Category: Action Items

Boil water alert! 

The minute water mains break anywhere, the water coming into your home stands the chance of being contaminated.  And mains break regularly. I did a quick search online and found multiple Boil Water Alerts listed over just a short two-week period – in locales as different as Portland (OR), New Brunswick (NJ) and Tampa (FL).

What are your sources of water in an emergency?

If you heard a Boil Water Alert, what sources of clean water would you turn to?

It goes without saying that water in bottles or properly-treated water from barrels would be your first choice. You wouldn’t even have to boil that water.

Rain water could also be a source if you could capture it directly from the sky.

But I’ve been asked . . .

What about using water from a swimming pool?

I’m not a chemist or a health worker, so I recommend you do your own research on this topic.  But this is what I have found out that seems to make sense.

Do not plan to use swimming pool water to drink or cook unless you are able to treat it.

In a long-term water outage, here are some guidelines:

1. Pool water could be used as is to wash feet and body; murky is better than nothing!
2. Do you have sunshine? Letting pool water sit in sunlight for a full day will cause chlorine to dissipate and the sun’s UV rays will kill organisms. At the end of its sunshine treatment that water will be cleaner than when you started.
3. Filter water (through layers of clean cloth) then boil it (one full minute after it reaches a rolling boil) for drinking and cooking.  (Boiling will kill bacteria and viruses. Chemicals and metals would not be removed.)

Only a commercial filter will remove all contaminants.

I asked the LifeStraw people specifically about swimming pool water, and they said that LifeStraw was NOT meant to handle pool water.

Then I went further, seeking out an expert in one of my LinkedIn groups.  Here’s info I got from Bob Hess of Tealbrook Supplies. The Outback portable filter is typically used in regions where there is no piped water supply. You pour water into the top bucket, it goes through four different filters, producing 100 gallons of pure water a day. This model costs less than $200. You can see more at www.tealbrook.com.

So in conclusion — yes, pool water may be useful for SOME things, but converting it to safe, pure water will take effort.

All this reinforces ongoing Emergency Plan Guide message – the most important item you can store for emergencies is water. The recommended amount: 1 gallon per person per day (plus more for pets) for at least 10 days!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. Do you have more information about the topic of using pool water in an emergency? Please share it by leaving a comment below!

Macaroni and Cheese, American favorite

Following our own advice . . .

We recommend, “For emergencies, store food you normally eat, and rotate your supplies.” But some people ask me about buying “official commercially-prepared emergency food” from the various vendors, so I finally broke down and bought a couple of sample items to test.

Here’s my first taste test – between EasyMac (which I am sure most of you are familiar with, even if you don’t eat it regularly), and a package of Macaroni and Cheese from MyFoodStorage, located in Riverton, Utah.

Let me be clear. This was a TASTE test, and not an official comparison of preservatives, genetically modified ingredients, price per calorie, or recommended shelf life. Once you make a decision to purchase emergency food supplies, you can find detailed analyses of all these online.

Again, I was following my own advice, trying to find something I knew I would want to eat in an emergency, particularly for that key 10-day period after the disaster when life will be topsy-turvy and store shelves will be empty.

Here’s the taste test, step by step.

1. Follow directions. I made each bowl of macaroni following the instructions. EasyMac required the microwave. MyFoodStorage required (a lot of) boiling water. OK, I have to assume that the power will be off after the earthquake, but I DO have my camp stove, so boiling water is possible.

2. Time to cook. The EasyMac was done in four minutes. It took more like 15 minutes to make the MyFoodStorage macaroni. First I was worried that the clumps of flavoring wouldn’t break up, but by the end of the time, with constant stirring, they did.

Midway in the cooking process

3. End result. EasyMac was pale yellow, sticky and a little chewy — just how I like it. MyFoodStorage macaroni was orange and creamy.

4. Taste. EasyMac was what you expect: powdered cheese and macaroni. MyFoodStorage mac was – wow, flavorful! I checked – it has powdered carrots and tomatoes in there, and their flavor (and color) came through.

5. Nutritional values. Now, being a normal consumer, I DO compare labels on a basic level. So, per the labels, one serving has the following:

EasyMac

• Calories – 230
• Fat – 4 grams
• Sodium – 540 mg.
• Carbohydrate – 42 g.
• Protein – 7 grams

MyFoodStorage

• Calories — 320
• Fat – 5 grams
• Sodium – 580 mg
• .Carbohydrate – 51 g.
• Protein – 8 grams

They look pretty similar to me.

Was there a winner? Well, it all depends.

If I had a crowd to feed, individual servings of EasyMac would be a real nuisance to have to cook. Cooking ANY individual servings would be a nuisance.

