Considerations for Emergency Preparedness
Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of a fire and where to seek shelter during a powerful storm.
In the previous articles, we cover disaster preparedness for food, water, medical and hygiene. Let’s have a further look at other considerations that are important to prepare you better for any emergency or disaster.
Energy
Energy is meant for any electrical needs you may have, like a mini refrigerator for medications. It also means fire. You must be able to cook and boil water. Sometimes an open fire can make you even less safe in the aftermath of a disaster. It telegraphs your location to the world and could be dangerous because of natural gas leaks, debris, or flammable chemical leaks. If the solar panels on your house were part of your plan, realize that these shut down after a disaster to prevent electricity from trickling down the line to workers who may be repairing lines.
If you do go with a solar option, you will need a backup battery and power management system. The fact is that your energy needs must drop after a disaster to the bare minimum and the basics. This can be a portable solar panel, a battery backup system you keep plugged into the wall for just such an emergency, or a fuel-dependent generator. Whichever you choose, each will have its length of usability. A battery backup that is not replenishing will only last as long as its capacity. A solar panel will only work if you have adequate sunshine and the means to spread it out.
A fuel-dependent generator is limited to the fuel on hand. Even a propane generator tied to the municipal system isn’t a sure bet. Though the pumping station may operate by electricity generated at the site from the natural gas extracted, natural gas getting to your location depends on other pumping station valves and uninterrupted lines. It would not be out of the ordinary for the gas company to cut off lines in the aftermath of a disaster until they could ensure the line integrity.
Your energy needs may have to be met at some point by an open flame, even a candle. If that is all you can safely use to create light and heat, that’s all you have. Make sure that you have the basics to start a fire, keep it small, keep it going, cook with it, and heat with it. A tiny candle can heat water and render it safe to drink, given a long enough time. It can sterilize a needle before you must sew a rudimentary suture. You don’t need to know how to start a fire with two sticks, though that is helpful. You do need reliable means to get a fire going and adequate resources to keep it going. Even with the most elaborate and expensive solar battery systems, make sure you still have the means to create the vital energy fire.
Emergency Bags
Make sure you have an emergency grab bag and an Everyday Carry (EDC) bag. Make at least one for each of your family members. Make sure you have the basics I outlined in each. If your bag is in the trunk of your car and the roads get wiped out with you several miles from home, your bag is the equivalent of a life vest when you are drowning. Don’t throw out those old sneakers. Put them in your bag. Put a utility tool in there along with at least a pocketknife. Put a length of paracord, a basic camp cup cooker, and a light windbreaker or small tarp. Put sunscreen and insect repellent in there.
Ask yourself what you will need to survive 72 hours away from home. Even longtime preppers don’t always take this step. They assume that their preps in their home will get them by. Unfortunately, disasters can decimate your home supplies, and a storm can rip the roof off your home, or someone can burn it to the ground. The possibility of you being displaced after a disaster is genuine, and the possibility of a disaster striking while you are away from home is very real.
Your 40-minute commute to work is a multi-day journey back home if the roads are impassable. If your house is on fire, you won’t have time to gather up what you need, carefully pack it in a bag and then get to safety. Make sure you have copies of essential documents or a USB thumbnail in a zip-lock bag in this bag, as well. This will force you to keep a closer eye on the bag, and it will help you rebuild or re-establish yourself after a disaster.
Minimally, make sure you have what you need to survive for 72 hours in the elements. That will depend a great deal upon your environment. If the bag never leaves your closet or the trunk of your car, that’s great. If you need it even once and have it, you will be thankful you didn’t skip this step.
Next Considerations
If you focus on these five preps: food, water, medical, hygiene, and energy, and you look at them from the perspective of most likely disasters and most likely durations, you will have the basis of what you need to survive a variety of catastrophes. Start small by building your supplies for a 3-day supply, then 3 weeks, then at least 3 months.
This will put you better positioned than 90% of the population. Even with no other things considered, you will be better capable of surviving most disasters. Build a disaster plan just as you attempted to build a meal plan to understand your food preps. What is the step-by-step you need when the disaster occurs? Develop a checklist and review it with all family members. Let your discussion lead you to prepare better for more possibilities.
There are other considerations, and those will depend on the type of disaster you think you will or will face. If you live far off the main roads in relative seclusion, personal protection is important but less critical than it may be for someone who lives in a high-rise apartment in the inner city. Skill-building and knowledge are vital prep. If you know how to hunt, fish, make soap, brew, can, pickle, sew, knit, do mechanics, medical arts, gardening, herbal remedies, foraging or scavenging, and you have put these skills into practical use from time to time, you’re going to be better equipped to survive the aftermath of a disaster. The phrase ‘knowledge is power’ could not be more accurate.
After just a few generations, we have become accustomed to getting our needs met with a few clicks of a keyboard or with a few words and a little money. Our ancestors made their soap, cooked their food, preserved their harvests, hunted, gardened, bartered, and traded to meet their needs. Adopt a mindset of continually improving your skills. Build a physical library of a few forgotten skills, crafts, and sustainable activities of the past. You may not need a Dakota Fire Pit now, but it might not hurt to know how to build one later. Don’t rely on gear that you have never pressed into service to work correctly in a disaster. Your best prep is your skills and knowledge.
Finally, focus on your health. If you live on the 20th floor but can’t take the stairs up or down to save your life, you need to move. If you can’t walk 40 miles over several days, you need to achieve a higher fitness level. We all have genuine limitations and health issues but plan to address your health concerns and commit to doing a little more each day. In a short amount of time, you will have at least a little better fitness level.
You may not be going on any mountain hikes, but you must be able to get from point A to point B without entirely relying on a car, bus, or subway. The physical demands during and after a disaster are great. A significant key to your survival is if you are fit enough to rise to those demands and endure.
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