There are numerous functions which must be presumed in any evacuation plans which you may develop. First, you must resolve what measures and route you will take, reflect upon any related medical necessities required by your passengers, Space availability for supplies and the weather in your immediate and proposed area of retreat.
This article is designed to provide you with a rudimentary strategy which may help you in developing your disaster preparedness evacuation route. No one plan can meet all requirements as each emergency situation which you encounter will be different. The responsibility for these guidelines will ultimately rest with you as you will need to appraise what emergencies can occur in your area of the country and what your particular course of actions should be. It will be up to you to coordinate the development of your evacuation plan with other members of your group.
You need to consider what will determine whether an emergency is of sufficient danger to warrant relocating yourself and your family. Timing here is critical. If you leave too soon you may be jumping the gun, however if you leave too late you could be packed like sardines on the highways leading from your home state. Only due consideration of current events coupled with your own area can provide you with the proper answers for these decisions.
All members of your group should have a way of contacting each other should they become knowledgeable of a possible deployment situation. Only then can all the members give the problem the proper reflection necessary. You should of course designate a primary contact and a secondary contact for which all information can flow through. Certain people in your group should also be assigned the responsibility to ensure that any handicapped or disabled members are properly evacuated also.
These procedures are not as simple as you may think and should be practiced on a monthly basis. All new members of your group should receive both an initial and follow-up briefing on what to do and what would be expected of them in a pending emergency. Your group should be conducting limited evacuation drills at various times throughout the year. You should ensure that all new group members are briefed on the evacuation plans when they enter the group. Above all you must make certain that all evacuation routes are updated at least monthly. Roads change and your routes should be reflective of this.
Your success with any evacuation procedure will be dependent on how well you make your plans prior to an evacuation. Keep in mind that often the most effective of evacuation plans are usually the simplest ones you can come up with. A few of the items that you should consider when planning your evacuation procedures are as follows:
- The need for an evacuation drill can not be stressed enough. You as well as the other members of your group should become familiar with the escape routes and any necessary assembly points which would be used in the event of an evacuation.
- An emergency would exist when an actual or imminent set of conditions are present which would endanger people in a particular area. This can be anything from civil disobedience, gas or chemical attacks or even eminent bombing raids. Many natural or man-made events which threaten to endanger life and or property are considered a potential disaster. Falling under the term disasters could be fire, weather, building collapse or any other types of hazardous occurrences. It is important to realize that any sort of delay in evacuation can be life threatening. Time is important.
- You would do well to determine before hand a primary as well as a secondary evacuation route that you will follow should a disaster occur and you must get away from the area. Once again timing is important for once a major evacuation has been called by the state or federal government all exit roads from your area will be filled to capacity and the progress will be slow at best. Plan ahead and read between the lines.
- Once you have finalized and validated the evacuation actions you should retrieve a suitable map and review all your options. What roads are under construction, what routes are considered major highways or in weather related emergencies what roads are possibly flooded. You ask how would I would know that? Well, you should have already traveled these roads and highways in your practice sessions.
One point I would like to make at this time is that your designed areas of refuge should be notated on your maps in one color and all points which can lead to it in another color.
