Emergency Prepardness

Well I think it's time we finally had that little talk. Yep, disaster preparedness. I know, I know, you don't want to discuss it. It upsets you and makes you a little squeamish. The subject is so large that when you look at books or go to a little class on the subject you are overwhelmed. Not only the worry of what could happen if a disaster occurred, but how in the world are you supposed to come up with the money to buy all that stuff they recommend. I hear ya! So I thought we could start a little series on the subject and take it one step at a time.

Believe it or not, if you have a place to live stocked with the necessities of life, you are on your way. There are many things right there at home that will serve as tools and equipment in the event of a disaster. Think about it. What are you looking for in the event of a disaster? Water, shelter, food, and generally protection from the elements. That is why we build houses in the first place. Survival!

Now if you like camping, hey, you're a step ahead of the rest. What you are doing when you go camping? Believe it or not, you are preparing to survive during the most serious disasters. That's right, by sleeping in tents and cooking outdoors, you are not only preparing to survive a major evacuation, but are honing skills to deal with the elements. You didn't know that? You thought you were going out into the wild to relax and have a little fun? Your right, and I don't want to take that away from you. It's the reason I go camping in the wilderness, but guess what, if you have a disaster that knocks your house down or otherwise renders it and the neighborhood uninhabitable, you are in the wilderness.

My intent is not to start out talking about dealing with major disasters at first. I think you might find that it doesn't take a major disaster as we normally think of them, to create considerable discomfort and even hazard. Think about the news and how many deaths they report because of a heatwave in some area of the country or during winter when it gets extra cold in some areas. A disaster for you could be something as simple as getting stuck in the snow while out on the road. Or it could be a power outage that goes on for some time. I can tell you from personal experience, that if the power goes out for just a few hours during a hard blowing snow storm, things start getting serious fast if you are not prepared.

So we're going to start with the small stuff and hopefully have a little fun with it as well. FUN?!!! DISASTERS FUN?!!! No disasters are not fun, but being prepared is. There is nothing like knowing you are going to be alright when things go sour. In fact, if you are prepared for problems, are they really problems? Or are they just part of living?

So here we go! We will talk about some of the things that we can easily prepare for and experiment with some of the things we have around home that will help us deal with some of the small disasters that can come our way. We will also evaluate and think through some of the scenarios that can come to some of our areas of the country during different times of the year. We will also experiment and play with some of the things that may make our outdoor outings a little more fun and help us be better prepared for trouble.

Thanks for reading and we will be seeing you again soon with some interesting investigations into the world of preparedness.

Dan