Tag: neighborhood group

Emergency Whistle Give-Away

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(Emergency Plan Guide stands out in the world of preparedness and survival for its emphasis on building community. The Emergency Whistle Give-Away is an example of an event aimed at awakening new interest and rebuilding enthusiasm among your neighbors!)

Old-fashioned sign announcing whistle zone
Old sign – new inspiration!

Months of shut-down due to Covid continues to have an impact here in our Southern California senior community. Two months ago we cautiously began the rebuilding of our emergency preparedness program – remember the Advisory about how we began to revive our group after months of inaction?

Our work is still hampered by uncertainty regarding just how closely we want to gather, whether masks should be required, and by a general wariness about making any long-range plans.

However, even with interruptions, I think we can already call our first “campaign” a success! I am excited to bring you the update on “The Emergency Whistle Give-Away.”

Our 2021 re-building process started with new inclusive positioning.

In the past, our group has been made up of volunteers who chose to join because they had an interest in preparedness, learning about emergency gear, etc. In marketing terms, a self-selecting audience. But what with normal attrition, aging out, moving away and isolation caused by COVID, our membership has shrunk dramatically over the past few years! 

So this year we were forced to came up with a whole new positioning. 

Starting now, everyone in our community is automatically a member of our group! Our emphasis will be on providing info and training to everyone, not just members of a self-selecting team.

How do we reach out to our community?

In our senior community of over 300 homes, the most successful social events pull a maximum of 80 people. This means that the majority of people never come to any given event.

We have to take our info and our programs to them. We have used various delivery methods. (Which have you used? With what results?)

  1. Community-wide meetings (Fire Dept. is always the biggest draw.)
  2. Division-level meetings (We have divided our community into 6 divisions for emergency planning.)
  3. Face to face delivery of info, flyers, etc. within each Division
  4. Printed newsletter going to everyone (Some neighbors don’t read English.)
  5. Email notices (Limited number of people on this list.)
  6. Reverse directory telephone call messages (Some people opt out.)
  7. Zoom calls (Even more limited number of participants.)

As you can see, during the Covid shut-down, the first three delivery methods were unavailable!

The 2021 solution? Attract new interest by delivering a physical gift related to emergency preparedness to every single home!

One of our group members came up with the idea of an Emergency Whistle Give-Away. A whistle is a winner! Not expensive. Small and neat. FEMA recommends them. People already know what they are and how to make them work.

Together we developed a “gift package.” It included a bright orange flat plastic safety whistle in a black plastic baggie holding a blue instruction sheet. Simple, easy, appropriate for our audience.

Whistle gift: baggie holding instructions and whistle

Here’s the gift, and our process . . .

  • Step 1: Order whistles and baggies. (See below for what we ordered.)
  • Step 2. Draft and trim blue instruction sheet to fit the baggie. (We made a separate version in Mandarin.)
  • Step 3. Stuff the baggies.
  • Step 4. Draft and print a wrapper (A flyer introducing the Emergency Response group)  for each whistle package.
  • Step 5. Roll and wrap and rubber band!
  • Step 6. The last step is to deliver a wrapped whistle package into the “tube” at every single home in the neighborhood. (The tubes are a section of pvc pipe fastened to the mailbox post and owned by the HOA. Can’t use the US Mail boxes for a distribution like this!)

All this effort attracted stuffers who found rolling and stuffing and chatting a welcome hour away from home. The bonus — we met several neighbors who had never attended one of our meetings before!

Images of senior citizens stuffing gift bags with whistles

Joe and I just finished delivering to our Division. Along the way we waved as we passed two other Division Leaders doing the same thing. All the whistles are scheduled to be in our neighbors’ hands by tomorrow noon!

The results of our rebuilding activities — so far?

We’ve been working on this, and holding stuffing parties, for several weeks. As you can imagine, the word got out.

People have already been asking:  “When will I get my whistle?”  “Can I take a couple extra for friends who are house bound?” “Did the property managers get whistles, too?” “Will the whistles scare away coyotes?”

To all questions the answer is YES!

After tomorrow, I expect more questions. We intend to bring the whistles into all our future planned discussions, starting early next year on reminders about earthquake preparedness.

In any case, even though the project isn’t completely finished, I think it’s safe to say our “Revival Campaign starring the Emergency Whistle Give-Away” has already been a big success. It has aroused interest. It attracted a handful of brand-new volunteers. And it is reaching everyone in our community.

If you’re looking for a fun activity to engage your own neighbors, consider an Emergency Whistle Give-Away!

What we purchased for our gifts.

Flat Orange Safety Whistle with Lanyard

We looked for a flat whistle because it’s convenient to tuck into a purse or pocket. This one has a clip plus a lanyard to make wearing easier. Bright orange or red? Of course! And if it goes missing? Not a great loss.

LUTER 15 Pcs Outdoor Emergency Safety Whistles with Lanyards Red Survival Whistles for Camping Boating Hiking
The Black Mylar Gift Bag with See-through Window

This version of a gift bag comes in various sizes. The one you see in the illustration above is 4.7 x 7.9 in. The bags are resealable, and they came sealed. It took us a while to get the hang of opening them.

100 Pieces Mylar Bags Smell Proof Bags Resealable Storage Bag with Clear Window Packaging Foil Pouch Bags for Food Storage and Lip Gloss,Jewelry,Eyelash Packaging (Black, 3 x 4.7 Inch)

We have already had fun with this project. It has been perfect as a way to “get back into the swing of things” after our way-too-long hiatus. I hope you’ll consider something as simple and as effective to help rebuild YOUR group!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. If you’d like a copy of what we wrote on the blue Instructions sheet, just drop me a note. I could send you the version in Mandarin, too!

Meeting Planner for Neighborhood Emergency Groups

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A meeting planner for Neighborhood Emergency Groups
Download the pdf of the Planner. See below!

Planning a neighborhood meeting? You need this Planner!

Our neighborhood emergency group has traditionally taken a break during the summer.  Last year, because of COVID, we were forced to. This year, after practically a whole year of break, we are ready to get back together. So, we’ve pulled out our Meeting Planner for help!

