This is the fourth article in a series which will help youprepare for a major emergency, such as an earthquake.
Please remember that the various publicagencies will be extremely busy in a disaster. You must be preparedto be on your own for a minimum of 72 hours. Performing the taskslisted in these articles will help you get prepared, You may wishto clip these articles and keep them for future reference.
In an emergency, the telephone network may be damaged or overloaded.In addition, public communication channels may be restricted toensure adequate communication channels for emergency service workers.Adding to the network strain, relatives and friends outside theaffected area will attempt to find out how family and friendsinside the affected area are doing. One way to significantly reducethe telephone network overload would be for each family to designatean out-of-area contact who would be kept up-to-date on the family’sstatus. The first step is to call the person and get their permissionto be your family’s out-of-area contact. Then every family membermust know the contact person’s phone number (or carry it withthem at all times) and how to call them in the event of a disaster.Finally, you give all your relatives and friends the contact person’sphone number and inform them that they should call the contactperson in the event of a disaster in your area.
When a disaster strikes, family members will call the contactperson and report their location and condition. If there is asignificant change in their status (for example, if separatedfamily members are reunited), the contact person must be informedof the change. Otherwise, don’t use the phone system unless itis a dire emergency.
One caveat to this plan: After a disaster, it is often easierfor people outside the affected area to phone in than for peoplein the affected area to phone out. You may wish to ask your contactto attempt to contact you if you don’t contact them for severalhours after the disaster. However, this should be a last resort.
If you have any questions, please refer to page 14 of your copyof the Los Altos Emergency Preparedness Manual for more information,or leave a message for the Los Altos Emergency Preparedness Committee’sVEGA volunteer on the Los Altos City voice mail system (949-1491,ext. 488). One of the volunteers on the Los Altos Emergency PreparednessCommittee will get in contact with you to answer your question.
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