Emergency Family Assistance

All military installations have emergency management plans to help prepare for, manage and recover from disasters or emergencies. These plans are vital to keeping Defense Department personnel and their families safe and help them return to a mission ready state after a disaster. Emergency planning also includes provisions for Emergency Family Assistance. You don’t have to know all the ins and outs of these plans, but you should know how to prepare yourself and your family and also how to get assistance if you find yourself impacted by a natural or manmade disaster.

First, get in the know. Become familiar with the disasters that could occur in your area such as wild fires, flooding or extreme weather like tornados or hurricanes. Ask about the emergency procedures for the installation or community. Sign up for installation and community alerts.

Learn about how to use your service’s Personnel Accountability and Assessment System to account for yourself and your family. Make verifying and updating your contact information something you do on a frequent basis. This will help ensure you are quickly connected to resources and information.

Learn about how to reach out for assistance. Most installations have provisions for Emergency Family Assistance Centers. Local leadership will make determinations when and how to activate EFAC operations in support of an event. EFACs serve as a central point for the coordination of family assistance services and are a source for continuous information on family assistance.

Your service’s Personnel Accountability and Assessment System may also be used to created needs assessments. These systems allow you to account for yourself and your family after a disaster and also allow you to complete a needs assessment to communicate assistance you are seeking. For example, if you need assistance finding temporary lodging, you can indicate that in your needs assessment. A case manager will reach out to you to assist you in connecting to relevant resources.

In addition to installation emergency family assistance services, your local American Red Cross location also provides assistance for military members and their families after an emergency or disaster.

Military OneSource also offers you 24/7 confidential consultations, non-medial counseling and connection to resources you need. Call 800-342-9647, or visit MilitaryOneSource.mil to find resources or chat online from any location in the world (international calling options).