Disaster Prep-The Basics Guest post by William E.

Gas shutoff wrench affixed to meter

  When most of us think of disaster preparation or the term "survival", we get a picture of some grizzle-bearded mountain man railing about nuclear winter while lining his one-room cabin with tin-foil to prevent extra-governmental tracking signals.  This discussion is not for that guy!  This is survival for yuppies, rural folks, city dwellers and everyone else you can imagine, preparation for the people...so to speak.  As such, we're not going to be doing much talking about digging bomb-shelters in the back yard.  We'll be spending much more time on things like smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, and gas shutoff wrenches.  

    In my line of work, we have a thing called an "all hazards" approach to disaster preparedness.  It means we try to look at all potential disasters and craft a response that will work for as many of those scenarios as possible.  This offers three advantages.  First, we don't fall into the trap of planning for one single event while ignoring other possibilities.  Second, by developing a simple plan for any incident we make it easier to train emergency personnel and oversee disaster response. Lastly, by offering the same preparation for several possible incidents, we are better able to make the preparation relate to different groups of people.  One person who truly believes he doesn't need to prepare for a chemical terrorist attack may know all too well the dangers posed by wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes.  By taking an "all hazards" approach, we prepare for all of the above at once.  It's simple and we can relate to it in our own way. 

    On an individual level, our "hazards" run a wide gamut.  Our preparations will address being stuck somewhere with a broken down vehicle, traffic accidents, house fires, medical problems, crime, large-scale disasters and an overall self-sustaining lifestyle (or as close as we can get).  

      In my posts I break down preparation into four basic subjects.  These include KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS, EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES, NETWORKING, and MINDSET.  My hope is to address each subject in each blog post.  In each post I will also solicit feedback and interaction.  I have a body of knowledge but I don't know everything and we can all learn from each other.  

    To start let's discuss some basic items everyone should have in their homes.  They aren't glamorous, and we've been told to have these things hundreds of times, but maybe we forgot.  So here's the list:

Smoke Alarms (One in each sleeping room and at least one in hallway or top of stairs)
Fire Extinguisher (At least one in Kitchen, not near the stove, and one in Garage, near the door)
Gas Shutoff Wrench (Attached to the outside gas valve)
Emergency Light  (Preferably LED bulb with Lithium batteries)
First Aid Kit  

    These Items may prevent an emergency from becoming a disaster, and in the case of a disaster, may keep you alive long enough to put your preparation into effect.  All your stored water, food, and supplies will do you no good if you die in the middle of the night because your smoke alarms didn't work, or your house burned down because you didn't have a fire extinguisher.  Getting the stuff isn't enough.  We need to maintain it, test it, and know how and when to use it!  If you're looking at the above list and don't have, or can't maintain, test, or use any of these items, I implore you to make it a priority.   

In my next installment, I'll discuss these pieces of equipment, how they fit in our overall preparedness plan, and we'll begin to discuss a basic family emergency plan.  

Until next time I will leave you to ponder this:

"I used to sleep nude - until the earthquake."
Alyssa Milano