Building a neighborhood emergency group just won’t happen without a strong and consistent plan for regular meetings.  If you agree with this principle, you might want to hold one meeting just to plan a year’s full campaign! Give people a calendar and block out appropriate meetings based on time of year, local events, holidays, etc.

In the meanwhile, though, here are key steps we’ve found to be essential for a good meeting. The image above gives you an idea of how to start your planning.

Step 1: What’s the purpose for this particular meeting?

How many of us have gone to “regular monthly meetings” with that sinking feeling that this one will be just a repeat of last month’s meeting?  Before you even begin your meeting planning, ask some questions like these:

  • What do we want to accomplish at this meeting?
  • Could we accomplish it a different way – like with an email survey, or a written report?
  • Who needs to be at this meeting?  Everybody, or just team leaders? Or maybe it’s for possible recruits? Or potential donors?
  • Given the purpose, then what KIND of meeting will be best? For example, a simple social get-together? An expert as guest speaker? A series of talks or show-and-tells by members?
  • What will be our measure of success?

Once you establish the purpose and the format, you can move to step two.

Step 2: What’s the best venue for this particular meeting?

Some of us will have little choice about where to hold a neighborhood meeting. Still, maybe it should be outside instead of in your usual meeting room? Or maybe at a member’s home?  Horror of all horrors – maybe this meeting could be accomplished with a Zoom call?

Wherever, you’ll need to consider:

  • Size of the meeting place
  • Table and chairs and how to set them up to meet your purposes
  • Screen, electric hook-up for computers, projectors,  etc.
  • Parking
  • Location of fire alarms, extinguishers, etc.

Step 3: The challenging part. How to get people to our meeting?

If you did your homework on Step One, you know WHY you’re meeting. This means you can tell potential attendees just how they will benefit by coming!

The more reminders, the better. Use email to your list. If appropriate, post on Facebook and Nextdoor. Encourage your speaker to promote the meeting. Distribute and tack up flyers. If this meeting has public service interest, send out a press release.  Repeat!

Good advertising takes copywriting and design skills. Who can do this for your group? Maybe you can get the help of a kind professional?

Step 4: The show is on! What “extras” will help it be a success?

Here are a few things we’ve used over and over again because they work, over and over again!  Use whatever works for YOUR group.

  • Refreshments.
  • A meeting agenda with specific end time.
  • Sign in and Name tags.
  • Door prizes. (Our favorite “emergency preparedness supplies” door prize has been — wait for it – a can of sardines with mustard packet!  It turns out a lot of people really hate sardines, with or without mustard. So, we get a lot of laughs!)

Want more details?

If you’d like to download a full-sized pdf of the Meeting Planner (full size and readable, without the big red labels!), of course at no cost, grab it here . . .

And if you’re really serious about planning meetings, make a $10 investment in yourself and get our BEST SELLER!

Book -- Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas by Virginia S. Nicols

Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas. Over 100 full-sized pages, with 21 specific meeting descriptions – objective, procedure, materials, comments. There’s a Meeting Planner page for each one.

Plus, it has lots more ideas for meeting themes, diagrams of different room set-ups, how to get more of your volunteers to become a part of the planning team, etc.  Click here to go right to Amazon and order it so you will have it in your hands before your next meeting!

Here’s what Jodi, one of the book purchasers at Amazon said:

“Great value and just what I needed! Fantastic ideas!”

(Nice, eh?! Thanks, Jodi!)

Let me know if you have questions or suggestions for the NEXT volume of ideas. We’ll always need more!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. Having a team sharing the responsibility for meetings can make the job a lot easier. Consider getting a couple of copies of Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas so volunteers can be working on more than one upcoming meeting at the same time. (Having a meeting “on the shelf” is a great idea, too.)


What happened to Alice – Part Two

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Woman sewing mask during pandemic shut-down
Sewing two-layered pandemic mask . . .

Last week I relayed the story of “What happened to Alice” during the pandemic shut-down. (If you missed it, please read it now.) I found Alice’s story disturbing. I’m confident, though, that anyone who could describe a 13-month lock-down as “$4k a month to be in jail” will be able to get back to a full and satisfying life!

While I was writing, I found myself with questions. How might Alice’s “stay” have been handled differently? What could the retirement facility have done? Did other seniors experience this same sort of lock-down? Answers started coming – so this week, here’s “What happened to Alice – Part Two.”

First, the difference between an “assisted living” facility and a “retirement community.”

Alice lives in an assisted living facility where meals are provided. She gets various levels of medical assistance, and social activities are offered (when it’s safe for people to get together). Assisted living apartments usually have emergency communications (a pull alarm or a wearable medical alert). And in an emergency like a wildfire or flood, facility staff manages an evacuation.

By contrast, I live in a 55+ retirement community where we are considered “independent.” We own our own homes, and property managers don’t come in. Meals and (most of) our activities are up to us. We get ourselves to the doctor or call 911 when necessary. In an emergency like a fire, we are responsible for our own evacuation – following police instructions, of course. (You can read our near-evacuation story, too, if you missed that!)

The important point: Retirement or assisted living communities are not nursing homes. The former are considered “residential” environments; nursing homes are considered “medical” environments. (Want more details on these definitions? Here’s a good resource.) This Advisory deals with senior residential living.

How did senior retirement communities respond to the pandemic shutdown?

Here are some examples of what went on in different communities. All this information comes from people I know – or heard about from readers.

Visitors.  

Alice’s facility closed its doors and residents’ doors and monitored all traffic. As already mentioned, no one died of COVID. (Editor’s note: Nationwide, 1 in 12 people in assisted living homes died of COVID.)

Where I live, visitors — including gardeners, housekeepers, etc. — came and went. People wore or didn’t wear masks. (Our clubhouse was closed.) We had a handful of COVID cases among neighbors, but no deaths that I know of.

Isolation.

