Of State Agencies

Never is one consoled by back to back emails containing information from two state agencies/departments.

First there was the notice that a world travel advisory was put out by the U.S. State Department. Fabulous.

Second was the CDC's warning about measles in Europe. Fantastic.

More chocolate please! Another coffee!

Seriously, this brings up my advice on prep today. As much as it can annoy some in your group, I am sending nearly daily emails to the group. They contain everything from reminders to begin increasing water intake (best way to prevent dehydration and jet lag is to drink water before hand - even a week or two) to the medical and security updates.

The CDC's notice is a good reminder to make sure you have the medical information for your group. Even the adults traveling, myself included, complete the health history form that we use for teens. It is just a reference point so that we know about vaccinations, major medical conditions (asthma, diabetes, migraines, etc.), and can offer it to medical professionals if needed.

I also highly recommend that you have two emergency contact issues in place.

The first is that you have on one sheet of paper, the emergency contact person for each of your pilgrims with all that contact person's information (work, home and cell phone numbers). This applies to all in your group, including yourself. Give this list to all chaperones, your parish office, and keep one in your hotel room too.

The other is to establish a phone tree. This is useful when you have to communicate everything from something nearly unimaginable to the simple realities of canceled flights. Have the one person at the top that you call with the information. They then call the #2 person. #2 calls #3 and so on. If #2 can't reach #3, then #2 calls #4. Once #4 is reached, they continue to call #3.

I have never had to use either of these contact lists. I don't plan on ever having to use them. But unexpected things happen and it is best to be prepared.

P.S. Here's the CDC's general WYD announcement.