Plan to protect what matters most

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Getting in the know is your vital first step towards being prepared for an emergency. You need to know the risks you face, how your life might be disrupted and who can help, before you can act.

Step 1: Get in the know

Knowing how life could change for you in the hours, days, months and sometimes years after an emergency will help you work out what you can do now to make your world a less stressful place should an emergency occur.

Think about what disasters could happen

Emergencies don't only happen at home. Think about how your needs and abilities might change. Moving to a different area, working different hours, starting a family: change is a part of life and how we prepare for emergencies should reflect this.

Know which emergencies are more likely to affect you.
Think through how each emergency might affect you and your family in the short- and long-term, both physically and psychologically.
Find useful sources of local and expert information that can help you deal with potentially fatal threats before, during and after an emergency.

Take action before disaster strikes

Identify what you can do to help yourself and what you might need help with during an emergency. Write this down so you know what to do should an emergency happen.

Learn about emergencies from people in your community and whether there are emergency plans that you need to know about. Get in touch with reliable sources of local information like your council, library, community, indigenous organisations and emergency services.
Find out who is responsible for managing emergencies and community recovery and which agencies can provide you with information during an emergency.
Find out how your childcare provider, schools, aged care facility and other organisations you rely on in your community plan to respond to a particular emergency.
Create a worksheet to help you and others understand what you can do for yourself and what you'll need help with during an emergency. Red Cross RediPlan has a helpful disaster worksheet to help you get started.
Share your worksheet with your personal support network and remember to update it at least annually to reflect changes in your life.

Prepare and share your disaster information

Share what you've learned and help others to get in the know. Talk to others in your community about what you've learned about the risks you face in your local area and the impacts emergencies might have on your (and their) life.

Help others to identify the emergencies that might affect them and to find the resources they need to help them prepare.
Offer to help them think through the emergencies that might affect them, who might be able to help them, and where they can get information to suit their needs.
Share your story. The experience of an emergency or a loved one experiencing an emergency are two of the most common reasons people give for their own emergency preparedness. Let them know the impacts it had on your life, what you did beforehand that helped, and what you'd do next time to reduce the impacts.