BEFORE

Before you can make your emergency plan you should understand the specific risks that are likely to affect you and your household. Once you understand your biggest risks you can then develop your personal plan.

To get started, visit the Understand your risk page and explore the various types of disasters, and resources to assess your risk for each type of disaster based on the location of your home or business.

You are the expert in your normal, day-to-day life and have your own routines, processes and support to manage your daily activities. During an emergency, you will need to have processes and support in place, from friends, family and/or neighbours, in addition to emergency services and other emergency support services that become available.

Many of us benefit from the assistance or support of others to live well. If you require the assistance or support of others in everyday life, you will need to factor this into your emergency plan. Discuss this plan with friends, family or your regular support services to determine who may be able to assist you at times of emergency and confirm this in your plan.  

If you are a person or household with a disability, we encourage you to use the Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) Workbook to work through your plan.

For information about preparing psychologically for a natural disaster please visit the Australian Psychological Society Preparing for natural disasters.

It is important to make a plan for your home, business and your pets. You can create an emergency plan using State Emergency Service (SES) Get Ready for Emergencies Guide.

The guide will help you to:

• Identify what you value and want to protect
• What hazards you need to think about
• Determine your response capacity
• Identify the people you can contact during an emergency
• How to talk with your family and support networks

Further resources to help you develop your plan can also be found at Emergencies and disasters | Australian Red Cross or by downloading the Australian Red Cross’ ‘Get Prepared’ app or printing the PDF version via RediPlan.

Plan for certain types of emergencies

If you have identified certain types of emergency events that you are more at risk of based on your home or business location, visit the relevant websites linked below for advice from State Emergency Service (SES), Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) and Tasmanian Department of Health for more information about how to prepare for those emergency events and then add these to your emergency plan.

• Flood 
• Bushfire
• House Fire
• Heatwave
• Landslide 
• Storm 
• Tsunami

Once you have created your plan and factored in your personal, family or business needs, it is key to communicate the content of your plan with your household or anyone that your plan relies on in an emergency situation.

If you rely on external individuals or services to assist you, make sure they are aware of their role in your plan and make sure this is also factored into their own emergency management plan. Be sure to regularly check in with these people as people’s circumstances often change and you will need to update your plan to reflect these changes.

It is important to update your plan following changes in your own circumstances, for example you may have had a health incident and require extra assistance, or you may have since recovered from an injury and no longer require this assistance – these changes will all influence how your plan will work in practice.

It is a good idea to review your plan annually with your household and others involved.

In an emergency you often don’t have time to think, let alone pack. By packing an emergency survival kit in advance, you can save yourself a lot of time and stress. 

Your Emergency Kit should be kept in a waterproof storage box. Check your kit contents regularly and restock any out of date items such as food and batteries. The exact contents of your kit will depend on the type of emergency event you are most at risk of, it is best to pack the items you don’t need day to day and put a list inside in the box of the items you need to grab before you leave. Below provides a general outline on what you should consider including:

• Keys, wallet, identification, cash and credit cards
• Warm, waterproof clothing, a change of clothes and comfortable shoes
• Important papers, including insurance documents, bank details and prescriptions
• Blankets/sleeping bag
• Hats, sunscreen
• Camping stove or small barbecue
• Enough non-perishable food and drinking water for every person (and pets) for 3 days.
• Baby food and baby care items e.g. nappies, formula, wipes (if applicable)
• Pet Emergency Kit (if applicable)
• A list of emergency telephone numbers
• A First Aid kit and essential medications
• Your mobile phone and charger
• A portable radio tuned to ABC 936 AM and spare batteries
• Candles and waterproof matches
• Torch and spare batteries
• Rubber gloves, face mask, alcohol wipes and anti-bacterial gel
• Toiletries and toilet paper
• Children’s activities such as colouring books, pens and pencils (if applicable)
• A waterproof bag for clothing and valuables
• Valuables and cherished articles e.g. jewellery and photos

Here are some additional resources that can help you prepare:

Get packing – a few suggestions from Red Cross of what to pack

Emergency Kit – Tasmania State Emergency Service (ses.tas.gov.au)

Pet Emergency Kit

Items your kit could contain include:

• Food, clean water and bowls
• vet and microchipping details
• name tag including owners phone number
• First Aid kit
• Required medication
• Waste bags and litter
• Disinfectant and paper towel
• Collars and leads
• Muzzle (if required)
• Toys and treats
• Blankets
• Crate or pet carrier

For more advice on how to plan for your pets in an emergency, visit the RSPCA’s Ready, Pet, Go! Website or visit our Planning for pets in emergencies page.

Getting your paperwork organised will reduce stress and save you precious time as you recover. There are many important documents which can be hard to replace and will make life easier to recover if you have them. There may also be sentimental documents and keepsakes that you would like to take if you had to evacuate.

Copy important documents, where possible keep extra copies of your important documents away from your residence or in an accessible electronic format.

Examples of these documents could include: 

• birth certificate 
• marriage certificate 
• driver licence 
• passport 
• Social Security, Medicare and Healthcare cards 
• will 
• prescriptions 
• insurance information: car, health, home
• financial information: credit cards, account numbers, financial plans
  
  

Making sure you have the appropriate level of insurance is also important. Here are some additional resources that can help you prepare:

• Get organised tips from the Australian Red Cross
• Insurance Checkup tool from TasALERT
• How to prepare and stay connected during natural disaster – Telstra

A well-prepared property will increase the likelihood of emergency services being able to successfully defend your property. Even if you plan to leave early, a well-prepared property is more likely to survive without being actively defended. If there is no time to leave safely, a well-prepared property will provide better shelter than an unprepared property.

Floods and storms: Make sure your home and property are well maintained, that drains, gutters and downpipes are clear, maintain roofs and fences, secure objects that are likely to float or move and cause damage, tie down trampolines, check storage of hazardous materials. For more information on preparing your property for floods see Get Ready For Emergencies by Tas State Emergency Service.

Bushfire: There are 8 important aspects to preparing your property for bushfire:

• Defendable space
• Vegetation management and landscaping
• Water supply
• Driveway access
• Building improvements
• Maintenance activities
• Awareness of your personal capacity
• Potential hazards.

To learn more about protecting your property from bushfire see this Bushfire Ready Property Preparation Checklist from the Tasmania Fire Service.

You can also do a review of your property for bushfire resilience using the Resilience Ratings app.

Connected communities are more resilient and much more likely help each other in an emergency and during the recovery journey after an event. The Australian Red Cross have some advice for growing your community.

You may also consider becoming a Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhood if you live in a high-risk area. Bushfire-Ready Neighbourhood’s are formed when small groups of people living in high-risk bushfire areas take responsibility for their own safety and work together to devise plans and actions to suit their lifestyle, environment and community.

Visit our Community page to find community programs and groups in your area.

The Huon Valley Local Business and services directory also has great information on a wide range of local community groups and community services.

Or visit The Right Place to find local groups who can support you to find the services you need, when you need them.

The Huon Valley Service Providers Network is a local network which supports greater coordination, communication and connections across government and community service providers to support the health and wellbeing of the Huon Valley community.