The big package of MyFoodStorage macaroni says it would feed 5 people. In my estimation it would feed even more than that. (I have leftovers in the fridge right now, enough for at least two more meals. I don’t think we’ll be able to use it all.)

If the test was on taste alone, MyFoodStorage was tastier. But would your kids eat it?

As for cost, it’s difficult to compare. I got the MyFoodStorage bucket (with six different meals) on a special trial offer online (just under $40).  I bought my EasyMac at discount superstore Costco. So you’d have to do your own shopping and cost comparisons.

What’s your take?

Ready to eat!

Here are some of my “conclusions.”  Do they make sense?

Remember, no microwave. So, my stores of popcorn, instant rice, etc. will be useless. I need to be sure I have plenty of food that doesn’t need to be cooked at all. Stove, pot, lid, potholder, water, dish soap, etc. — way too much trouble in a disaster setting!   It will be a heck of a lot easier to open a can and eat directly out of it!

This means, of course, that my canned food supplies must be tasty and sufficiently nutritious. Right now, for example, the bottom shelf of my pantry looks full thanks to a case of canned corn. I love corn, but it’s not going to be enough to carry me for 10-14 days. (I have other stuff too.)

Since I will be using my camp stove to do any heating of water or other cooking, I need to double check that I have fuel and a starter for my camping stove, plus appropriate pots and pans. My regular kitchen ware is way too heavy for the camping stove burners.

Finally, we get back to the most important item of all: water. Gotta have water for drinking, for cooking, and, in the case of dried emergency food, for washing up.

OK, that’s it for today. Rest assured, this isn’t the last you’ll hear about food supplies, because I have another sample to test (potato soup) plus I really want to try some freeze dried food.

Let’s hear from you! Do you have emergency food supplies? “Official” or regular menu items? Have you tested any emergency food products? With what results?

Let’s hear your story!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Real life emergency stories, from real people.

Setting: In the rental office, talking to the woman behind the desk.

“Do you have some food for if you were trapped here in the office in an emergency?”
“Well, no. I thought that was the job of the Red Cross.”

Setting: Talking to a featured speaker at my recent Las Vegas conference.

“You’re living on the beach in North Carolina, right? Do you have emergency food set aside for when the next hurricane hits?”
“Well, not exactly. But I did unplug the freezer so I don’t have to throw all the spoiled food out, like I did last time. That cost me $300!”
“But what about food supplies for after the storm?”
“We eat only healthy, fresh food, so there’s no way I can store anything . . .”

Setting: Video snippet from a recent training held here in our neighborhood. The TV camera is trained on a hysterical woman in New Jersey, after Sandy:

“Where’s the government!? We’ve been waiting three whole days . . .!”

What’s your survival kit story?

If you and I were to meet on the street, and I posed these questions to you, how would you respond?

• How many 3-day survival kits do you need for your family?
• Where does each kit need to be? At your home, in the car, at the office?
• How many kits have you actually put together?

As I’ve mentioned before, our local fire department has told us flat out:
“When the big one hits, you’re going to be way down on our list.”

All this points to our having to manage by ourselves for the first 72 hours.

You know that we have done a lot of research on pre-made kits, and generally find them lacking when it comes to quality and quantity.

Worse, having a pre-made kit may give you a false sense of security.

So our recommendation has been, and remains:

Build your own customized 3-day survival kit.

Here’s a link to an updated list of our favorite starter items : Top 10 Survival Kit Items

It may take you a few days to a week to assemble all the items for your kits. Turn kit-making into a family “pick and pack” activity!

Three days.

Easy enough to get through when you’ve got the basics: food, water, light, communications.

Really tough when you have nothing . . .

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Sometime you just gotta shake your head in disbelief.

After all the years of educating . . .

I attended a great conference this weekend. It was held in Las Vegas. Temperatures outside were about 105 degrees while inside the AC was set to 68 degrees. Impossible to be comfortable anywhere.

After years of trying to educate folks on the value of energy efficiency, all I can say is, this just seems stupid.

Allow me to continue with that theme in the world of emergency preparedness,with some examples of

Disaster Warnings

What does this mean to you?

Hurricane season started this week.

I have never experienced one here in Southern California, but certainly we’ve all seen plenty of hurricanes on the news.

And have you also noticed the number of TV newscasters who seem to feel the need to STAND RIGHT OUT IN THE WIND AND WATER, threatened every moment by debris, while telling viewers to take shelter?

Tornados – some 339 of them already in 2014!

How about the local citizen/amateur filmmaker, “getting great footage” of the approaching funnel cloud, who is dragged down into the shelter at the last possible minute by his screaming children?