Alice was alone in her room all day with her TV. Food was delivered at the door. Had she not picked up her food, staff would have noticed. (But it doesn’t sound as though anyone lingered to chat.)

My brother lives in a large (1,000 + people) retirement community in Arizona. Some people had meals delivered, but not all. To track their residents, that HOA set up a system of hanging a sign on the door knob. (Picture a “Do not disturb” sign on a hotel room door.) If you didn’t take the sign in in the morning, security personnel knocked and then came right in to check on you.

In our community of over 500 people, most people stayed home. We shopped during “senior hours.” Some people picked up food boxes via drive-thru, and food programs delivered meals. During these months at least 4 people living alone fell and were not found for hours or days. Three died on the floor and the other died later in hospital. There was no system for checking on everyone. (A particular challenge during our near-evacuation.)

Communications.

So many people report having “binge watched” old sitcoms, series, movies, etc. Alice had TV and probably did her share of watching. But she didn’t have internet access because she didn’t have her own computer. Joe and I have both TV and internet. My brother had the computer and internet and conquered Zoom so we were at least able to see each other’s smiles.

What could have been done to combat what Alice described as “being in jail?”

As long as people are still getting infected by the coronavirus, it has the chance to mutate again. More shut-downs are very likely. We might as well be ready. Here in “What happened to Alice – Part Two” are some ideas I’ve picked up.

  1. Set up a one-on-one “Buddy Phone-Call” program. Within a week of the shut-down we had found volunteer telephone callers. They checked in daily with a handful or even a dozen neighbors up and down the block. (The program worked for about 3 months, then dwindled.)
  2. Connect groups via conference calls. Many families set up weekly zoom calls, as did church groups. Our emergency preparedness group held zoom meetings with professional guest speakers. Our low vision support group set up a weekly telephone conference call. And a senior friend of mine attended a weekly “book club” zoom call. Everyone still read the book – via Kindle – and participated in the discussion. Only thing missing were refreshments!
  3. Plan a daily activity – like delivering meals or the newspaper or picking up trash – to make it clear when people aren’t responding. (My brother reported that sure enough, some mornings he got a knock on the door because he’d forgotten to take in his door-hanger!)
  4. Come up with a no-contact game.  At a retirement community not far from where I live, neighbors staged a “mailbox scavenger hunt.” Special stickers were placed on a couple dozen mailboxes sprinkled throughout the community. Neighbors taking their daily walks searched for and “found” the stickers. They noted the mailbox numbers and deposited their entry forms. Winners were chosen. This simple game got people safely out and about – social distanced — and gave everyone something to enjoy.
  5. Combine some ideas! Our craft group was amazingly creative. First, they sewed and delivered over 700 hand-made masks (as in the image above)! Then they switched to working on a monthly craft project for people at home. Neighbors signed up to get the project pieces. A conference call later on delivery day helped explain how to assemble everything. Different group members took on planning, assembling the pieces, writing directions, boxing everything up, delivering boxes to that month’s participants, and conducting the conference call. Everything took place while members maintained proper “social distance.” (Now that we are open again, the monthly craft project delivery service is still going strong to about 25 home-bound seniors.)

Of special concern for seniors — internet access.

TV and internet access seem essential these days for entertainment and mental activity. But I am afraid many may be making inaccurate assumptions about internet usage by seniors.

Alice’s retirement home apparently had internet, but she hadn’t had time to get a computer before everything closed down. My brother’s community offers basic cable as part of the rent but charges extra for upgraded internet service. (They do have a “computer club” to help with computer literacy, but of course it was shut down during COVID.). In our community, you’re on your own to buy TV and internet service and to get the help you need to make everything work.

What we discovered during the evacuation scare last year is that at least a third of our senior neighbors have no internet access.

They don’t have it because they either can’t afford it or don’t have the necessary computer skills. Obviously their entertainment choices were limited during the shut-down. Worse, they missed emergency communications during the evacuation threat!

What have we learned from What happened to Alice – Part Two?

This Advisory is not a complete analysis of how seniors cope with isolation or how senior residential facilities provide “caring and supportive environments.” It’s just a collection of what I have learned and observed within my own circle of friends and acquaintances.

A couple of things stand out.

First, some communities had better chances of connecting. These were communities with active and creative neighborhood leaders. Setting up meetings, games, etc. took thought and time and the ability to organize things remotely.

Second, voice and video connections were essential to helping people combat loneliness and isolation. Hugs would have added, of course. Anyone heading for retirement living needs to find out about services and support for digital devices!

As I wrote at the beginning of telling Alice’s story, preparedness really means having some options and some extra supplies. It also takes some extra creativity. When it comes to coping with a pandemic shut-down, we need all three!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

What are some things you did in your own community to keep people entertained and engaged during these long months? What can you add to our findings about “What happened to Alice — Part Two?” Please let us know.


National Household Survey — How do you measure up?

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FEMA logo

Every year FEMA comes out with its National Household Survey on Preparedness. The 2020 survey – with estimated results — just appeared. (It seems odd to me that 2020 results would be released with 3 months still to go in the year, but . . .?)

While the survey results do show progress, they are not exactly ideal: only 51% of the US population considers itself prepared, up just 2 points since 2019. (You could say that this household survey confirms, again, why Joe and I continue our work at Emergency Plan Guide!!)

Let’s see how well you are doing.

Just for fun, here are a couple of little quizzes to see how you measure up! Of course, since you are reading this Advisory I’ll bet that your answers will put you into the very top tier of “preppers.”

If you are working with a group, please consider turning this Advisory into a newsletter article or an email exercise, and then compare your group results with what the 5,000 FEMA interviewees said!

Comparing national Basic Preparedness Actions.

FEMA defines six basic preparedness actions, and in 2020 about 68% of the people interviewed took at least 3 of them.

So here are the six basic actions. Which ones did YOU take in 2019?

ActionYes, I didNo, I did not
Attend a local meeting or training  
Talk with others on getting prepared  
Make an emergency plan  
Seek information on preparedness  
Participate in an emergency drill  
Gather supplies to last 3 or more days  

And here’s what the survey says about your neighbors!

