Wally Wise Guy's Wise Words of the Week: Develop a Household Emergency Plan.

September is National Preparedness Month and Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management encourages you to talk with your family about emergencies: what to do, where to meet and how to stay in contact during an emergency.

• Fill out a Household Emergency Plan Template.
• Be ready to Shelter-in-Place for at least 72 hours. 
• Have a Go Bag and be ready to evacuate. 
• Decide on two meeting places where household members should meet after an emergency - one right outside or close to your home and anther outside your neighborhood. 
• Practice evacuating from your home using different exits and practice getting to your meeting places. 
• Ask a friend or relative who lives outside of the 215 area code to be your family's emergency contact. If local phone circuits are busy, long distance calls may be easier to make. 
• Plan for everyone in your family especially seniors, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers. 
• Give everyone in your house a copy of your emergency plan and emergency contact information to keep in their wallets or backpacks. 
• Twice a year - check your emergency plan and the expiration dates of your emergency supplies when you change your clocks and fire alarms batteries. 
• Don't forget to include your pets in your emergency plans. Make sure they are prepared to evacuate or shelter-in-place by visiting the Pets page on our website.
• Sign up for ReadyNotifyPA, the region's emergency text and email alert system, visit www.readynotifypa.org, text PHILA to 411-911 or scan the code below.

For more information on emergency preparedness, visit the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management at www.phila.gov/ready.