Making a plan - Current photos

There is a lot of overlap between making an emergency plan and making an emergency kit. That came up last with with medication, and it is coming up this week with photos. There is just more to it than photos.

I thought of it because I saw a tweet with people putting out pictures of some people missing in the Carr fire, a great-grandmother and two children. You may have seen the photos too, and know that they have been found dead. That doesn't invalidate what I am going to say.

When there was still hope, it occurred to me that those weren't very good pictures. Some weren't very clear, and they apparently only had a side photo of the great-grandmother.

Normally you hope that everyone not only has a plan but can speak for themselves and provide identifying information. That might not happen, even if everyone is alive.

If an adult watching children gets incapacitated, the adult might not be able to explain and the children may be too young or too traumatized to provide names and contact information. Seniors with dementia can be alive but disoriented. That can also happen with other cognitive disabilities or in some cases after missing medication.

(For many of these cases, ID bracelets can also be a good idea. And yes, we talked about planning to keep your medication current last week, but there are so many things that can go wrong.)

My point is that it can't hurt to add photos of household members to your emergency kit. Make them clear, current photos with a front view. Children usually get annual school pictures, making it easy. Still, if there is a growth spurt or a haircut, maybe take a new picture. A lot of adults don't like having their pictures taken, but it's for safety. Refresh those pictures frequently.

Yes, you may have pictures on your phone, but what if heat damages your phone, or it gets misplaced, or they were blurry pictures that weren't very recognizable?

Obviously, kits can be left behind or get lost or burned. Also obviously, it is better if your family doesn't get separated. Emergency planning is knowing that there are things beyond your control and then trying to mitigate that.

Next week I want to spend some time on fires specifically, because we are seeing things we may not have seen before, and they require some adjustment.

For now, in the part of your plan that involves reuniting after an emergency, think about the things that can make it harder: who will need extra help? If we get separated miles from home, and can't go back home, what do we do then?

And as part of that, there are many advantages to having current photos.