ActionNational percentage who did
Attend a local meeting or training29%
Talk with others on getting prepared48%
Make an emergency plan48%
Seek information on preparedness65%
Participate in an emergency drill56%
Gather supplies to last 3 or more days81%

Comparing national household financial preparedness.

How well are people prepared for a financial emergency? The coronavirus pandemic has certainly shed some light on our savings habits . . ! But even in 2019, when we’d never heard the word “Novel,” the National Household Survey found that while 68% of adults have set aside some money for an emergency, only about half of them had more than $700. That number didn’t change in the 2020 survey.

Note: When I wrote the mini book on Emergency Cash it included a fictional story about the costs associated with a 200 mile, one-way evacuation from a hurricane-threatened coast to a relative’s house inland. Costs in the story quickly added up to close to $600, just to get there!

Clearly, emergencies take extra cash. How much do you have set aside? _____ Or, given today’s income challenges, how much is your goal for emergency savings? ______

What influences preparedness?

The study gathers information on four things that influence people’s decision to begin preparing. One of the four stands out as having the greatest influence. The other 3 seem to have a similar degree of influence.

Here are the four influencers. Which one do you think has twice the influence of the others?

  1. Awareness of information – That is, I have read, seen or heard information in the past six months about how to get better prepared for a disaster.
  2. Experience with disasters – I have personal or familial experience with the impact of a disaster.
  3. Preparedness efficacy – I believe that preparing can help AND I am confident in my ability to prepare.
  4. Risk perception – I recognize that at least one disaster type could impact where I live.

To answer the previous question, Item #4 has a 98% correlation with influencing people to start preparing. The other three only have a 47% correlation.

Measuring preparedness behavior change.

As we look at this last excerpt from the National Household Preparedness study, it offers some perspective for preparedness leaders.

FEMA uses a Stages of Change Model to measure attitude and behavior regarding preparedness. This chart measures changes between 2013 (grey line) to estimated 2020 (blue line). You can see how slow progress has been over these seven years! The only good news from 2020 is that more people “intend to prepare in the next six months.” (Stage 3)

National Household Survey on Preparedness for a Disaster (FEMA )

What recommendations come out of this study for local groups and their leaders?

As I read these statistics, and fit them in with my own experience, I find at least 3 things that stand out to guide all our efforts.

  1. We need to make neighbors understand what threats we face in our individual communities. And not just a name of a threat, like “hurricane” or “earthquake,” but details about alerts and warnings of danger, what damage could be caused, what to expect from authorities, and exactly how to best prepare for that threat. (This includes dispelling out-of-date recommendations like parking under an overpass during a tornado, or standing in a doorway during an earthquake!)
  2. We need to emphasize that preparing for this threat is doable and will make a difference in how we get through or even how we survive. Simple step-by-step instructions will give people confidence they can do this. When you focus on the role of everyday household items for preparedness, like a flashlight or extra phone-charger, you are showing that preparing doesn’t need to be expensive.
  3. Sponsoring local neighborhood meetings is the best way to share information about threats and preparing! (Haven’t we been saying and doing this all along?!)

When FEMA started their surveys way back in 2007, they studied a few factors that were not mentioned in the 2020 survey. I pulled out some info from earlier studies and am including it below. It certainly fits with my own experiences.

  1. Information needs to be customized to the community – considering language, experiences with disasters, experience with law enforcement, etc.
  2. Social networks within the community have a powerful influence on preparedness behavior. In particular, volunteering in preparedness/safety/disaster-related organizations spreads and strengthens knowledge and commitment.

Next steps for our groups.

Here in our neighborhood we are not yet back to regular, face-to-face meetings, so our ability to share detailed information is limited. Yes, we do publish various email announcements. And other groups are arranging for conference calls and zoom meetings to keep their members motivated.

However you manage your meetings, I hope you’ll consider what FEMA has discovered via its National Household Survey and use that information to encourage your attendees to learn more and do more. As I’ve sure you’ve found, once people start taking preparedness actions, it’s much easier for them to keep taking more. We can all strive to beat that 51% preparedness level in our neighborhoods!

Good luck with your own meetings, whether it’s just your family or includes neighbors or other social groups.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. Looking for inspiration? Our book of Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas has plenty of meeting suggestions that can be readily converted from face-to-face to online format.

P.P.S. If you’d like to see the full FEMA National Household Survey report, you can get summary results here. On that same page you’ll find links to 2 videos that present the entire study.


Getting the Message Out to Neighbors While Shut In

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I started this Advisory as a piece on “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.” It was a reflection of the importance of communicating these days in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. But I decided that theme would focus too much on “evil,” so I dialed back to “getting the message out.”

Certainly, our ways of communicating have changed! Here are three events from just the past week that relate to getting the message out. I wanted to share them to see whether they parallel some of what you’ve been experiencing.

1 – “Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.” Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream

Wednesday I was part of a conference call. Big deal, you yawn. Everybody knows that conference calls, and particularly Zoom calls, are the way communications are taking place these days.

But this one was different, because it was a call among members of our community who are blind or visually impaired.

Think about that for a moment.

If you can’t see well, you certainly can’t see those Blue Angels streaking across the TV screen, much less across the sky. You can’t binge on Hulu or Netflix. Even when your children call, all you may get is their voices – no smiling faces or gurgling babies, or whatever images would be showing on FaceTime.

People with vision problems are often isolated anyway. We have a group that meets every month, just to give friends a chance to get out and get together safely.

Because of the coronavirus, of course, our meetings have been cancelled.

So yesterday’s UberConference® call was a new experience – and the first time most of these senior citizens had been on such a call.

The call turned out to be a home run!  

Everyone figured out how to get aboard (Dial, type in the call ID number), handled “mute” and “unmute” at the right time (“Press star twide”).  

