Take advantage of available technology in a crisis, but always have a back-up plan.

A nice BBC story on the use of technology to find missing family members and friends: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131029-apps-that-answer-crisis-calls/all

A couple of key thoughts beyond this:

• Remember to have a back-up plan, for when the mobile/cellular networks are overloaded or go down.
• Have a single point of contact who knows how to contact other family and friends so the word gets spread more quickly – a family contact tree, think Facebook and Twitter.
• If you’re traveling beyond your home country, register with your embassy.
• Have an emergency kit: color copies of face page of your passport and key credit cards in two places: one with a non-traveling contact and one with you.
• Have a backup copy of your phone contacts in the cloud or on paper. If you lose your phone, how many numbers will you remember?

Finally, we plan for things that may or may not happen. Have a plan for the worst case, because it will happen to all of us at some point.  Estate plans, family care plans and wills should be a standard part of any adult’s life plan.  It is not something for you, but those left behind who are often confronted with making decisions on your behalf, without the benefit of knowing what you might want.