WE ARE happy that many high school students have visited our office lately requesting for an evacuation plan to fulfill some requirements of their subject in their school. However, when they start to read the document handed to them, they get confused because what they actually have is either the list of available evacuation centers in La Trinidad or the map of the Puguis evacuation center. They are expecting a detailed map which we cannot actually provide.
In the earlier times, evacuation plan is usually used for buildings. It is posted inside (the building) which is now referred to as the emergency exit plan. It serves as a guide for those who enter the building for the first time so that they will be oriented of the exits in case of an emergency. It resembles a floor plan but with arrows that shows you where to go if you want to exit the area. Today, the emergency exit plan for the community from a hazard prone area is now what we call community evacuation plan. It shows the “floor plan” of the entire community. It is a map in general with contents that include locations of homes and the safest route to the nearest evacuation center in the community. When you get to see it, you will immediately know where to go to in case you are being asked to evacuate.
The evacuation plan in a building is made by the owner, while the evacuation plan for the community is developed by every member of it. Collecting every household’s evacuation plan based on where they want to go, and what route are they to use is a good practice. A neighborhood, for instance, may have one route for them all, and they will not get lost in case of an ordered evacuation.
To make an evacuation plan, you must know the location of the evacuation center in your neighborhood. Mark the location of this evacuation center on your community map and identify nearest safe roads or paths towards it from your home. By doing so, you have now made your easy to read evacuation plan.
Earlier, I mentioned that we only give students lists of evacuation centers or map of the Puguis evacuation center. This is because we do not actually know the exact location of the student’s resident and the safest ways possible. At the same time, we want that these students make their own plan, decide what the safest way is for them, so they will know their plan, by heart. At an instant where a certification is required, or a signature, the local, or personalized, evacuation plan may be reviewed by the barangay or municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for addition in the official documents they hold.
If you are among the parents of these students, please help them by adopting their plan and teaching it to other members of your family too. If not, have your children make one, and decide as a family, the routes you could go to, in case you will need to evacuate. A simple evacuation plan with identified routes for your family is a big contribution in our aim to prevent a disaster and have a disaster resilient community.