Best of all, friends whom we normally see/hear only at a monthly meeting got a chance to hear each other’s voices! We laughed and laughed at the stories people told –

  • “My son came to visit and went shopping for us. He seems to have forgotten that we are just two people, because he came home with a gallon of sour cream and 10 pounds of pasta!”
  • “I’m glad I’ve retired from teaching! I had enough trouble with this call. I don’t know how I would have managed the “online learning” technology.”
  • “As I heard your voices, I pictured you all sitting around the table at our usual meeting.  Then it hit me — we are all in separate houses!!”

So, this was a first – and now, something we will use again. This truly was a message of love looking “with the mind.”  Who do you know who might appreciate being able to join in a group call?

2 – “Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you won’t be invited to cocktail parties.” ~ Oscar Wilde

I couldn’t resist this quote and had to fit it into this Advisory! It’s a bit off the topic, but hey. We’re sharing ways of communicating, right?

So here’s another communications first, one you can share in.

Just about a month ago, one of my emergency preparedness contacts on LinkedIn asked if Joe and I would do a podcast for his “radio station.”

“When I saw you had published a book on how to build community preparedness, I knew I wanted to hear the story,” said Preston Schleinkofer. President and Founder of Civil Defense Virginia.

Preston has developed his own program to encourage more community members to join in with local government authorities to “preserve safety, security and constitutional government functions” in the case of natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. (Us oldsters will recognize that Preston has come up with a new definition for “Civil Defense.”)

You can read about Preston’s 501©3 organization at https://civildefenseva.org/ and get more about his philosophy of Continuity of Community. You can also hear the interview he did with Joe and me at http://CivilDefenseRadio.com! You’ll see Emergency Plan Guide right there at the top of his list of podcasts!

What helps get communities to work together?

As we listened to our voices (always a sort of out-of-body experience) I heard us identifying some of what has helped us build our local neighborhood groups. In the past you’ve heard how we based our organizing on CERT. But we also brought our own background to the table. Namely:

  • Both Joe and I have done door-to-door selling! (There’s nothing like it for building self-confidence.)
  • Both of us have trained and taught students, employees, and professional colleagues.

Since we’re both writers, too, it has been a natural for us to translate our 20 years of business and community experiences into some do-it-yourself guide books. The first series was to help communities improve their level of preparedness. Our newest series is aimed at personal preparedness.

As Preston says, “Everyone is more of a preparedness expert now, as a result of the coronavirus.”  I invite you to take a listen to all of his podcasts for info about even more emergencies we ought to be concerned with, including grid failure from electromagnetic pulse.

3 – “Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.” Margaret Atwood,The Handmaid’s Tale

Earlier this week the White House rejected CDC guidelines aimed at getting the message out about how best to manage a phased re-opening of the economy. Apparently the guidelines were “too prescriptive.”

Sorry, but I read “too prescriptive” as “too hard for ordinary Americans to understand and follow.”

So the guidelines have been removed from the CDC website!  (Go there looking for them and you get an “Oops, can’t find that!” message.)

With thousands of people dying every day, I believe that most of us would WANT the chance to see some expert information to make our lives safer. Dumbing it down just doesn’t make sense to me – that is “working” at ignoring, as Margaret Atwood says.

I hope these three examples of “getting the message out” have inspired you as we continue to cope with this astonishing historical development, the COVID-19 pandemic. What can you add about communicating?

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

Preparedness Takes a Village

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Group of people ready to take action
Everybody ready to step up???

The more I learn about preparedness, the more I see that genuine security for your family depends on far more than you alone can do. In other words, preparedness takes a village, with every member taking a role.

So as we head into 2020, let’s take a look at some of the options you have to improve your situation and the situation of the people around you, too.

You must take the initiative to keep your family safe.

Here at Emergency Plan Guide we try not to discriminate between young or old, single or married, urban or rural preppers. However, we do aim our outreach to the kinds of friends who are looking for “practical, simple and sensible every-day actions” they can take to become better prepared. (By and large, these friends don’t plan to depend solely on the government or other “authorities.”)

In September, FEMA’s 2018 annual National Household Survey came out. I was interested to see how our preparedness objectives fit in with what the survey reports!

According to the survey (5,000 people across the country), 57% of us have taken at least 3 or more “preparedness actions.”

FEMA identifies six basic preparedness actions.

Below is a list of what FEMA counts as “actions.” How many of these actions did you take in 2019?

  1. Gather and store 3-days’ worth of emergency supplies
  2. Talk with others about getting prepared
  3. Attend a local meeting
  4. Seek information on preparedness
  5. Participate in a drill
  6. Make an emergency plan

Did you take all six actions in 2019? If not, what can you add to your “to-do” list for 2020?

What keeps us from doing all six?

If you read more deeply into the results of FEMA’s study, you’ll discover that of the people interviewed, 97% admitted that at least one disaster could impact where they live – but only 47% of them feel confident that they can prepare effectively.

47%! That’s nearly half! What stands in their way? The study quotes the same “reasons” we’ve heard for years: (1) perceived hassle (2) anticipated cost (3) don’t know exactly what to do.

(When I look at this list, I see “reasons” we give for not doing a lot of things! For example, I can easily apply all three of those reasons to buying or selling a car, changing dentists, applying for a new bank account, etc.!)

Getting more people involved depends on what’s going on in your neighborhood.

If you look back at that list of preparedness actions, you’ll see that half of them can be accomplished by working on your own – but the other half require participation by others! Yup, that the “preparedness takes a village” aspect!

And here’s where Emergency Plan Guide stands out from most other resources. We’ve written community preparedness into every one of the books in our Disaster Survival Series.

You want your neighbor to be ready to help.

After all, that neighbor is likely to be YOUR first responder in an emergency!

The FEMA list cites the value of “talking with others,” “attending local meetings” and “participating in a drill.” Somebody has to manage these – they don’t just happen by themselves.

CERT training, offered by local emergency management office, usually becomes the basis for neighborhood readiness. But the next step requires local community leaders to step up. Our Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas book is aimed at those leaders, helping them in planning and putting on educational neighborhood meetings. (This is our best-selling book, by the way!)

Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas
More about this best seller . . .