California wildfires pushed westward by “Santa Ana” winds.

Newscaster: “Why didn’t you follow the evacuation order from the Fire Department?”
Homeowner: “I can’t pack up all my pets, so I guess I’ll just have to die with them. . .”

(This is a true quote.)

High surf advisory issued through Wednesday.

Oh, goodie. Let’s grab the children and head down to the beach and stand on the rocks and watch the giant waves come in. Even better, let’s get out there on our surfboards . . .

Is my cynicism showing?!

Thank goodness for this blog. It gives me the chance to unload my frustrations on you, my loyal reader. The next post will be more uplifting, I promise!

In the meanwhile, if you see something as ahem, “unwise” as any of the above, please point it out the the people and particularly to the newscasters who model or perpetuate such behavior. What are they thinking?!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Please pass this along to friends, and urge them to subscribe to all our Advisories.  Most of ’em are pretty positive!

My daughter’s long commute by car.

One of my daughters is an executive and works in Beverly Hills, California. With no real public transit available she is forced to drive over 100 miles to and from work, spending a total of almost four hours on the road every day. Every morning she sets out in her executive clothing and footwear and with a list of business phone calls to make along the way.

With two children in separate schools and on different schedules, her chances of a speedy reunion with family following a major earthquake are slim. Roads and freeways could be restricted for use by emergency vehicles responding to calls . . . or even possibly blocked by collapsed bridges and overpasses. At the very least, if the earthquake happens during the workday, roads will be massively congested with people trying to reach home.

If she had to walk to get home . . .

. . . she could. But 50 miles could conceivably take days.

Fortunately, she is conscientious and, of course, has me to help keep her on track!

What’s in her personal Commuter’s Go Bag?

In the trunk of her car she carries a Commuter’s Go Bag that we put together just for her. It has the usual Survival Kit items that you’d expect: walking clothes including comfortable shoes, a jacket, some energy bars and water, a portable radio, and a flashlight with extra batteries. There’s a notebook and pen. And because this is California, she has a space blanket AND an extra pair of sunglasses.

In addition, she carries extra prescriptions for a medical condition, and some cash (coins and small bills).

And because she is competent to deal with it, she has pepper spray.

Perhaps most important, she has paperwork: a list of contact numbers including some for family out of state, and maps that show her route and alternate ways to get home. (GPS may well be out.) She has teamed up with other employees who live in the same general area so they could travel in groups, and they have made note of “safe house” locations along the way where she — and any companions – can stop and rest.

She is good about keeping her car’s gas tank at least ¾ full at all times. If there is a general power outage that could last for days, neither ATMS, Credit Card Processors nor gas station pumps are likely to be operating, of course. I have suggested to her that a small, plastic, fuel canister and siphon hose that could siphon gas out of other stranded commuters’ cars may come in handy along the way! (She gets the concept, but hasn’t been ready to practice siphoning yet . . .!)

Finally, my grandchildren also have emergency supplies at home and know where to go and whom to call following a major emergency because neither mother nor dad is likely to get home any time soon.

Doesn’t it make sense for the commuters you know to have such a kit?

Putting together all the items mentioned above would cost about the same as a tank of gas. Naturally, you’ll have to complete your kit with more personal stuff.

Let us know how it goes!

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. We added an emergency kit to our granddaughter’s car too. Here’s the story!

If you’ve followed any of the news reports after disasters like the Tsunami in Southeast Asia, the Earthquake in Haiti and in any number of Refugee Camps around the world, you may have noticed the tents with the blue Rotary International logo on them.

ShelterBox.org

The ”Rotary Shelter Box” maintains a supply of tents, blankets and cooking utilities in kits ready for shipment to areas of the world where people are suddenly in need of shelter and survival necessities. Rotary has been known to get emergency supplies to areas before government agencies even arrive.

ShelterBox tent delivered in Box, along with blankets, cooking utensils, etc.

The kits are shipped from Great Brittan and the Southeast of the U.S. Funding for the effort is provided by donations (at approximately $1,000 per kit) through Rotary Clubs around the world.

Contents of the Box vary depending on where delivered

This has been a very successful emergency relief program and is a concept we recommend you consider for your Emergency Planning.

“For my emergency planning?”

Yes. Consider this. Leaving your damaged home in the midst of a catastrophe could be tantamount to turning it over to looters.

Who is at greatest risk for losing the shelter of their home?

This is hard to predict in a world of changing weather patterns, earthquakes, explosions and fires due to a deteriorating infrastructure and, yes, even potential terrorist threats.

