Preparing for an Emergency

Alexander Graham Bell famously said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” We agree. Below are some helpful tips to help you prepare for an emergency.

How to Prepare Your Wireless Device for Emergencies:

• Keep your cellphone charged.
• Consider investing in an external charging device, such as an external battery and keep it charged and accessible.
• Consider downloading emergency apps including FEMA, AccuWeather, and Red Cross Emergency to help keep you updated as emergencies unfold.
• If you don’t have transportation or flashlight apps built into your phone, consider downloading them so you are prepared in case you need to evacuate or need to see in the dark.
• Save essential contact information, including family members and friends, police, fire, hospital, school, and vet in your phone’s address book.
• If you are a parent or guardian, find out how your children’s school will notify you during an emergency.
• Consider measures to conserve your cellphone’s battery life, including using airplane mode and reducing your screen’s brightness. Also, consider turning on your phone’s power saving mode and/or adjusting your settings to ensure your phone’s screen goes into sleep mode faster.
• Make sure notifications for Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are enabled on your device if your phone supports this feature. If you have blocked WEA messages on your device, consider unblocking.
• To help stay connected, set up Wi-Fi calling on your phone. For Apple phones, go to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling. For Android phones, go to Settings > More Connection Settings > Wi-Fi Calling.