What role can you take in 2020 to support your local neighborhood?

If your job disappears, all your personal work may be for naught.

The past several years we have seen whole communities decimated and destroyed by flood, storm, and fire. Even if people escape with their lives, when businesses are destroyed a lot more “goes up in smoke:”

  • Employees no long have a source of income.
  • Business owners lose their investments.
  • Suppliers and advisers lose a client.
  • Customers lose a valued product or service.
  • The community loses vitality – and tax revenue.

Our book Emergency Preparedness for Small Business helps business owners make plans — for protecting their business in the face of a disaster and getting their business back up and running if the disaster actually hits.

Business preparedness depends on a whole team.

The concept of teamwork really stands out when it comes to business continuity planning. In the book we spend time on the professional team of advisers that a business typically has in place – but may not have called upon to help it build a plan!

These advisers include:

  • Skilled and experienced employees (and not necessarily just upper management)
  • Business attorney (who can assess contractual liabilities associated with disaster and, in particular, liability associated with not having a plan)
  • Business accountant (helps identify value of equipment, business activities, etc. and thus helps set priorities for protection and recovery)
  • Business banker (prepared to offer emergency funds, extend loans, etc.)
  • Business insurance agent (with added expertise in Business Interruption insurance, Extra and/or Contingent Expense coverage or riders)

If you are a business owner or a member of management where you work, how would you assess your business continuity plan? Have professional business advisers been involved in putting it together? Is it time for a review of your plan?

What’s your plan of action for preparedness in 2020?

In the midst of everything else that is happening, can you commit to improving the resilience of the “village” around you?

This Advisory lays out several broad suggestions. I hope you’ll take up at least one of them!

In the meanwhile, we’ll keep examining options in more detail here at Emergency Plan Guide. We would very much appreciate your help in that – in the form of questions, comments, and suggestions. Here’s to a very busy 2020!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. I would also welcome your offer to write a guest advisory! Do you have something you’d like to share? Let me know and we’ll talk about the best way to get your good info out to “our” village here!


Paranoid or trusting in an emergency?

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Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash

Have you ever googled “emergency preparedness?” 

After a row of stuff for sale — survival kits, freeze dried food, first aid kits — you’ll hit the first of page after page of agencies ready to give you comprehensive and usually trustworthy advice.

Now go back and google “emergency preparedness forums.”

This is where people, not agencies, hang out!  The words associated with preparedness change immediately. You’ll see references to urban survivalists, bush craft, self-protection, weapons, primitive technology – passionate entries from writers getting ready for when the SHTF or we reach TEOTWAWKI. (See below if you need a reminder about what these stand for!)

s a writer about the topic, I get deep into just about everything: self-defense, camping skills, CERT, emergency communications, dealing with authorities, preventing fires, etc.

One of my favorite topics, though, is how to build stronger neighborhood groups. (Not too common a theme in other sites, actually!) I’ve been part of my own neighborhood group for over 17 years. What I hear from members of my neighborhood group is not that they are paranoid. They are not even particularly afraid.

Rather, they actively “want to help others.” Normally, you won’t read too much about that, either!

How people responded to the earthquakes in Ridgecrest has been an inspiration.

Watching TV coverage about the California earthquakes over the past few days certainly reinforced that message. In Ridgecrest,

  • Did you see how often people mentioned neighbors coming by to see if they needed help?
  • How neighbors were offering to do repairs for free?
  • How neighbors pitched in to help clean up?

The actions of these neighbors, victims all, encourages me to keep organizing, keep learning, and keep writing.

Oh, and here’s the quote from George R.R.Martin, author of A Game of Thrones, that got me started on this whole post, and inspired the image at the top of this page:

 “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” 

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

  • SHTF = (when the) sh*t hits the fan
  • TEOTWAWKI = the end of the world as we know it

Day 7 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!


Financing Neighborhood Emergency Equipment Purchases – Updated

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heavy emergency equipment
Something your group needs???

Emergency equipment can be expensive!

Considering an equipment purchase for your neighborhood group?  Something BIG, like in the image above?

Not that you’re considering purchasing a log mover — I used the picture because it makes the point.  This probably isn’t something you could afford by yourself.  You certainly wouldn’t want to buy it and have it sitting around “just in case.”

But what if your group does need neighborhood emergency equipment?

On one hand, buying as a group makes it easier.

If you are part of a group, you can look at buying big items from a different perspective.

  • You and your neighbors can get access to items you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
  • Your neighborhood can achieve a whole new level of resilience.
  • Sharing in the purchase decision automatically creates a stronger network of neighborhood first responders!

However, big purchases are not all about big benefits.

Neighborhood emergency equipment decisions take a lot more thought.

For example, here are some of the decisions you’ll have to make about that purchase:

  • Who will be the named owner – for tax purposes, for registration purposes, etc.?
  • Which neighbor/s will be responsible for maintenance and repairs?
  • Where will the equipment be stored and who will have access?

Here’s some of what we’ve experienced when we started buying materials for the group.

Some people don’t want to play.

People may be willing to show up to meetings. But being a member of the group isn’t enough to make everyone volunteer to spend money for the group’s welfare.

Honestly, we have found nothing that will change a “me” focus to an “us” focus. It’s either there, or it isn’t. So, if some of your group members seem unwilling to participate in group purchases, after appealing a couple of times to the concepts of cooperation and mutual support, you’ll have to let them go their own way.

Others are willing to buy for themselves and share when necessary.

Ladder
The shared ladder

In our local neighborhood, when we began to organize our group, it just so happened that we were already “sharing” a number of items. For example, Joe and I had a tall extension ladder that was left behind (too tough to pack) when a neighbor moved. The ladder ended up behind our house (see the photo!), and was used by any of a handful of people on the street. They just came and got it and brought it back when they were done.

After our first neighborhood emergency equipment inventory, we discovered that one contractor neighbor stores a heavy duty pry bar (six feet long) that he would be willing to share. Another neighbor has a pair of giant shears, good for breaking open chained gates. We have solar battery chargers.

