Emergency Preparedness for Everyone

After reading an article on HappyNews.com about the Red Cross and their emergency preparedness kit and hearing a story on CNN about a family that was rescued with the help of a "code word," I was prompted to think about some helpful tips I'd learned recently.

Emergency Preparedness for Common People
In the last couple of years, my family and I have had opportunity to learn about emergency preparedness first-hand. A few years ago, a friend of mine was involved with an unstable man who had attacked and threatened her on a regular basis. I was concerned for the safety of my friend's young daughter, but I felt helpless because my friend was reluctant to accept advice.

I decided to put together a packet of helpful, easily-available information: my friend's current address and phone number, a photo and written physical description, a description of her car plus license tag number, a complete description of the perpetrator plus any other info (such as address or description of his car), a photo of my friend's daughter plus a written description. All this info could even be stored on a CD-ROM. The point was to get it all in one place, in a large envelope marked "EMERGENCY" and then tape it to the side of the refrigerator or some other place where it would not be disturbed. Then, if the unthinkable were to happen, I could just grab the envelope and give it to the authorities. Who would be able to think straight in that kind of situation anyway?

Thankfully, this situation was resolved with a positive outcome, but it easily could have been different. My suggestion is that all families should do this. For anyone who is concerned about a loved one in a potentially dangerous situation, it's a small, positive thing that can be done when you feel otherwise helpless.

Disaster Preparedness
More recently, I had my own experience with disaster preparedness, working in Florida during hurricane season. I had some very good friends who gave me tips I'd never have thought of on my own:
- Stock up on glow sticks at Halloween: if your batteries die, the glow sticks provide just enough light so you can get by - and they are safe.
- Keep a package of alcohol-free disposable facial wipes for basic sanitation. If the power goes out, you will have no hot water. And if you have a septic tank and the power goes out, you will have no running water at all.
- Keep bug spray around because with no air-conditioning, you'll have to open your windows.
- Freeze a couple of gallon jugs of water in your freezer in case of power outage. If you don't open the door, this will keep your food frozen for up to a couple of days. However, your best bet is to not keep too much frozen food around if you can help it!

And finally, a tip I learned the hard way: don't let your gas tank go below half full in hurricane season. As soon as a warning is issued, the lines at gas stations will instantly be miles long - and worse, the gas stations will run out of gas. Now that I'm back in Colorado, I still keep the facial wipes and glow sticks around. Although I did a lot of research when I went to Florida, I did not find these tips anywhere.

I bet you can come up with a lot more information from people you know who have survived just such disasters. Take the time to share helpful information. Tropical Storm Ernesto was a huge eye-opener for me, and I feel greatly empowered now that I've been through the process of getting ready for it!