Employee Personal Preparedness Resources
Making sure your employees and their loved ones are prepared for a disaster or emergency and can communicate their status is key to helping your organization successfully handle an emergency incident. When staff know their loved ones are safe and are prepared for an emergency they are much more likely to be fully engaged in the incident response.
The following resources for employees to download or sign up for to help prepare for emergency situations. Signing up for these services, emergency alert systems, and safe and well check-in sites before an incident or emergency will help employees be better prepared when disasters or emergencies happen.
The following tools are available to help your staff prepare in advance for disasters, stay in touch with family and friends, and provide updates during and after an emergency incident.
- Cell phone plans with priority service for healthcare workers.
- Red Cross Safe and Well website to report your status to family and friends
- Disaster Alert and Information apps for mobile devices.
- City of Seattle Personal Preparedness website
First Responder Priority Cell Services
AT&T FirstNet offers special programs for healthcare organizations and their staff to purchase priority cell service. If during an emergency, cell call volume overwhelms the normal cell network, cell phones using these programs and services will be provided priority calling allowing their calls to gain priority access to the cell network
Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Please note: FirstNet and Verizon are commercial companies, the inclusion of information is not an endorsement for use by the PUSHECS Council.
Red Cross Safe and Well Program
Employees or family members affected by a disaster can use this page to post “safe and well messages” that loved ones and family can view. Registering on the Safe and Well Web site is completely voluntary. Those searching on this site for information will need to enter the person’s name, address, or phone number. The search result will show only the registered person’s first name, last name, the date and time of registration, and the messages they selected to provide showing status and updates.
As part of a personal preparedness plan employees and their loved ones should discuss the use of this website to help provide status information if cell phones or landlines are not available and they are unable to travel home. The website also allows friends and family from outside the disaster area to check on a family that may not be able to communicate by normal means.
After a disaster, having a place family and friends can log into to learn that you are safe and well can bring your loved ones great peace of mind. This American Red Cross website is designed to help make that communication easier.
Register Yourself as “Safe and Well”
Click on the “List Myself as Safe and Well” button to register yourself on the site.
- English – www.redcross.org/safeandwell
- Spanish – https://safeandwell-es.communityos.org/zf/safe/add
Search for Loved Ones
Concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered themselves as “safe and well” by clicking on the “Search Registrants” button. The results of a successful search will display a loved one’s first name, last name, and a brief message.
For more information on contacting a family member during an emergency see the Red Cross webpage “Contact Loved Ones” page for ideas and services
FEMA Disaster App
Download the FEMA app for free on the App Store and Google Play. Learn safety tips about what to do before, during, and after disasters. Receive notifications about severe weather for up to five locations nationwide.
Learn more about the app and find download links at the FEMA App Site
- Receive real-time alerts from the National Weather Service.
- Share real-time notifications with loved ones via text, email, and social media.
- Learn emergency safety tips for over 20 types of disasters, including fires, flooding, hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes, volcanoes, and more.
- Locate open emergency shelters and disaster recovery centers in your area where you can talk to a FEMA representative in person.
- Prepare for disasters with a customizable emergency kit checklist, emergency family plan, and reminders.
- Toggle between English and Spanish.
Red Cross Emergency App
Help keep your family safe in severe weather, and man-made/natural hazards with Emergency by the American Red Cross. Monitor conditions in your area or area of loved ones, prepare your family and your home, check to see if loved ones are safe, and let them know you’re safe. – A must-have for anyone who lives in areas prone to severe weather or has loved ones that do.
Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
- Free and available in English with a Spanish-language toggle.
- Real-time local alerts for severe weather and hazards, including earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, winter storms, thunderstorms, extreme heat, wildfires, and many more.
- Customizable alerting and push notification options.
- Preloaded preparedness and critical emergency content providing instant access even without mobile connectivity.
- A toolkit with a flashlight, strobe light, and audible alarm.
- Map with open Red Cross shelters and other weather-related layers.
- Step-by-step directions on how to make a family emergency plan.
City of Seattle Preparedness Website
The City of Seattle maintains a Personal and Family Emergency Preparedness website with information on how to prepare for an emergency. The site includes information, downloadable templates, training materials, and various neighborhood programs staff can use to help prepare their homes and families for a disaster.
Learn more and download helpful preparedness materials at the City of Seattle Preparedness Website