We all learned about these items, and where they are located, and in an emergency we plan to share for the benefit of the group.

Getting money for “REALLY BIG” purchases.

When it comes to more expensive items, you may have to look at other options for financing them. Whatever you decide on, start now to put together your “wish list” of equipment your group could use effectively. Your list will be different from other groups’ lists. Just the action of making the list will involve more people and likely uncover creative ways to turn it into reality.

Option One – Funding from within the local community.

In our case, thanks to a committed and enlightened homeowners’ association board, our emergency team gets money every month via association dues. Emergency Plan Guide readers who are renters have told us their groups have received financial support from their property owners.

Some of our readers are members of groups incorporated as non-profits – and they have been the recipients of donations from local stores and local insurance companies. One group buys and resells radios at a profit.

Option Two – Funding from local or national grants.

Naturally we have looked for grant money. As a community we’ve been the grateful recipient of a grant co-sponsored by the Fire Department and First Alert. Three years ago, over a 2-day period, our team helped install donated smoke alarms in every single residence in the neighborhood!

As for getting grants on our own, we have had no luck so far. We have researched — and here’s some of what we have discovered.

  • It helps,  and often is required, that you be an established group, with an official non-profit status, ID number, etc. Federal (FEMA) grants usually go only to official government agencies – fire departments, etc.
  • Private foundations usually have a specific focus (which may change from year to year) and may have a minimum award that is higher than you can justify asking for.
  • Your request for money to solve a particular need with a one-time purchase of equipment — for example, communications equipment for handicapped or senior members – may be more positively received than a request for money for operations.
  • Many grants are announced on a specific date. The organizations involved have a strict application procedure that may take months, so you need to start your investigation now. (See this Advisory about the grants from State Farm.)
  • Your city may offer grants for specific activities. And, of course, your city or county may offer CERT training to all your group members, with no real strings attached.

Remember that grants, unlike donations, always come with strings attached. You have to meet the grant’s requirements and then show that you spent the money the way you promised you would.

Option Three — Sponsoring a fundraiser for your group.

This is the tried and true way for any community group to raise money – money they can spend any way they like. There are SO MANY ideas of how to put on a good fundraiser!  You could probably write this section of the Advisory yourself!

Here are a few questions to get the conversation started . . .

What’s the purpose for the fundraiser?  Sometimes it’s easier to have one specific goal (“$450 for walkie-talkies for our group”) rather than a generic “support our group” message.

Who would be a natural partner for the fundraiser?  Usually, this means a commercial entity that would benefit from the exposure, or from direct sales. We have had good luck getting support from emergency equipment manufacturers and local hardware stores. If the commercial group is going to sell their products, you’ll have to figure out how your group will benefit!

What will attract visitors and make them want to pull money out of their pockets!

  1. Fun fair! If your audience has kids, parents will bring them along if there is plenty for kids to do! (“Oh, a good Saturday afternoon outing for the family.”) In all the years I’ve done events, the ONE MOST POPULAR ACTIVITY has always been “Spin the wheel and win!”  Obviously this requires a wheel, lots of little prizes, and a few big ones!
  2. Bake sale – always popular in a venue where there’s lots of foot traffic
  3. Ice cream social – Get donated supplies!
  4. Yard sale with proceeds to benefit the group. (Combine with other community event or annual sale?)
  5. Speaker/local band willing to perform for the publicity
  6. Raffle for a great prize (Be sure you know the GAMBLING RULES for your state!)

What sort of location do we need, and where can we find it?

Do we have the equipment we’ll need? Tents, tables, chairs, microphone

How will we manage publicity?

What and how many volunteers do we need, what skills, with what schedule?

You’ll find many more resources online or at the library. If you would like a copy of my own well-tested Master List for Event Planning, just drop me a line!

How we’ve made neighborhood emergency equipment purchases for our own group.

Over the years we’ve held events like the ones suggested above. Some were really profitable — like when we sold a bunch of donated furniture at a yard sale. Others were barely profitable. But with the help of fund raisers plus budget from our HOA, our group has purchased medical supplies, walkie-talkies and their batteries, and pop-up tents. Our group also owns two natural gas “sniffers,” two refrigerators, a generator,  a portable loud-speaker, three loud-hailers and some big floodlights. (We have chosen not to store food or water. We encourage our families to manage their own supplies for sheltering in place.)

Naturally, it takes an organized campaign to get a financial commitment of ANY SORT. In our case,

  • We apply professional marketing planning and presentations. (Joe’s and my background is in direct marketing!)
  • Fortunately, we have a couple of neighbors who love the challenge of coming up with donated gift cards!
  • A couple of our members have jumped in to take on money management.
  • Other members are enthusiastic HAM radio operators, and they provide guidance and training for the rest of us.
  • Working with the fire department makes it possible for us to get a ladder truck and fire engine once in a while for “show and tell!”

Working together, we have been able to get financing for the big equipment we’ve needed so far for our group. It will take another Advisory to discuss how we set the priorities for using the equipment!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. What sorts of fund-raisers have you been successful with?  Let us all know by jumping down below the subscribe info and leaving a comment!

Are you sabotaging yourself?

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Hiuding in the woodsDo you ever roam the internet, checking out different survival forums and blogs?

Well, naturally, I do – to better understand “the communities,” learn about new products and practices, and stay up to date with some of the latest science regarding emergency response.

When I find interesting or exciting new ideas, I try to share them on our Advisories.

One theme I don’t share very often – the paranoia I see out there.

Here’s sort of how it goes:

“When the SHTF, expect bad guys, marauding gangs, vigilantes, even government troops, to start roaming the streets coming for you and for your supplies so you’d better be ready with weapons and lots of ammunition and be able to turn your home into a fortress or better yet, escape to a hidden, hardened survival shelter where you can wait it all out.”

I’m not saying some bad stuff couldn’t happen, or that having an escape plan doesn’t make sense. What I do question, though, are the implicit recommendations in this scenario. I see three of them:

  1. “Treat all others as potential aggressors.”
  2. “Arm yourself with serious weapons.”
  3. “Pull yourself into your shell and close the doors after you.”

