In an emergency, family members may not all
be together in the same place. So it’s
important to have a plan on how to com-
municate to other family members. The plan
includes recording contact information on a
form or blank piece of paper that each
member has in their possession. The contacts
should include the following …
Out of Town Contact
An out of town contact is important so that
individual members can call and let them know
they are ok. Local communications to other
local cell phones or telephones may not work
in a disaster. However out of town
communications may still work. It’s also
important that family members try and contact
their home teachers to let them know they are
OK. This way, branch resources are spent on
finding those that are unaccounted for or are
injured in an emergency.
Email, Cell Phone and Texting
Email and cell phone texting has proven to be
a resilient form of communications in a disaster
even when voice communications is not
Continued on next column
be together in the same place. So it’s
important to have a plan on how to com-
municate to other family members. The plan
includes recording contact information on a
form or blank piece of paper that each
member has in their possession. The contacts
should include the following …
- Telephone numbers and cell number of
individual family members - Work telephone numbers
- School Telephone numbers
- Home Teacher home and cell phone
numbers - Out of town contact telephone number
Out of Town Contact
An out of town contact is important so that
individual members can call and let them know
they are ok. Local communications to other
local cell phones or telephones may not work
in a disaster. However out of town
communications may still work. It’s also
important that family members try and contact
their home teachers to let them know they are
OK. This way, branch resources are spent on
finding those that are unaccounted for or are
injured in an emergency.
Email, Cell Phone and Texting
Email and cell phone texting has proven to be
a resilient form of communications in a disaster
even when voice communications is not
Continued on next column
| Emergency Communications |
| Resources |
By: Staff
Last Reviewed: 01/17/09
Last Reviewed: 01/17/09
| "Helping everyone prepare for the unexpected" |
| LDSReady Site Search |
| Copyright © 2007-2008 LDSReady.org. All rights reserved - Terms of use |
possible. If you have a cell phone now, the
branch encourages members to learn how to
use texting as a form of communicating in an
emergency between family members and/or
home teachers.
FRS/GMRS Radios
In the event of total cell phone/land line failure,
we recommend that family members purchase
a set of FRS/GMRS two-way radios. Family
Radio Service (FRS) is one of the Citizens
Band Radio Services. It is used by family,
friends and associates to communicate within
a neighborhood and while on group outings
and has a communications range of less than
one mile. You can not make a telephone call
with an FRS unit. You can talk to other family
members within its range.
FRS radios have a set of channels (1-14) with
a subset of interference eliminator codes
(1-39) (or more depending on brand and
model) which leaves at least 532 privacy
possibilities. For example, if you wished to talk
to someone, you would need to know in
advance what channel and what interference
eliminator code they were using. Then, simply
tune your FRS radio to that, and you
communications would be possible.
HAM Radios
Emergency Coordinators and others are
becoming interested in the benefits of Ham
radios because of their unique qualities. More
information about ham radios can be found at
the LDS Hams website.
branch encourages members to learn how to
use texting as a form of communicating in an
emergency between family members and/or
home teachers.
FRS/GMRS Radios
In the event of total cell phone/land line failure,
we recommend that family members purchase
a set of FRS/GMRS two-way radios. Family
Radio Service (FRS) is one of the Citizens
Band Radio Services. It is used by family,
friends and associates to communicate within
a neighborhood and while on group outings
and has a communications range of less than
one mile. You can not make a telephone call
with an FRS unit. You can talk to other family
members within its range.
FRS radios have a set of channels (1-14) with
a subset of interference eliminator codes
(1-39) (or more depending on brand and
model) which leaves at least 532 privacy
possibilities. For example, if you wished to talk
to someone, you would need to know in
advance what channel and what interference
eliminator code they were using. Then, simply
tune your FRS radio to that, and you
communications would be possible.
HAM Radios
Emergency Coordinators and others are
becoming interested in the benefits of Ham
radios because of their unique qualities. More
information about ham radios can be found at
the LDS Hams website.
