It’s when disaster strikes that people say they “wish they had …” or “should have …”
Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but there are some things you can do for emergency preparedness. You don’t have to wait for someone to get hurt to take action.
By being prepared for an emergency, you’re making a big impact in two ways.
First, you’re being kind to those who are part of your mobile home park. Whether they notice your preparedness is beside the point. You’re doing the right thing by looking out for others.
Second, you’re mitigating a bigger disaster when disaster hits. Read on and you’ll see how having a preparedness plan for emergencies can save lives.
Preparedness plan: handling emergencies in your mobile home park
You can save lives and be a positive leader in your mobile home park by being prepared to handle emergencies in your mobile home park.
Individual household preparedness
In your efforts toward emergency preparedness, your plan can really take off if everyone does their part. Encourage your park residents to prepare their household for an emergency. If everyone does their part to take care of their own, a community-wide emergency will be easier to bear.
Reporting fires and other emergencies
The worst thing anyone on staff can do is assume that someone else has already reported the emergency to 911. It’s the first thing you should do and it will be the most helpful. Stress this to your staff — call 911 and then do what you can help without becoming another rescue. Technically you should not go into a burning building. Additionally, you could be liable for any damage incurred by your attempts to help a neighbor. Your staff should understand that.
Keep bystanders away from the burning home and move anything that may catch fire and cause the fire to move to the next mobile home.
Before a fire ever becomes an emergency, share some fire preparedness tips with your park tenants.
Evacuation policy and procedure
Now let’s look at taking an evacuation policy and procedure into account. It’s wise to have one for your park and share with your staff and tenants.
Take the time to structure a plan for evacuation — whether you’re in an area that deals with flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, or wildfires, a plan will keep your tenants from going into a chaotic panic. This neighborhood did it with great results. You can read their story and garner some ideas for your mobile home park.
And stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more information on how to write an evacuation plan for your park in an upcoming blog post.
Keep emergency contact info handy
Although your mobile home park may seem relatively low key, you would do well to have all manner of emergency contact info handy at your park office. Poison control, animal control, the sheriff’s office, state police, fire department, and others should be in an easily accessible and visible sheet.
You can one-up your preparedness plan by sending copies of this sheet to your tenants. Leave space on the print out where they can pen in their own emergency contact. For example, a friend or family member who lives outside the park would be a good idea. In the case that your tenant is unconscious, you’ll know who to contact.
Rescue and medical know-how
If you and/or staff members can gain education through programs such as CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) certification, your park will be better prepared. The American Red Cross makes training a breeze through their online program.
In the case that you have nurses, doctors, or other medical personnel living in your park, you should keep their number handy in case of an emergency.
Emergency communications system
Here’s something you’ll want to keep in your office — some sort of system for emergency communications. If the power goes out for days in the event of a disaster, you’ll be glad to have a radio handy. Communication with the outside world could be a challenge and impossible if the cell phone towers and phone lines go down.
Ham radios will allow you to communicate with others within the area to exchange information during an emergency.
An emergency radio for the latest area updates will keep you informed if the power goes out. Lifehacker has a guide to getting your hands on the best one out there.
Stay calm!
There you have it — our guide to handling emergencies in your mobile home park. The best thing you can do is remain calm and think with your head during an emergency. Don’t be impulsive. Be prepared by following the information in the links we’ve provided before disaster strikes.
Speaking of your park’s preparedness, are you ready for winter?
About Dan Paton
