Plan Ahead Nevada - Helpful Preparedness Information

Take Action and Prepare Now

There are many ways to take action and prepare before a disaster occurs. Here are 12 important ways to help yourself, your family, and your community increase your preparedness. Simple actions at home and in your neighborhood can make a big difference!

  1. Make an Emergency Communications Plan
  2. Create a Disaster Supply Kit (Update supplies every six months) 
  3. Test Family Communication Plan 
  4. Practice Emergency Drills
  5. Know Evacuation Routes
  6. Sign up for Alerts and Warnings
  7. Save for a Rainy Day
  8. Safeguard Documents
  9. Plan with Neighbors
  10. Protect Your Home Make It Safer
  11. Get Involved in Your Community
  12. Document and Insure Property

Basic Preparedness Steps

Be Informed - Learn what protective measures to take before, during and after an emergency.  
Make an Emergency Communications Plan - Create an emergency communication plan, you may not be with your loved ones when a disaster strikes.
Emergency Supply Checklist - Assemble a disaster supply kit by collecting basic items your household may need to survive on during an emergency. 
Get Involved - Participate in community programs and activities to make families, homes and communities safer from risks and threats.

Are You Prepared for a Disaster / Emergency? Start Now With These Helpful Tools:

Spanish Forms

Plan Ahead Nevada Guide

The Nevada Division of Emergency Management has developed this comprehensive guide to provide Nevadans with information, helpful tips, checklists and techniques on preparing your family, friends and pets for all emergency conditions. 

Preparing before an emergency incident plays a vital role in ensuring that everyone in your household, employers and workers have the necessary equipment, know where to go, and know how to keep themselves safe when an emergency occurs. This guide provides information on how to prepare and train for emergencies and the hazards to be aware of when an emergency occurs.

Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

The Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process helps communities identify capability targets and resource requirements necessary to address anticipated and unanticipated risks.

The THIRA is a three-step risk assessment completed every three years. It helps answer the following questions:

  • What threats and hazards can affect our community?
  • If they occurred, what impacts would those threats and hazards have on our community?
  • Based on those impacts, what capabilities should our community have?

The THIRA helps communities understand their risks and determine the level of capability they need in order to address those risks. By understanding its risks, a community can make smart decisions about how to manage risk, including developing needed capabilities. Risk is the potential for an unwanted outcome resulting from an incident, event, or occurrence, as determined by its likelihood and the associated consequences.

Information and Resources on Disasters and Emergencies

Categories:

Home Emergencies and Safety Measures

Access and Functional Needs

Access and Functional Needs (AFN) refers to individuals with and without disabilities, who may need additional assistance because of any condition. That may limit their ability to act in an emergency.

No two disasters are the same, yet all have a disproportionate effect on our most vulnerable populations - individuals with access and functional needs such as people with disabilities, older adults, children, those with limited English proficiency, and those with transportation disadvantage. Nevada Division of Emergency Management (DEM) works hard to use a whole-community approach, offering training and guidance to emergency managers & planners, disability advocates, and other service providers to plan for, respond to, and help communities recover from disasters. DEM understands the realities of disasters and takes steps to ensure AFN are incorporated into everything we do.   

DEM's AFN coordinator assists with identifying the needs of individuals with disabilities and others with access or functional needs before, during, and after disasters and to integrate them into the State’s emergency management plans and systems. DEM’s AFN coordinator plans for the realities of disasters by integrating access and functional needs into everything the division does including partnership development, outreach, training, guidance and providing technical assistance. DEM’s goal is to ensure all Nevadans are prepared for and supported during an emergency.

Nevada 211

Nevada 211 is a special phone number reserved to provide information and referrals to health, human and social service organizations. Dialing 2-1-1 in almost every part of the United States will connect you to human and social services for your area. Services included in 2-1-1 are: places to find emergency food, housing and emergency shelter locations, children’s services, support for seniors, and people with disabilities, and mental health and counseling services, among many others. Nevada 2-1-1 is committed to helping Nevadans connect with the services they need.

Neighborhood Watch Programs

The National Neighborhood Watch program empowers citizens to become active in community efforts through participation in Neighborhood Watch groups. Neighborhood Watch programs help keep neighborhoods and communities safe. Starting your own crime prevention program—or reviving one that’s already been started in your neighborhood—can reduce crime in your area and give you a greater sense of security, and can even help improve your property’s value.

National Preparedness Month

National Preparedness Month (NPM) is recognized each September to raise awareness about the importance of and to promote family and community disaster planning now and throughout the year. As our nation continues to respond to various disasters and emergencies, there is no better time to start planning and get involved.

Disasters and emergencies can happen any time. Are you prepared Nevada?

Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plan

Comprehensive Preparedness Guide provides guidance for developing emergency operations plans. It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of risk-informed planning and decision making to help planners examine a hazard or threat and produce integrated, coordinated, and synchronized plans.

Kids Corner - Fun Educational Resources

The resources available on this page provides children, parents and teachers with educational information, games and videos for kids to develop awareness and skills with all aspects of preparedness and safety.