Household/Family

Talk with your family about potential disasters and why it's necessary to prepare for them. Involve each member of your family in the planning process. By showing them simple steps that can increase their safety, you can help reduce their anxiety about emergencies.

• Make sure everyone knows where to find your disaster supply kit and Go-bags.

• Have a flashlight and a pair of shoes under everyone’s bed in case there is an earthquake during the night. Use a plastic bag tied to the leg of the bed to keep these items from moving during an earthquake.

• Plan where to meet after a disaster if your home becomes unsafe. Choose two places, one just outside your home and one outside your neighborhood in case you are told to evacuate. Be sure your gas tank is always at least half full.

• Determine the best escape routes from your home. Try to identify two escape routes.

• Make sure each member knows who your family’s out-of-state contact is and instruct them to call this person and tell him/her where they are.

• Locate the gas main and other utilities and make sure family members know when and how to turn them off.

• Practice your evacuation routes, Drop, Cover & Hold and Stop, Drop & Roll drills.

• Teach each member of your family how to use a fire extinguisher.

• Create emergency response cards for each of your family members.

• Take into account the special needs of children, seniors or people with disabilities, family members that don’t speak English and pets.

Home Safety

During a disaster, ordinary objects in your home can cause injury or damage. However, there are simple steps you can take to make your home safer. Start by viewing each room with a “disaster eye” and identify potential hazards – bookshelves that could tip over in an earthquake and block exits or heavy objects that could fall and cause injury.

• Install smoke detectors on each level of your home and change batteries every 6 months.

• Move beds away from windows.

• Move mirrors and heavy pictures away from couches or places where people sit.

• Clear hallways and exits for easy evacuation.

• Store heavy items on the lowest shelves.

• Keep an ABC type fire extinguishers on each level and know how and when to use them.

• Strap down your water heater and fit all gas appliances with a flexible gas supply line.

• Store flammable or highly reactive chemicals (such as bleach, ammonia, paint thinners) securely and separate from each other.

• Secure pictures and wall hangings and use restraints to secure heavy items such as bookcases and file cabinets.

• Know how and when to switch off your utilities.

• Ensure that all window safety bars have emergency releases.

• Be sure your home number is visible from the street so emergency vehicles can find you.

Children

• Include your children in family discussions and planning for emergency safety.

• Teach your children their basic personal information so they can identify themselves and get help if they become separated from a parent or guardian.

• Prepare an emergency card with information for each child, including his/her full name, address, phone number, parent’s work number and out of state contact.

• Know the policies of the school or daycare center your children attend. Make plans to have someone pick them up if you are unable to get to them.

• Regularly update your child’s school with current emergency contact information and persons authorized to pick up your child from school.

• Make sure each child knows the family’s alternate meeting sites if you are separated in a disaster and cannot return to your home.

• Make sure each child knows how to reach your family’s out-of-state contact person.

• Teach children to dial their home telephone number and Emergency 9-1-1.

• Teach children what gas smells like and advise them to tell an adult if they smell gas after an emergency.

• Warn children never to touch wires on poles or lying on the ground.

• Role-play with children to help them remain calm in emergencies and to practice basic emergency responses such as evacuation routes, Drop, Cover & Hold and Stop, Drop & Roll.

• Role-play with children as to what they should do if a parent is suddenly sick or injured.

• Role-play with children on what to say when calling Emergency 9-1-1.
   

Seniors & Disabled

Set up a Personal Support network – Designate someone to check on you in an emergency and to help with evacuation or sheltering-in-place.

Personal Care Assistance – If you receive assistance from a home healthcare agency or in-home support provider, find out how the provider will respond in an emergency. Designate backup or alternative providers that you can contact in an emergency.

For Persons using a wheelchair: Plan for how you will evacuate in an emergency and discuss it with your care providers. If you use a motorized wheelchair, have a manual wheelchair as a backup.

For Persons who are Blind or Visually Impaired: Keep an extra collapsible cane by your bed. Attach a whistle to the cane; use it if you need to attract attention. Exercise caution when moving around after an earthquake; items may fall and block paths that are normally unobstructed.

For Persons who are Hearing Impaired: Keep extra batteries for your hearing aids with emergency supplies. Consider storing your hearing aids in a container attached to your nightstand or bedpost, so you can locate them quickly after a disaster.

Pets

Most disaster shelters cannot accept pets because of health and safety regulations. Service animals for people with disabilities are an exception. In a large-scale disaster, the SF Department of Animal Care and Control (ACC) will use its facility at 15th and Harrison as a temporary shelter for animals. In addition, ACC will work closely with the City to set up animal shelters in close proximity to “human” shelters in areas where the evacuation of neighborhood residents is necessary.

• Arrange for a neighbor to check on your pets and take care of them if a disaster occurs while you are not at home.

• Plan ahead for a friend or relative outside the affected area to shelter your animals if necessary.

• Keep your pet’s ID tags up to date. Consider having your pet micro-chipped.
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Response:

• Bring all pets into the house so that you won't have to search for them if you have to leave in a hurry.

• Do not try and hold onto your pet during the shaking of an earthquake or explosion. Animals instinctively protect themselves and hide where they are safe.

• Animals react differently under stress. Outside your home and in the car, keep dogs securely leashed. Transport cats in carriers. The most trustworthy pets may panic, hide, and try to escape or even bite or scratch.

• When you return home, give your pets time to settle back into their routines.

•  Consult your veterinarian if any behavioral problems persist

Utilities

Natural gas leaks can cause an explosive and flammable atmosphere inside a building.

Natural Gas

• If you smell gas, hear gas escaping, see a broken gas line, or if you suspect a leak, shut off the main valve and open all windows and doors.

• Never use candles or matches if you suspect a leak. Do not turn on electrical switches or appliances.

• Identify the main shutoff valve, which is located on the gas line coming into the main gas meter. This is usually on the exterior of your home or building, or in an external closet. Your main valve may look like this:
  
  
  

• To turn gas off, give the valve a quarter turn in either direction. When the lever crosses the direction of the pipe (see below) the gas is off.
  

• Keep a crescent wrench or gas shut-off tool nearby to turn the lever.

• Once you turn off the gas, never attempt to turn it back on yourself. wait for your utility company to do it, but be aware that it may take several days for it to be turned back on.
  

Electricity

Electrocution can result from direct contact with live wires or anything that has been energized by these wires.

• Locate your home’s main electric switch, which is normally in the garage
  or outdoors, where the power lines enter the home. The panel box may
  have a flip switch or pull handle on a large circuit breaker.

  • Shut off electricity when:

  • Arcing or burning occurs in electrical devices.

  • There is a fire or significant water leak.

  • you smell burning insulation.

  • The area around switches or plugs is blackened and/or hot to the touch.

Water

Water leaks can cause property damage and create an electrocution hazard.

• Shut off the water when there is a leak inside the building.

• The water shutoff is usually located in the basement, garage, or where
  the water line enters the home. The water shutoff is located on a riser
  pipe and is usually a red or yellow wheel. Turn wheel clockwise to shut
  off.