Five Steps to Preparing an Effective Evacuation Plan

Have you ever been in a catastrophic event that threatens your life? If not, you have no idea how dangerous it can actually be. You can be stuck in various problems even if you are in your residence. This includes natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or other more common occurrences like property fires.

The biggest mistake most people make is disregarding the possibility of facing a problem like this. However, these incidents are more common than you may think. According to statistics, there are around 8 deaths for 1,000 fires on average. It’s an alarming number considering you could be in this situation.

While following the basics like fire extinguisher maintenance helps, there’s more to fire safety and preparing an evacuation plan that you should know about. Therefore, we will discuss all there’s to know about this matter and sort it out.

Five Steps to Preparing an Effective Evacuation Plan

The right evacuation plan is more effective than mere fire extinguisher servicing if you want to save lives. It provides a quick method to get to safety and out of the fire hazard as quickly as possible.

However, most property owners don’t know how to create the right plan for evacuation. If you’re struggling with something similar, the information in this article can greatly help. Here are the five steps for preparing an effective evacuation plan:

1. Start Planning in Advance

You won’t be able to think straight if you don’t have the plan to get out in advance. It’s natural to panic during a disastrous situation, which might hinder your thinking abilities. Knowing your options and planning in advance are imperative while preparing the evacuation plan. Therefore, we recommend preparing for it in advance.

You should check government recommendations for your location because they keep several subjective factors in check. Prepare a plan in advance and perform practice drills regularly.

2. Don’t Rush To Take Everything

Your belongings are precious but not as much as your life. While you might want to take everything out during a fire, you can’t do that. People often try to gather everything, increasing their chances of getting stuck. Have a go-to bag ready with you for an emergency to avoid confusion.

3. Create an Inventory

Inventories are necessary for a fire disaster. Therefore, you should try the following options:

• Purchase sufficient insurance for personal possessions
• Speed the insurance claims process when needed
• Add losses for income tax purposes.

4. Gather Important Documents

Replacing material things is easy, but not your documents. Everything from your identity cards to your driver’s license is important. We recommend gathering them as quickly as possible and getting out of there as soon as possible. You should also get the following:

• Social Security cards
• Prescriptions
• Passports
• Drivers license
• Personal identification
• Birth and marriage certificates

5. Practice Drills

Once your evacuation plan is ready, you should practice it a few times. This way, everyone knows what to do if something like this happens. We also recommend taking the time to make changes to the plan if necessary.

Bottom Line

Chicago fire safety is of utmost importance. We recommend following the recommendations we’ve made to improve your chances of survival. If you need more assistance with the plan, please contact us at Connected Fire.