Since we live in earthquake country, this is our greatest potential threat. If our house ever becomes unsafe to inhabit, we’re prepared to take up temporary residence in a tent on the property until we feel safe to move away.

Think “Dual-Purpose.”

As we approach the summer months everyone’s thoughts turn to outside activities, from barbecues to camping and all manner of utensils, battery-powered lanterns, patio furniture and more.

Are we suggesting that you buy a bunch of camping equipment on the chance that you’ll suffer major damage in an as-yet-unknown emergency? No . . . but, if you are in the market for any of these or other recreational items, we suggest that you might want to consider the utility of these items for non-recreational, emergency  use. As you compare products, you may find that on might be more flexible or suitable than another.

There’s no way we can seriously recommend the larger, specific items. Too much depends on your individual circumstances. What’s right for one family may be overkill for another household. What we will do, from time-to-time, is suggest emergency uses for some of the more popular recreational items.

Do you have dual-purpose investments you’ve made? Let us know about them!

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Update: We have just published a REVIEW of FAMILY CAMPING TENTS.

If your home were damaged, would you want to stay close to protect it? Having an appropriate tent could allow for long-term camping.  Check out this new review.

Show and Tell

At our recent neighborhood meeting, our CERT leader asked me to do a “show and tell” on the LifeStraw® that I have in my emergency supplies. The photo shows what I shared with the group.

My LifeStraw: mouthpiece open at left

The LifeStraw is a tube you suck through (the “straw”) to filter water when you’re out camping or in an emergency.  I discovered it about three years ago after my son became very ill from swallowing water on a hiking trip. (He spent 5 days in hospital; his organs started shutting down due to dehydration.)

LifeStraw features

There are other products that look the same, but the LifeStraw appears to be “the original.” It won awards when it came out in 2005, and was chosen by the U.N. to provide clean drinking water in developing countries. Later was it made available in the U.S. by manufacturer Vestergaard Frandsen. It costs about $20.

The LifeStraw is handy and simple:

• It is small and lightweight, so fits into anyone’s survival kit.
• It requires no batteries or replacement parts.
• It filters up to 1,000 liters – about 265 gallons.

You can stick the straw into a puddle or stream and drink directly, or scoop up water into a bottle and then stick the straw into the bottle. It filters out 99.99% of bacteria (for ex., e coli and salmonella) and protozoa cysts (Giardia), which is what made my son so sick. It does NOT filter out viruses, which are too small to be caught. And it does not make salt-water drinkable.

How to use it

Since there are no chemicals in the straw, the water coming through has no chemical taste. You remove the caps at both ends and sip through the mouthpiece. It takes a good 4-5 pulls to get the water started. To keep the filter clean, you blow back through the straw to unclog it.

You can use the Straw over and over again.  Just keep it clean and let it dry out before you recap the ends.

Here where we live in Southern California, we are not likely to have puddles to drink from in an emergency since we get so little rain! However, in an emergency, we might be forced to look for other sources of water: water heater, toilet tank, or big water barrel. Getting water out of these tanks would likely involve some dirt, grains of rust, sediment, etc. Filtering the water through the LifeStraw would be a reassurance of its quality.

If you or family members live stormy areas or hike or camp a lot, this is a no-brainer addition to your emergency kit. Get more information at Amazon:
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

Next time: Water from Swimming Pools

I’m on a roll now about water. Next blog will be about how to use SWIMMING POOL WATER in an emergency.  Can you?  Should you? How to treat it first?

Stay tuned.  (If you don’t want to miss that next Advisory, sign up right now on the form below.)

And do check out that LifeStraw. It just feels right.  It makes a great gift!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

Need some ideas for planning neighborhood meetings?

Below is a list of 15 emergency training topics.

And they’re not just mine.

Get expert training for your team.

As you know, I’ve had a Google Alert set up for a while. Actually, two of them, one for “Emergency Preparedness” and one for “Disaster Recovery.” I get about 10 alerts a day about what’s happening around the country.

Most of the alerts are press releases mentioning a person who’s been hired for a new position.

But others announce trainings. Take a look at the following list that I collected in just the last two weeks!

• Dump catches fire
• Airport Emergency Plan
• Snow Emergency Plan
• Snow Emergency Route Plan
• Test of Emergency Sirens
• Training on Emergency Apps
• Hospital Ground Zero for Shooter Drill
• Committee moves toward oil disaster preparedness
• National Hurricane Conference Announces Amateur Radio Sessions for 2014:
• Indiana University says glitch found during test of emergency alert system has been fixed
• Catawba Nuclear Power Plant tests terrorism
• Local, state officials advise: Prepare for flooding
• State, feds to create tsunami strategy guides for Calif. harbors
• Attleboro, state emergency agencies plan to offer booklets in Braille
• Chemical safety becomes focus of neighborhood watch

Which of these might be helpful for your community?

