The most patriotic thing you can do…
Posted: July 4, 2009 Filed under: 6. Personal Training | Tags: emergency preparedness, prepper Comments Off on The most patriotic thing you can do…
…is to prepare yourself, your family, your neighborhood, and your community to survive and thrive in a new US lifestyle where life gets very local, very quickly.
A practical – but relatively unknown – program most counties in the US offer is called Map Your Neighborhood (here’s an example from Ashland, Oregon). Google this program for your own town and help get your neighborhood prepared for emergencies.
The MYN program walks you and your immediate neighbors through how to prepare for and prevent emergencies in case of a natural disaster, terrorist strike, etc. From simple tasks, like turning off propane gas tanks to prevent explosions, to more complex plans, like what to do with children in the neighborhood who’s parents are injured/dead, this is a well thought out program. Our county sends out a DVD and paper guides, both of which are absurdly useful.
The DVD is full of lots of basic common sense tasks that I simply never thought of (I’m guessing most North Americans have not thought of these things either). Here’s one example; most injuries from earthquakes are from broken glass. Stepping in it, handling it, pushing through it. So these are a few of the items you should keep beside your bed, should the earthquake hit while you are sleeping:
- Pair of shoes.
- Pair of thick gloves.
- Hard hat.
My plan is to do this with our neighborhood, but then take it a step further, preparing our immediate area for disasters that might last longer than the 1-3 weeks the MYN program describes. I can’t think of a more patriotic thing to do than to ensure the health and safety of your neighbors.
Hope your Fourth of July celebration is restful and rejuvenating.
What are you preparing for?
Posted: July 3, 2009 Filed under: 1. Philosophy, 6. Personal Training, 7. Physical Security | Tags: emergency preparedness, prepper Comments Off on What are you preparing for?
Specifically, I am preparing my family and home for the following scenarios. Some are much more likely to happen than others.
1. Earthquake, volcanic eruption, severe winter storm, environmental meltdown
We live on a (currently inactive) fault line. We live near an overdue volcano. We lose electricity 1/2 dozen times each winter. The longest outage recently was 11 days in late December / early January. It was darn cold. But “environmental meltdown”? Isn’t that a bit dramatic? Watch this recent series from ABC and decide for yourself: Earth 2100: Civilization at Crossroads. Additional videos and more thoughtful commentary are here.
2. Terrorist attack (nuclear, biological, chemical)
Before 9/11 happened I would have given this a 1% chance of happening. But given that my day job revolves around importing Fair Trade products from Pakistan, a known terrorist-harboring country that is not remotely stable, my gut tells me the percentage likelihood of something else bad (bad like on the 9/11 scale of bad) happening during my lifetime is quite high. Especially since I live near a heavily trafficked West Coast port in the US.
3. Economic meltdown
Whether it is the Peak Oil theory (yes, I know there are lots of folks who think this is nonsense) or a US financial system meltdown (hey, that just happened!), this could lead to limited transportation + limited cash + looting. Lots of other folks go into the details of who, how, and why. It’s worth researching for yourself.
4. Home invasion (short-term burglary)
This is more than just a casual concern. While we live in a very safe town and neighborhood, once I had children my protective instincts and radar for this went *way* up. If you walk down the fairly logical path of any of the above scenarios, whoever *is* prepared (e.g. you have water and food for your family and neighbors) is likely going to become a target, particularly from those outside your neighbors and community.
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