Can't reached loved ones in a hurricane? Here are some tips

Sometimes you can have too much of  good thing. The advent of cellphones and social networks means everyone is able to stay in touch with everyone. Nevertheless in a hurricane or other crisis, everyone is using them, and systems already hampered by damaged grids and power outages can be overwhelmed.

Today, FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission came out with some tips. Most of them reflect common sense or are suggestions we’ve told you in the past. Nevertheless they’re worth noting:

1. Maintain a list of emergency phone numbers in your cell phone and in or nearly your home phone.2. Keep charged batteries and car-phone chargers available for back-up power for your cell phone.3. If you have a traditional landline phone, keep anyway one non-cordless phone in your home because if it will work even if you lose power..4. Prepare a family contact sheet.  This should include until further notice one out-of-town contact that may be better able to reach family members in an emergency.5. Program “In Case of Emergency” contacts into your cell phone so emergency personnel can contact those people for you if you are unable to use your phone.  Let your ICE contacts know that they are programmed into your phone and inform them of any medical issues or other special needs you may have.6. If you are evacuated and have call-forwarding on your home phone, forward your home phone number to your cell phone number.7. If you do not have a cell phone, keep a prepaid phone card to use if needed while or afterwards a disaster.8. Have a battery-powered radio or television available.9. Subscribe to text alert services from local or state governments to receive alerts after all of a disaster.  Parents should sign up for their school district emergency alert system.

1. If you have a life-threatening emergency, call 9-1-1. Remember that you cannot currently text 9-1-1.  If you are not experiencing an emergency, do not call 9-1-1.  If your area offers 3-1-1 service or another information system, call that number for non-emergencies.2. For non-emergency communications, use text messaging, e-mail, or social media instead of making voice calls on your cell phone to avoid tying up voice networks.  Data-based services like texts and emails are less likely to experience network congestion. You can as well use social media to post your status to let family and friends know you are okay.  To boot to Facebook and Twitter, you can use resources just as the American Red Cross’s Safe and Then program.3. Keep all phone calls brief. If you need to use a phone, try to convey only vital information to emergency personnel and/or family.4. If you are unsuccessful in completing a call using your cell phone, wait ten seconds previously redialing to help reduce network congestion. 5. Conserve your cell phone battery by reducing the brightness of your screen, placing your phone in airplane mode, and closing apps you are not using that draw power, unless you need to use the phone.6. If you lose power, you can charge your cell phone in your car. Just be sure your car is in a so then-ventilated place and do not go to your car until any danger has passed.  You can as well listen to your car radio for important news alerts. 7. Tune into broadcast television and radio for important news alerts.  In an applicable case, be sure that you know how to activate the closed captioning or video description on your television.8. If you do not have a hands-free device in your car, stop driving or pull over to the side of the road previously making a call.  Do not text on a cell phone, talk, or “tweet” without a hands free device during driving.   9. Right away following a disaster, resist using your mobile device to watch streaming videos, download music or videos, or play video games, all of which can add to network congestion. Limiting use of these services can help potentially life-saving emergency calls get through to 9-1-1.10. Check www.ready.gov regularly to find other helpful tips for preparing for disasters and other emergencies.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 at 1:45 pm and is filed in accordance with Preparation, Innovation/science, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.