What are you preparing for?

No one really knows what the next survival situation will be or how it will play out. It could be the car breaking down or getting two flats in the middle of nowhere, a hurricane or tornado, a home invasion or terrorist attack, economic collapse or one (or even more then one) of many other things that are frankly too numerous to list. You must assess your own situation and determine what you need to prepare for. Of course some basic preparations will be useful in everyday life, and these are what we are going to talk about. What I basically mean, if you are Kansas you don’t need to worry much about an earthquake, but a tornado should be a fairly high priority.

In order to get an idea of what to prepare for, look at the area you are in. What types of situations do you think you or people around you might face, or what you or the people in your area have been through? Also, do not forget your workplace or places you take vacations or are going to take a vacation. We need to learn from the past so that we do not repeat previous mistakes. Look at the healthcare bill that just past the House and Obama promised to sign. Every industrialized that has past some type national healthcare has faced economic hardships related to healthcare. In good times these countries were able to cope. Presently these times are not so good economically. How will we cope? Like I said we must learn from the past. I personally pray that nationalized healthcare in the US will not face the economic hardships it has faced everywhere else, but just because I am praying for that, does not mean I will not prepare for these hardships. Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.

I personally like hiking and being outdoors, so for me learning how not to get lost and how to stay alive in the outdoors are high priorities. These skills may also come in handy if I become stranded for any reason and I may need to walk to safety say during a terrorist attack because all of the roads and public transportation are closed or because the roads are flood or damaged by earthquake or hurricane. Frankly living in your house without power and maybe water is not too different from camping except for the nice tent over your head and all of your stuff that you cannot carry when camping. It is important to also take basic first aid classes. It may be limited in coverage but still very useful in a variety of situations.

To assess the likely dangers to where I live and work I used several resources including FEMA and even CBS or Fox News (or any other news organization). Believe it or not, the government wants you to be prepared in case of emergency. Find your local emergency response office. But do not rely on the government too much for planning or for that matter help. As we learned with the Katrina response, their information and advice is far from perfect as well as their response times. FEMA has always said it will take 72 hours to respond, I personally assume they will take at least a month at a minimum, plus I would rather not need their help when they do respond. So the way I look at it, during Katrina, FEMA and the various local governments failed to live up to their own expectations. But even if FEMA had been able to provide more food and water, I believe I would still be much better off taking care of myself and my family. Do you really want to be told what possessions you can hold, when to eat, when to sleep, and live in close quarters with thousands of strangers? Sounds like a prison to me. Plus look what happened at the Superdome; backed up toilets within hours, trash and rodents everywhere, not to mention the rapes, theft and other crimes hardly reported on. During an emergency I would not want my family in the next Superdome.

There are hundreds of books out there that will get you started on a plan for most common disasters, some even put out by FEMA and the government. Their plans can be a little passive (don't take any risks and follow all FEMA directions) and their kits may lack some important things like knives or maybe even a gun. Still they do offer good starting points. I am putting together a comprehensive book list that I plan on posting when it is complete. It will take several more weeks however, some books on the list I am still reading or rereading and reviewing.

Naturally family should be included in your planning and preparations, but only as much as they want to. Do not push them too hard, if they want nothing to do with it, them you prepare for them. When the shit hits the fan you will have a plan and people who are unprepared look for a leader (i.e. you). Do not forget to include your friends in you preparations. But limit how much you tell (family or friends) based on how trustworthy they are. However, be very careful about telling people who you do not trust (friends or family), do not know well or do not know at all. You certainly do not want to become a target in a crisis.

I personally believe one of the best sources for thinking about what you are preparing for and what does and does not work is news stories or first hand accounts. A few of them seem kind of bravado but often the advice given about survival is sound.

More to come…