Raise your hand if you have all your household, financial, and medical documents in one place to recover quickly after a disaster. If you don’t have your hand up now, please read this article to ensure that you have all the information you need in an emergency.
When an emergency happens, your first focus is on your family’s safety. Once the immediate crisis has passed, having access to your home insurance, banking and other information will help you get back on your feet faster.
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has prepared an emergency financial first aid kit to help you prepare in advance for an emergency.
Some important aspects of your financial first aid kit include information about:
- Household contacts and your identification
- Financial and legal documents
- Medical records
Household identification and contacts help you contact family members; document employment information and prove your identity and potentially apply for FEMA disaster assistance.
Financial and legal documents help you show proof of income and insurance, maintain payments and credit, reestablish financial accounts or apply for disaster assistance.
Medical records can help you have the right information to get prompt medical assistance in an emergency.
For each of these important aspects, FEMA’s Emergency Financial First Aid Kit can step you through what’s important and how best to record that information so that it is available after an emergency.
You can download FEMA’s Emergency Financial First Aid Kit in English, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese or Chinese here: community.fema.gov/PreparednessCommunity/s/emergency-financial-first-aid-kit.
Month 7 Preparedness List
Items to Purchase
- Sealed containers of food for your pets – plus a can opener if needed. Mark the date of purchase on the packages so that you can refresh them every six months.
- Purchase or find an old backpack to use for your “get-home bag” at work.
Things To Do
- Make a “get-home bag” to have at work and in your car – this helps you get home in an emergency. Some items needed include the following:
- Some cash in small bills (ATMs may not be working);
- Comfortable shoes in case you have to walk home
- Flashlight or headlamp
- Water bottle
Tigard CERT Inc. is a local non-profit organization allied with the City of Tigard that trains volunteers in basic emergency response and organizational skills following the Federal Emergency Management Agency model and guidelines for local Community Emergency Response Teams. Members complete a 27-hour, FEMA curriculum before becoming certified.
Tigard CERT volunteers provide support during emergencies when our community’s professional emergency services teams may be overwhelmed by the situation. Tigard CERT also provides staff and support for community events such as the Tigard Balloon Festival, the City of Tigard Public Works Day, the Community Preparedness Fair, and other events. For more information about Tigard CERT, please visit our website at tigardcert.wordpress.com.
