Sunday Bulletin Emergency Preparedness Examples  

If every family would implement the guidelines contained in their Family Preparedness  Handbook, our homes and wards and stake would be extremely well prepared for emergencies.  As a way to encourage members to do this, one ward ran a blurb each week in their Sunday  bulletin. Presented under the title “Provident Living,” each announcement includes a reminder  and a challenge for the month, covering topics in order from the family handbook. Please feel  free to borrow the wording below to use in your own weekly bulletin if you’d like.  

PROVIDENT LIVING  

PROV’IDENT, adjective, Foreseeing wants and making provision to supply them; forecasting; cautious;  prudent in preparing for future exigences. The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to live  providently. Therefore, to that end you will see a new Provident Living Challenge each month. This  month with your family, please review and update pages 3-7 of the Family Emergency Handbook and  make sure every member of you family knows how to your family’s emergency plan.  

Our Challenge for the month of July is to gather copies of all of your important family DOCUMENTS into  one place where they would be easy to take with you if you had to leave your home unexpectedly. Page  10 of your Emergency Preparedness Handbook has a list of documents and helpful suggestions for  safeguarding them. This is a very practical step that will bring great peace of mind.  

While some kinds of emergencies might involve evacuating our homes, there are other situations—such  as the release of toxic chemicals that threatens air quality—where we might need to remain inside our  homes or other buildings. This is called SHELTER-IN-PLACE. Our challenge for August is to read page 11  of your Emergency Preparedness Handbook, and gather materials that would help protect your home in  case you ever need shelter in place.  

Having a good FIRST AID KIT is an essential part of family preparedness. Our challenge for the month of  September is to put together a family First Aid Kit, or if you already have one, inspect it and add or  replace items as necessary. If you regularly use things from your kit, remember to replenish those and  keep it up to date. See page 12 of your Emergency Preparedness Handbook for helpful suggestions.  

Besides a good First Aid kit for your home, it’s a good idea to keep certain items in your car in case you  are away from home when an emergency happens, or if you need to relocate quickly. Page 13 of your  Emergency Preparedness Handbook gives a list of things to make up a Car Survival Kit. During October,  look at that list and pull together at least some of these items for your vehicle. 

We take it for granted that we can turn on the tap anytime and have clean WATER. But what if that  were suddenly not available? Do you have a supply of water safely stored for drinking, cooking, and  other needs in time of emergency? November’s challenge is to evaluate your home water storage— how and how much—and take steps to improve. See pages 13 and 14 of your Emergency Preparedness Handbook.  

This month’s challenge is FOOD STORAGE – one of the cornerstones of family preparedness. It’s not just  about big buckets of wheat in the basement. We’ve been counseled to store what we eat and eat what  we store, to gradually build up and rotate our reserves. Review pages 15 and 16 of your Emergency  Preparedness Handbook for these and other tips on how to get started or update your food storage.  

In 2016, we’ll continue to have a monthly challenge in the bulletin each week to remind us of the  importance of being prepared. As you build up your food storage, don’t forget to also stock up on other  household necessities—soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, plastic bags, matches, etc. See Commodity  Storage, page 16 of your family Handbook.  

This month, please get out your Emergency Preparedness Handbook and read page 17 on Financial  Preparedness. Unlike other topics in the binder, preparing financially is not something you can  accomplish in four weeks, but you can review these important principles of long-term preparation and  pick one or two areas to work on.  

Think back to the last time you experienced a nighttime power outage at home. Did you know right  where to go to find a flashlight with fresh batteries, or was it a bit of a scramble? What if instead of an  hour or two you found yourself without electrical power for several days? Pages 18-19 of your Family  Emergency Preparedness Handbook deal with Heating, Cooking, and Lighting, including important  safety tips for storing and using different types of fuel.  

Scientists tell us that on average there is an earthquake every day somewhere in the state of  Utah. Fortunately, most of these are too small to be felt. But there is a chance we could experience a  major quake during our lifetimes. Our monthly challenge for April is to study pages 20-21 of your Family  Emergency Preparedness Handbook, and discuss with your family important steps in preparing for and  responding to an earthquake. We hope it never happens, but it’s good to talk about it and at least have  a plan.  

Our Preparedness challenge for May is Fire Prevention and Response. Smoke detectors and fire  extinguishers—all in good working order—are essential preventative measures for every home. But  there are more things we can do to be prepared. Consider reading pages 22-23 of your Family  Emergency Preparedness Handbook together in your next family home evening and pick one or two  things to work on this month. 

Summer is the start of Utah’s wildfire season. While we may not think of the Columbia Heights ward  neighborhood as a high danger area, we live in a state where wildfires occur every year. Most wildfires  are caused by people, so be sure to practice fire safety when enjoying the great outdoors this summer,  and read about keeping our homes safe in the event of wildfires on pages 22-23 of your Family  Emergency Preparedness Handbook.  

The topic for the month of July is high winds. We know all about those! In just the past few years Davis  County has had windstorms strong enough to blow down fences, uproot trees, and tear shingles off  roofs. And it’s sure to happen again. When high pressure develops over Wyoming at the same time as  low pressure builds up over Nevada and California, the winds race from east to west, right through our  canyons. Simple precautions like securing your trampoline and bringing garbage cans inside the garage  can save a lot of damage. Review page 23 of your family Handbook for more suggestions.  

Page 24 of your Family Emergency Preparedness Handbook includes some helpful tips for dealing with a  power outage. It may be fun to play a family game of Uno by candlelight, but an extended power  outage could pose a real challenge. How well prepared is your family? What would you do for heating if  it happened in wintertime? How long would food in the freezer remain unspoiled? Do you have surge  protectors? Check out this page of your binder for handy tips.  

The weather has finally started to cool down, which means winter is not far away. On page 24 of your  Family Emergency Preparedness Handbook there are some ideas for dealing with winter storms.  Sometime before the end of September, pull out your binder (do you know where it is?) and read this  section as a family so you’re prepared for how to deal with storms, whether at home or in a car.  

We don’t have to worry about flooding in Utah, do we? Maybe not the kind you see on the news,  where cars float down the street and people get stranded on rooftops, but several members of our own  ward have experienced home flooding from leaky pipes, broken water heaters, or heavy rains. What  would you do if this happened to you? Check out page 25 of your family preparedness binder this  month (the one with Noah’s ark on the front!).