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The Department of Homeland Security (www.ready.gov) advises families to make a family communications plan. This is a way to contact your loved ones in the aftermath of an emergency or widespread disaster.

Following any type of disaster one of the first concerns that face each one of us is the safety of our loved ones, our friends, and our families. Knowing that they are safe, or knowing what help they need help and sending that help can lift a tremendous weight from the shoulders of those involved in an emergency.

Unfortunately the Department of Homeland Security doesn't give a lot of advice on just what should go into a family communications plan. While each family will have slightly different communications needs, there are some general considerations that will apply to everyone.

YOUR FAMILY MEETING PLACE

You should establish a place for your family gather if for some reason you are forced out of, or can't get back to your home.

The place should be near your home, and serve as a meeting place if you and your family forced out of your home by a fire or similar emergency. This nearby meeting place ensures that everyone is accounted for in the aftermath of a family emergency at home. This meeting place might be "the old oak tree at the end of the road" or parking lot of the convenience store across the street.

The idea here is simply a place that everyone can gather at quickly if there is some problem in your home. With this in mind your meeting place should be somewhere between 50 and 100 yards away from your home, far enough away to be out of any immediate danger yet close enough so that everyone can gather there quickly in case of an emergency.

YOUR FAMILY TELEPHONE CONTACTS

In an emergency, where commercial power may be out, the simplest telephone is generally the best one. Cordless telephones and telephones with numerous extra features requiring 110V commercial power, while certainly convenient, probably won't work during a power outage. If you unplug the power to the base unit of your cordless telephone you won't be able to make or receive calls until the power is restored.

Everyone should have at least one telephone in their homes that works completely off the telephone line power itself. This standard (corded) telephone connects directly to the highly-reliable telephone network and is not dependant on the commercial power grid to operate.

Along this same line, you should not plan to rely on answering machines, facsimile (FAX) machines and the like, all of which

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