How to elevate your storm safety strategies

With storm season upon us, MASA is here to help with information on how emergency medical transport could be affected when severe conditions hit, tips on how to elevate your emergency preparedness, and resources for travel in disaster-prone areas.

Living, working and traveling in an area prone to natural disasters can be challenging. While the basics of emergency preparedness are likely second nature to residents, there’s always room to enhance your readiness and improve your ability to withstand the unpredictable forces of nature. For travelers, we offer some suggestions to help you prepare for facing an unexpected disaster while away from home.

Never hesitate to call for help

If you need emergency care during a hurricane or natural disaster, never hesitate to call the emergency response line for your area. Emergency transport sometimes has to adapt to disaster conditions, so it may take more time to reach you, but emergency responders get extensive training for situations just like these. If your condition requires care that is unavailable locally, you can call MASA and we’ll make every effort to provide transfer coordination. Whether you need emergency air or ground transportation, we’ll work tirelessly to get you safely moved to a facility capable of the care you need. Even if you are already hospitalized when a storm hits and you need to be transferred to another facility during a hurricane evacuation, we’ll be there to coordinate your air transport and cover out-of-pocket transport costs.

Boost your skills and kits when living in disaster-prone areas

Upgrade your skills with courses

If there’s a delay in emergency care in the aftermath of a natural disaster — due to obstructed roads, flooding, or other obstacles — you or your family may have to rely on your own emergency care skills until help arrives. Visit the Global First Aid Reference Centre’s Training Directory, to find a course in CPR and/or first aid in your area that can give you the skills you may need to stabilize yourself, or someone else, in the event of an injury.

Backup your devices and power up with helpful apps

Staying as up to date as possible on weather forecasts and potential hazards for your area is also critical. One way to level up your ability to monitor the situation and maintain access to important information, is to prep a charged, backup mobile device and portable power bank to add to your emergency kit. Add downloaded maps, emergency contact lists, and copies of important documents to your backup device, so you have access to important information even if cellular service is down.

Consider downloading some weather tracking apps to your primary and backup mobile device. The Clime app and the Weather Channel app (iOS and Android) are great for on-the-go access to severe weather tracking. Check your island’s government website for information about emergency planning locally and to download any disaster preparedness and weather tracking apps specific to your island. Plus, download the MASA app (iOS and Android), so you’ll have quick access to your emergency medical transport coverage and services.

Identify weaknesses through testing

You’ve taken some first aid courses, packed your emergency kit, and made an emergency plan — have you tested everything to make sure it will work when a storm hits? Many make an emergency plan and put together a kit, but few remember to actually test everything out and practice. Organize regular practice drills to test the effectiveness of your emergency plan. Try out different scenarios and use the opportunity to test out the gear in your emergency kit. You’ll be able to identify any weaknesses or areas for improvement, so you can refine your strategies accordingly.

Remember, disasters don’t just hit you at home

What if a hurricane or other natural disaster strikes while you’re away from home? Have you thought about what you might do? If you’re planning travel, consider bringing along a smaller version of your emergency supply kit, as well as your power bank and backup mobile device with helpful digital tools like downloaded maps, the MASA app, and the Clime app. You can also create a temporary emergency plan and decide on a designated meeting spot for you and others you may be traveling with, in the event that a disaster occurs.

Before you leave, review your MASA coverage on our app or in your member portal online to see what resources are available to you and where they extend. If your plan includes repatriation coverage, and you need continued care after an emergency, we’ll provide coordination services and cover the expenses to transport you to a medical facility near your home. We also offer features like minor child return transportation coverage and pet return transportation coverage, which provide coordination services and cover expenses for the return of your child or pet safely home, should you be hospitalized due to a medical emergency. No matter where you go, you can count on your MASA coverage to protect you from unexpected medical transport costs.

We’re here for you

Here at MASA, we’re in the business of helping you stay prepared for the unexpected. We hope our tips help you more confidently navigate emergencies, so you can increase your chances of staying safe and minimizing the impact on your life. Because being prepared is the best defense against the unpredictable forces of nature.