Track down a “guest expert” for your neighborhood group.

Prepare with a few “talking points.”

1. Jot down a few bullet points about what you’re looking for: topic, length of presentation, where, dates available.
2. Be ready to describe your audience: how many of them, ages and circumstances.
3. Then get on the phone:

• Call the Police Department or Fire Department to find out whom they would recommend.
• Call the local Red Cross office, same question.
• Is there a college or university in town? A strategic all to their administrative offices might lead you to your speaker.

This isn’t a complete list, by any means. But if others are getting this specialized training, why shouldn’t you?! All it takes is persistence.

Last month our group had a guest speaker on earthquakes.

Timely, too. In just the past 24 hours we’ve had three of them here in Southern California!

Preparedness is awareness. Let a good guest speaker raise the level of awareness in YOUR neighborhood.

What would be first on YOUR list if you could get an expert?  Let us know your thoughts!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

And if you are having any difficulty finding that speaker, contact me and we can brainstorm together. I’ve been “programs chair” for lots of different organizations!

At a recent CERT update meeting here in our town, a police officer was asking questions about our neighborhood preparedness. Not our individual preparedness, but what we have done for the neighborhood.

The question about supplies from the police.

Enough for the whole neighborhood?

“I assume you guys have pulled together supplies, like food, for everyone?”

As it turns out, we’ve been working hard to get our neighborhood aware and organized, so we were proud to be able to describe what we’ve accomplished.

The answer about supplies from our group.

“We have NOT taken on gathering and storing supplies for the whole neighborhood!”

Our motto is “Shelter in Place with your OWN supplies.”

Here’s why.

1. Human nature. If people think someone else is doing the work for them, they stop doing it themselves.

2. Incentive. If not everyone participates, then the “good citizens” who store food and water will be penalized when their unprepared neighbors start knocking on their door for help. We remind people that if they are unprepared, they are not likely to be welcomed when the disaster actually hits.

3. Money. Buying and storing food supplies for hundreds of people takes a big financial investment, not to mention specialized knowledge.

4. Space. Storing food supplies for hundreds of people also takes a big and ongoing investment in storage space, maintenance, security, etc.

We are a volunteer organization. Our membership waxes and wanes as people move away or move in. Fortunately our members can get good local CERT training, but some of the best neighbors don’t have it yet.

Now, we’re also fortunate to have a small monthly budget thanks to our Homeowners’ Association – and that allows us to purchase carefully-selected pieces of equipment that we will have ready for an emergency. (You can read more about our equipment purchases here.) But our budget doesn’t extend to the thousands of dollars that would be necessary for purchasing and storing food.

So we’ve decided to continue to stress “Make sure you have your own supplies of food you like and the medicines you need. And don’t expect your neighbor to welcome you with open arms when you run out.”

What decisions are you making in your neighborhood?

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

I’d really like to hear! Please send comments!

Carbon Monoxide Poisonings — Again!

I just came up with these five news items. All of them took place within the past five days.

1. New York –Officials investigating a carbon monoxide leak that killed one person and hospitalized more than two dozen people at a New York mall are focusing on the heating system.

2. Maine — Twenty-one people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and seven of them were hospitalized following an incident early Sunday afternoon at a Route 1 time-share resort that the fire chief said was not equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.

3. New Hampshire —Three adults died and a fourth person was hospitalized after a carbon monoxide poisoning inside a home in Plaistow, N.H., fire officials said on Tuesday. Someone had removed the batteries from the victims’ detector

4. Wisconsin —Eight adults and five children were taken to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning in Trempealeau County. Initial investigation showed a charcoal grill was being used to heat the home in the kitchen area.

5. Utah –A propane heater appears to have caused the death of a Utah father and his teenage son, who were poisoned by carbon monoxide while camping in a fishing hut.

We can’t have too many warnings!

I wrote about carbon monoxide poisoning just last month, but apparently we can’t get too many reminders. The three essentials:

Have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home.

Don’t use open fires for heating. This includes charcoal fires or propane heaters, which were apparently the cause of two of the above incidents.

Keep flues and exhaust vents clear of snow and debris.

If you still don’t have a carbon monoxide detector, click here to go directly to my list of the five most popular alarms, and then get what you need.

Please, don’t waste any time on this. It clearly is a matter of life and death.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Please forward this message to any friends who are experiencing particularly cold weather. You’d think CO Alarms would be obvious emergency prevention devices, but apparently not!