in the public spaces where you usually spend time, as well as in your workplace.
Step 5: Complete Your Personal Emergency Kits
Ensure that you are prepared with personal emergency kits for prolonged stays at home, for leaving the house, and for the workplace. For a recommended list of equipment for an emergency kit, click here. It is also recommended to back up important items with family members or online, such as photos, certificates, important documents, and phone numbers.
Step 6: Share Essential Information with Local Authorities
Contact your local welfare department during normal times to ensure that you are listed in their records and that your personal information, address, medical information, disabilities, emergency needs, contact persons, etc., are up to date.
Step 7: Plan a Personal Evacuation
- Review and familiarize yourself with the relevant evacuation points available to you from the existing options: staying in your home or apartment, the building’s shelter, a public shelter, a regional or national reception center, hospitals or nursing facilities, a friend’s/family member’s house that suits your needs, renting an apartment, or a hotel/accessible accommodation.
- Think and plan in advance whether and under what scenarios you would evacuate, how you would evacuate (independently, with help), where you would evacuate, and by what means (vehicle, accessible transport, etc.).
- Define this in your personal plan.
- Note that certain routes may be blocked. It is essential to plan alternative travel routes.
Step 8: Prepare for Evacuation from Your Home with Assistance
- In situations where the evacuating authority is the rescue and security forces, they will decide on the method and destination of the evacuation.
- If it is decided to evacuate you to a reception center or another location, it is essential to ensure in advance that these are accessible to your needs, that accessible transportation is provided, and that you take your pre-prepared personal emergency kit with you.
- Provide any essential information about yourself to the evacuating authority, whether it be security forces, a Purple Vest volunteer, medical assistance, etc.
Step 9: Know the Assistance Organizations in Your Area
Be familiar with the municipality’s emergency hotline, the welfare department, and the Purple Vest team in your area.
Step 10: Prepare at Your Workplace
- If you are employed, familiarize yourself with the security officer and emergency manager in your organization, as well as the support network at your workplace.
- Ensure with the company’s security officer or the building where you are employed that there is an emergency evacuation plan for people with disabilities in place.
- Request the creation and adaptation of a personal evacuation plan tailored to your needs, in coordination with the security officer or emergency manager in the organization.
- Make sure to have an emergency kit prepared for your workplace.
Step 11: Add Essential Personal Information to Your Evacuation Plan
Include in your personal evacuation plan any information that could be crucial during an evacuation, such as how to evacuate you, essential aids for evacuation, medications, the location of your emergency kit, etc.
Step 12: Share Your Personal Plan with Your Support Network
Ensure that the individuals in your home and workplace who have been defined as your emergency support network are familiar with your personal plan, and, if necessary, involved in its creation. Ensure that the plan is available to you during an emergency in both digital and printed forms, so that you can share it when needed.
Being prepared in advance for emergencies is crucial for people with disabilities and the elderly, as it enhances your readiness and resilience as individuals, families, and communities.
Contact the Purple Vest emergency information center for any questions: pvm@aisrael.org