What do you have in place to ensure your guests safety in case of an emergency? When was the last time you revisited your emergency plan and made sure everything is up to date?

Here's the scenario -- your guests have settled in, spread out all their personal stuff but may not be too familiar with the layout of the house. They've started a meal, put a couple of pans on the stove and are having a few drinks before dinner, enjoying the first night of their vacation, despite the howling gale outside. The bath is running for the kids and everyone is having fun. Then the power goes out. It's dark, they have no idea where to find a flashlight; someone trips over the cooler left in the middle of the kitchen and knocks a bottle over so there is now broken glass all over the floor.

This type of situation is fraught with potential danger. Guests can injure themselves; they may forget they were in the middle of cooking or running water when the power went out which creates issues when it is restored, and unfamiliarity with the property can pose safety problems.

There is no fail-safe system that will ensure your guests read information, but as responsible owners we can do our best to inform and educate.

Create a laminated "In the Case of Power Outage" emergency card that is placed in a couple of prominent positions in the house, and put it in a prime position in the House Book -- just inside the front cover. This should direct guests to the things they need to know and do in the event of the electricity going out.

Prepare a Power Outage Kit that includes at least the following:

Most of the time we have forewarning of bad weather, so think about preparing a standard email message that include the emergency instructions for ingoing guests, and/or making a phone call to them if they are in residence to remind them to read the House Book.

We have so many power outages where our cottage is, we had an automatic generator installed last week…..not a moment too soon I think!

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