As I see it,

The reality of the most likely emergencies is going to be very different.

For example, last week we talked about an emergency that shuts down your work completely, like a fire or flooding. In a situation like this, you may suffer a personal disaster because you don’t have money in the bank to meet your bills while you are out of work. Others you work with may suffer, too. But roving gangs as a threat? Probably not.

We’ve often talked about the most frequent emergency at work – a power outage. Statistics suggest that as many as 70% of businesses can expect to experience an outage during the next year, whether weather-related or from equipment breakdown. Once again, your company, its customers and maybe even shareholders will suffer – but all of you being well armed won’t make a bit of difference.

In fact, in the U.S., disasters have seldom left people on their own and scrambling for supplies, for more than a few days – the exceptions being Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

So, our recommendations at Emergency Plan Guide are built on a different set of assumptions.

Neighbors. I know them, their kids and their dogs. I may not consider them “best friends,” but they’ve never hesitated to lend a helping hand. They’ll be the first to show up in an emergency. Why wouldn’t I look to them for help?

Self-defense. Yes, as I wrote in my bio, I grew up with guns and I’m comfortable with them. But I think the emphasis on guns (handguns, shotguns, automatic weapons) — and also tomahawks, and machetes — encourages people to arm themselves who have no business having weapons. They will make an emergency situation even worse.

(As embarrassing as it is to admit, when Joe went through specialized weapons training with the military, he learned how to shoot all sorts of weapons. Unfortunately he couldn’t qualify as a marksman with any of them! So weapons may be more dangerous for us than for intruders . . .!)

Self-reliance. Yes, be sure you have a sensible stash of food, medicines, etc. But to count on one family to have everything it needs? How much easier to share the cooking, child or elder care, and medical knowledge and skills. How much more effective to share tools and work together on repairs. Share the fear — and share confidence and hope when you can. Self-sufficiency is positive; isolation is lonely and negative.

And as for the government . . .

Again, some survivalist blogs and forums have members who are passionate about hating the government, the police, and, in fact, any “authority.”

Here at Emergency Plan Guide we have been fortunate to build good relationships with all kinds of “authorities” in our community. I write often about the fire fighters and police and the CERT team members with whom we work closely.

One of the advantages to these relationships is that we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the authorities in an emergency. In an emergency, we won’t be guessing – or second-guessing – what they are likely to do.

For example:

  • We know how our police department has been trained to respond to active shooters – and how their procedures have changed in the past year or so. (We’ve even been invited to participate in a drill as civilians caught in an active shooter situation.)
  • We know what emergency facilities our local first responders have. Heck, we’ve been inside most of them, and seen the equipment in action!
  • We’re tuned in to local emergency services that deal with homelessness, missing people and drug overdoses. We know who to call and what to say to get an appropriate response.
  • We’ve checked and are clear on how our local police force is handling coordinating with ICE on immigrants in our community.
  • We receive regular bulletins on how local schools plan for emergencies.

This isn’t everything we’d like to know, but it’s a pretty good start!

What does it take to get up to speed about local policies and procedures?

Here’s some of what our local group members do on a regular basis.

  • We follow what our city is doing by going online to the city website.
  • We take tours when there’s an open house at a fire station or the police department.
  • We sign up for official emergency alerts (AMBER alerts, etc.).
  • We track the police department via its Facebook page.
  • We’re on the list to get invitations to CERT follow-up trainings. (The most recent one was on terrorism.)
  • We invite “the authorities” to come to our local emergency response team meetings as guest speakers – and then ply them with questions. (Yes, we have put them on the spot from time to time!)
  • We subscribe to various online industry news feeds.

If you’ve been reading our Advisories, then you know we also share what we learn from these various field trips and events – so our immediate neighbors and several hundred Emergency Plan Guide subscribers from across the country know what we know.

In our estimation, by choosing NOT to know details like those above, and NOT being open to working with a group,  you are sabotaging yourself and your chances of coming through a disaster.

No, I don’t expect the authorities to “save us” in an emergency. In fact, they have made their limitations clear. Frankly, I’m glad to know that they WON’T necessarily show up immediately . . . because it gives me an incentive to do a better job of my own preparedness.

But our philosophy has been, and continues to be, to include family, friends and co-workers in our planning, because . . .

The more we all know, the safer we all will be.

Thanks for reading.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Here’s a Gift for You or a Friend

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On a daily basis we’re caught up in the excitement of whatever storm or heat wave is going on, or in the latest political maneuverings. Or maybe news from the sports world.

Here in California, though, there’s a background noise like the far-off rumble of a train. It is  . . .

The steady threat of an earthquake.

It’s tough to get people to think about and prepare for something they may never have experienced, no matter how dramatic you try to make it. Our neighborhood emergency planning group comes back to the subject of “the big one,” and earthquakes in general, again and again!

Here’s one of our best neighborhood emergency response group flyers.

How to protect yourself during an earthquake and afterwards

Share this flyer!

How to use the flyer.

  • Make copies and go over it at a neighborhood meeting. You will be surprised at the number of questions that will come up and the number of comments people will make about the supplies they have stored. Discuss the status of gas lines in your neighborhood and how to tell if there is a leak. Take a look around the room you are in and ask people what furniture they would get under if the earthquake happened right this minute! If your meeting takes place at night, find out how many people in the audience even have a flashlight with them! (Action item: Come prepared with a flashlight to give away as a door prize.)
  • Make a few changes to the text and and use the flyer at work.
  • Send to family members and out-of-town friends, too.

Emphasize the warning about NOT STARTING YOUR CAR if you suspect a gas leak. Cars backed up in traffic jams have started devastating fires in earlier quakes.

So you can make any changes, and fill in the box at the bottom of the flyer,

Click here to download the Microsoft Word document.

Let us know how your meeting goes. What questions came up that you weren’t expecting?

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

 

If you need more background for likely questions, here are some earlier Advisories that may be useful: