Being prepared is something we do daily in our lives and don’t realize, knowing this we can develop habits to include disaster preparedness in with our lives as well. You work hard to ensure your family has everything they may need for each day, why would you not ensure they have what they may need during an emergency?
How We Prepare Daily
We prepare for our family and selves daily. If you have kids you make sure they have on the proper clothing for the day, homework for school, everything they need for the day. If you have a baby, you are going to make sure you have formula, wipes, diapers, bottles and medication when you leave the house. You will not say oh maybe I can find what I need while I’m out if the baby gets hungry, you will have what you need with you.
When you go on vacation you know what the weather will be and pack clothing accordingly. Trips are planned and everything that may be needed is packed and taken along if possible. You won’t go south in the summer with a winter wardrobe and you won’t travel north in the winter months with flip-flops and shorts.
We prepare for travel with ease, and we should prepare for emergencies with ease as well.
How We Can Include Preparing for Emergencies in Our Daily Life
I can not possibly include everything you may need here, so I will cover the basics and more in depth information can be found in post relating to specific topics on of preparing. To start you need to know what emergencies are possible in your area and start there.
You want to ensure you can provide the basics of food, water, and shelter to start and build from there. First aid is also a concern and having a good first aid kit is smart. If potential emergencies require evacuations, it is a good idea to regularly practice the evacuation plan so everyone knows their part.
Planning for water can be for storage or to source and purify. However you choose, start preparing know. If you will source and purify you emergency water, practice, practice, practice. It will do you no good if you plan to source and purify water in an emergency if you have never done it before and have not located a source. Knowing how before you actually need to perform helps insure success when needed.
Take a cue from your favorite sports team; They practice consistently so that they are at their best when it comes game time. If they did not do this they would not be successful and would not be your favorite sports team.
I am not suggesting you go prepping crazy, I am simply pointing out that we prepare for most all things in our lives, so why are we not prepared for emergencies.
Where to Start
When becoming more prepared we can start basis and ensure that we have enough food for everyone for 72 hours. Most emergency management systems recommend this as a minimum. You can accomplish this by keeping enough store bought food on hand at all times, or purchasing a 72-hour kit. Both have benefits and down sides, like the initial cost of a 72-hour kit could be considered high as a lump sum whereas store bought can be purchased over time, spreading the cost out. For a Limited Time Get the Premium Five Person 72-Hour Emergency Survival Kit for Under $150! The kit can be kept together in one place making it easy to grab compared to the store bought that will need to be rotated because of the short shelf life. You can decide which option is best for you as long as you ensure food for emergencies. Building a long-term food storage can be done slowly as well, and used in many different situations.
More and more people are going gluten free, and you may think there are not long-term foods for these people, but fear not as companies are considering this and Legacy Foods is one of them.
Water is the most important necessity as water is life. If you do not have water you will not survive long. Start know working on how you will provide water in an emergency and remember 15 gallons per day per person. Water filters or storage blocks are one way to ensure water for your family.
Shelter can be anything from family or friend’s home outside the emergency zone, to emergency shelters set up by the local government to tents that can be used outside the emergency zone. What every you plan for shelter, make sure everyone knows where to go if separated, and having more than one plan for shelter is wise in case the first option will not work.
If you have pets, be sure to include them in your plans. Pets are often times forgotten when planning for emergencies, but need to be included. Often times when we see pets that are left behind it is because the owners did not prepare for the emergency and don’t even have a plan for themselves much less their pets. You will not plan for a vacation without making arrangements for Fido or Fluffy, so don’t do it when you plan for emergencies. There are special pet kits designed for you and your pet for emergencies.
Conclusion
Emergency planning is similar to vacation planning in that you know what you will eat, drink, and stay while on vacation, and if you plan for emergencies properly you will know these things as well. For a vacation you know before you go, so for an emergency know before it happens.
Sit down with family today and start making plans no matter how small they are. Action today could save your family tomorrow.
As always if you have questions about anything discussed here please ask in the comment section below, and if you have additional suggestions please share them as well.
Happy prepping!
