September is National Preparedness Month! #getreadygetsafe

Children are the most vulnerable in emergency situations. That’s why Save the Children encourages everyone to act to better protect kids BEFORE disaster strikes! As you may know, I live in West Virginia. And it was just a couple of months ago that some parts of West Virginia were devastated by flooding. Now that the first day of Fall has come and gone, more flooding is sure to hit West Virginia again. And the best way to handle the situation is to be prepared. So not only should you prepare your home, you should also prepare your children!

The first thing you need to do to prepare your child in case of an emergency is to have an ICE card filled out. (ICE) In Case Of Emergency would be able to quickly reunite with your children? That is the purpose of the ICE card. A go-bag is also a great idea for kids. Just add some things to their backpack should they ever get separated from those in charge. Great things to add to the bag would be things such as a small first-aid kit, a flashlight, their favorite stuffed animal.

Did you know that every day, 69 million U.S. children are separated from their families while they are at school or child care? And that after Hurricane Katrina there were more than 5,000 reports of missing children. It took 7 months to reunite the last child with her family. 7 months!! Could you even imagine not knowing where your child is for 7 months! I cannot even imagine 7 minutes!! (Here is a video of one such family:

 

Your child’s ICE card should include 3 emergency contacts — including an out-of-town contact because during emergencies, local communications are often down.

Make your ICE contact cards at ICE card. It’s free and easy! Fill out one form for your whole family online (Save the Children will not store your child’s info anywhere). Print out the cards (you’ll get two copies for each child), cut and fold. Put one copy in a luggage tag to keep inside your child’s bag. Keep the other copy in your wallet.

Once you have made the ICE card, then you can start learning to Do the Prep Step! Make emergency prep fun for the whole family.

Save the Children also created a fun song and dance called “The Prep Step” to help kids learn the 3 important prep steps every family should take. Check it out!

Find the Prep Step *music video * ICE card *and * Dance Tutorial video * to complete the 3 prep steps!!

Will you be filling out an ICE card for your children? Leave a comment and let me know that you did!!