Hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards — you just never know what tomorrow will bring. The world can be a scary place when emergencies happen. When they do, your response is key to keeping you and your family safe and healthy. To help protect military families and other Department of Defense personnel, all military installations are required to create and maintain an emergency family assistance plan. Find out about your installation's emergency management plan so you can be ready if and when disaster strikes.
Your installation's emergency family assistance plan makes sure your environment is safe and mission-ready after a disaster. At each new duty station, become familiar with the potential disasters that might occur in that area, inquire about the emergency procedures in place on your installation or in the community you live and sign up for installation and community alerts. It's also a good idea to find out about your installation's or community's security procedures and if there is an emergency alert system so you know what to do in an emergency.
Your installation's emergency management plan usually includes:
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- Locations for an emergency family assistance center
- Procedures for providing services and training
- Drilling exercises to prepare for an emergency
An emergency family assistance center gives guidance, services and information on:
- Medical triage and medical services
- Religious services
- Counseling
- Housing or temporary lodging
- Legal services
- Transportation
- Child and youth services
- Financial services
- Personnel location services
Emergency family assistance centers must also be safe, secure and large enough to hold families and provide important services during an emergency or disaster. Military installations must conduct emergency preparedness tests yearly as part of its installation emergency management plan. Your local Red Cross also provides assistance for military members and their families after an emergency or disaster.