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Do you have emergency plan?

3K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  ginziputzi 
#1 ·
Part of my role at work has been the development & maintenance of an Emergency Preparedness plan, working with our patients & the city to ensure that everyone is safe in the event of emergency.

It got me thinking about how I would manage my own household during an emergency. As all of us know parrots have different needs than cats or dogs, so I started doing some research to see what was recommended when I came across this article. I found it fairly interesting and I could see how this might work. Figured I would share with the rest of you and also see if anyone else has any other ideas.

http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/how-to-evacuate-parrots-when-you-only-have-seconds/
 
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#6 ·
I always keep an extra bags of seed and Roudybush and keep travel cages set up and ready to go. I started doing this after living in an apartment building that had a fire and needed to be evacuated. I was lucky to have super tame birds that liked hanging out in my shirt. I just stuffed them in and left. The birds never knew their home was in danger. Now I just keep everything handy just in case.

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#7 ·
I like the idea of the pillowcase because birds are so sensitive to smoke/fumes. It wouldn't prevent full exposure since obviously they are able to breathe through it, but I think it would at least filter out a lot and limit their exposure. My rationale being that smoke/fumes/toxins are heavier than air, so would be more difficult to penetrate the cloth.

Adding to it, I am going to get a small gym/duffle bag put together with a few essentials and keep that with the travel cages. I already cleared a space under the hutch in the "bird/school/foyer room" (not sure what you call this area since it serves all purposes lol).

Making myself a list of what to include (other than the actual travel cage & pillowcases), please feel free to add to the list if you have an essential item I may not have thought of. There should be sufficient quantities to last 1 week. I've worked 2 disasters before and I know how difficult it can be trying to get supplies, so I want to make certain that I would have enough to last for a little bit.

1. Bottled Water
2. Seed/Pellets
3. Millet~ if stressed they may not eat anything else or you may need it to coax the bird out.
4. Other food~for my birds this would be a small bag pine nuts & sunflower seeds. These are crack for my birds~ never leave home without them.
5. Food Dishes~at least 2 (food & water), although you could put seed in your hand, sprinkled on floor & use bottle cap to hold water if needed.
6. Towel~ I cover my birds at night, so a towel to cover travel carrier would be needed
7. Toys~ Birds are easily stressed, will need a few small toys to help them manage changes in their environment, otherwise you may find yourself with a bird who starts plucking. I plan to include a minimum of 1 hanging toy & 2 shredders for every 3 birds.
8. Cleaning supplies~ pkg of travel wipes, hand sanitizer, paper towels (taken off roll and folded), toothbrush (or other sm brush to scrub bowls/cage etc)
9. Documentation Folder~ small notebook or folder that has hard copies of pet's history, vet information & 2 emergency contacts for someone who has experience with birds and who could provide temporary shelter if needed.

** Alternative to #9 would be to keep this information electronically stored, using program such as dropbox or similar and then you could simply access from your mobile phone. The problem with this though is that depending on the emergency phone lines may be down or limited and you could lose phone, forget to charge it or something, so hard copy would be needed.
10. Medications/Medical supplies~ any routine prescriptions, vitamins, quick stop powder, syringe/eye dropper.
11. Money~ amount will vary for each of us, but i'm thinking $50 in small denominations.

This is all very similar to my families "go bag". Each family member has small backpack filled with essentials for 72 hrs. I have a larger "family" backpack which carries additional supplies since my children can't carry overly large/heavy packs.

You should check your emergency kits a minimum of every 6 months, but some recommend every 3 months. You will want to rotate the food/water so that it doesn't expire or get moldy.

I'll post some photos once I have everything set up.
 
#8 ·
This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you SO much for posting.

I live in Arizona where fires happen fairly often. Now while I live a fair bit south from where they most commonly happen, I shouldn't assume I'm safe. This post REALLY made me think. Thank you!
 
#11 ·
This is brilliant. I am ashamed at myself for not having thought of an emergency evacuation plan before! I noted in that article that there was a photo of the bird with information inside a plastic sheet protector, taped to the bottom of the travel cage. I am going to do this with Kiwi's cage. As she travels in the car with me often, this would be useful, for example, if I was in an accident. Which also makes me think that I should keep an "emergency" bag in the car with some essentials - like a thermal blanket if the car breaks down when it is cold outside and food and water for Kiwi (and my dog) if we wound up stranded in the car like some travellers have been.

Wow - this is getting me thinking! I am also going to make some contingency plans with family and neighbours. There was a low rise apartment building a few blocks from where I live that had these two beautiful parrots often looking out the window. The low rise behind that building burned to the ground one night and i was terrified for the parrots wondering if they had suffered from the thick smoke. I have seen them since, so they are fine - but i thought even if there was a fire in the neighbourhood when I was at work, who could ensure Kiwi's safety? I think I will make plans.

Oh - and another thing i do when I am away - i make sure to advise the vet in the event Kiwi needs medical care. I have been with them long enough now that they do not worry about me being good for the money, but I make sure they are authorized to do whatever is necessary in the circumstances and to bill me for it. In the case of my dog, she swallowed a chicken bone when I was away - and a big one (that is a long story) - and my daughter brought her to the vet and they ended up extracting it by lassoing it and bringing it up the same way it went down (she was sedated, obviously). But because they had my authorization, they knew that they could just handle the situation.

Sorry - long post - but i think a very worthwhile discussion!
 
#12 ·
Wow, that's a bad one for your poor little dog! Thank God the vet would do the work right away! The traveling in the car is a concern, we did this all the time with peewee.
 
#13 ·
Yea, most people don't like to discuss the "what if's" in life. It's the same with my patients when I talk to them about advance directives, POA's, resuscitation orders etc...no one wants to think about those things, but it's usually to late once you get to that point, always best to know up front how to react and to be prepared. I have window decals too that show location of animals within the home, that way if there is local event emergency respondents will know there are pets inside.
 
#15 ·
Well, it is a tough subject - in North American culture anyway. I think this is why we refer to the sandwich generation - dealing with kids and aging parents. Neither is prepared to deal with it because no one thinks about it .. And yet it will happen to us too. It wouldn't feel like a sandwich of we opened up about it. It would just be natural - which, by the way, it is. That does not mean easy either, but not so shocking.


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#16 ·
I'm in that sandwich situation. My mother is still alive, bless her 84 year old heart! She isn't very demanding but when my dad was alive it fell to the children to take care of him as my mother is limited to a mobility cart. Then I have my grandchildren who I watch several days a week. Between that and trying to work a little I have my hands plenty full! Oh, did I mention I also have a husband who doesn't know how to dish up his own ice cream? :rolleyes:
 
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