This will be handed out to our local non-profits, professionals, and community in order for them to prepare for a disaster. I need your input and comments: Ronda Evans RECA Foundation Cell Phones in the event of a Disasterwritten for RECA Foundation by Misty Kesler VISTA The use of cell phones today has become a part of life. In the event of a disaster here is a guide that will help you use a cell phone to get help, contact family or friends, and simplify your life. Communication is important! Dont be left behind, when a disaster strikes! 1. Get a cell phone. Its easy, right? If you cannot afford monthly bills, or just dont want to pay that amount, there are a lot of companies that can provide cell phones that are pre-paid. All you need to buy is the phone itself and a phone card for your minutes, and do not require any monthly service fees. Places like www.cingular.com www.t-mobile.com and www.verizon.com have prepaid phones for sale. Check these websites for the availability in your area. Here is a place where you can compare features for different companies http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6260217-5.html 2. As long as the battery in the phone is charged, you can call 9-1-1 if you have minutes on your phone or not. There are places that can provide a manual hand crank charger, for a small fee of about 20.00 or so. Here is a link to one website in particular http://www.soscharger.net/ . This would be a good investment if the power goes out in a disaster, or if you dont have access to a power source. 3. Become familiar with your phone! Read the manual that comes with it, play with it, and try out all the features, like text messaging, voice mail, internet, e-mail, and pictures if your cell phone has those functions. You may not end up using them as much as you would think, but at least you will be familiar with how to do it. If you have questions about certain features, ASK! No one gets answers by keeping silent. Companies have tech support, which can help you with your questions. Even your friends have knowledge that might be useful to you in getting the answer you need. But youd never know because you just didnt ask 4. Text Messaging for a small fee that is generally taken out of your current minute amount, you can send text messages to other phones, or to e-mail addresses. Keep a current up-to-date list of all your contact information, of other people and yourself! Current E-mails, cell phone numbers can be used with the text messaging function, and is very simple to use. Read your manual for more information on text messaging for your phone. 5. Voice Mail In the event of a disaster, it would be wise to change your voice mail message on your phone, to give out your location, if you are lost, or to let people, who might be calling you, know that you are okay. Read your manual that comes with your phone if you are unfamiliar with this feature. 6. Internet A lot of people do not realize that you can surf the web on your cell phones. Depending on your cell phones functions, you can browse web sites, but just about ALL cell phones support Instant Messaging and Text Messaging feature. Just like www.aim.com or www.yahoo.com you can send messages to other people over the internet, just as you would on a desktop computer or a laptop. With pre-paid phones, your instant messaging is limited, but still there. Read your manual or ask your service provider if this function is available on your cell phone. If you havent, also register with the above two links for Screen Names or IDs These services are free, and also provide an e-mail account, and with yahoo, also a webpage which is also free. 7. E-mail E-mail is one of the most important things you could ever have in the event of a disaster! There are a million and one free email programs such as www.yahoo.com www.hotmail.com www.aim.com www.myway.com and so many others. To get an e-mail account, simply go to the web site, and click sign up follow the instructions provided, and viola! You now have a valid e-mail address. Try and keep it simple: [EMAIL PROTECTED] so people will know that its you! If you want a fun one too, just create another one. You can never have too many e-mail addresses. (well . I guess there can be too many but up to 5 should be okay J ) 8. Pictures a picture can speak volumes! If you dont know where you are exactly, take a picture of something that would be noticed, and send it to someone who can look for you. Take a picture of your loved ones, pets, and even yourself; in the event that you or they are missing, you have a picture you can send out to others, so they can know what he/she looks like in the event of a search and rescue! Keep pictures up to date! Save them! Practice! Taking photos of every day life, and send them to yourself in e-mail, is a very good way to become familiar with how the system works! Youll be glad that you did. You can never have enough communication in time of a disaster! 5210 W. 4th Avenue, Kennewick, WA 99336, 509.543.2910 [EMAIL PROTECTED] TCFN.org Connecting people to technology 4People.tcfn.org Connecting people to resources Calendars.tcfn.org Connecting people to activities _______________________________________________ No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
