As we head into summer, our thoughts just naturally turn to outdoors activities – camping, hiking, picnics, travel in an RV.

If any of these is on YOUR list, even if it may have to be postponed, you’ll enjoy this week’s Advisory because it highlights some of the handiest, smartest and most useful tools you can find for outdoor, off-the-grid activities.

In summer, we can also expect power to be out because of storms, fires, etc. So solar tools and equipment are popular with preppers because they all operate at home when there’s a power outage!

Solar tools give you twice the value!

Joe and I have used versions of nearly every one of these items. Like everything else, there’s a new model nearly every time you turn around. And, like everything else that’s based on technology, prices keep coming down.

So let’s take another look at 10 of our favorite small solar tools and accessories, starting with items that everyone should own.

1 – Solar Powered Emergency Radio

Because we believe every household needs at least one emergency AM/FM radio, radios land at the top of our list. Once again, I have reviewed our own collection, and taken another look at our Emergency Radio Reviews page, and I come back to this radio as being one of our favorites.

Why? Briefly, it operates with power from AA batteries, a rechargeable battery, AC current (the cord is extra), DC current (plug into the car), hand-crank and solar! So, you can use it for music at your picnic, or as a light source in the campground, or to check in with the weather report.

Note that this radio isn’t tiny. It’s about 9 inches tall by 5 high by 2 wide. Check out all the features by clicking on the image or link below, which will take you directly to Amazon. Again, shop carefully to be sure you are getting what you really want. If necessary, take another browse through our Radio Review page to see all the features of emergency radios that you might want to consider.

2 – If a solar-powered radio is first on our list, then a solar-powered lantern or other light source will have to be second.

And here’s something new! You’ve seen before, perhaps, that we have really fallen in love with the expandable battery-operated emergency lamps made by VONT. Now here’s a very similar product that adds SOLAR as a way to keep the lantern charged and functional for longer.  

3 – Solar Powered Flashlight

We review flashlights practically once a month! (We buy them, too, because new models keep adding more features.) Check these out for yourself, your car, your kids. Our motto is a flashlight in every room or in every hand when camping.

This flashlight is rechargeable, waterproof and, you guessed it, powered by solar. (I really like the bright color, too.)

Hybridlight Journey 300 Solar/Rechargeable 300 Lumen LED Waterproof Flashlight. High/Low Beam, USB Cell Phone Charger, Built In Solar Panel Charges Indoors or Out, USB Quick Charge Cable Included

4 – And another new Solar Powered Flashlight with multiple accessories

Otdair LED Flashlight Solar Power Tactical Flashlight,Ultra Bright Flashlight,Safety Hammer,High Lumens Tactical,USB Rechargeable,5 Modes for Outdoor,Camping,Hiking

5 – Solar battery charger for all your devices

We’ve used and reviewed these regularly. They get better and better and cheaper. Here’s a new one. The charger itself gets charged up from the sun or from the wall plug using an adapter (not included), can serve as a lantern at night, and then can charge 3 of your devices at the same time, with 25,000 mWh! No reason for you not to know what’s going on!

6- This simple and lightweight solar lantern can charge your devices, too.

Hybridlight Solar Rechargeable Lantern/Cell Phone Charger. 150 Lm. Built in Solar Panel, Hi-Vis Yellow

7 – Solar security lights for home or for camping

When the power really goes out, not only do you lose your house lights but streetlights are out, too. And when you’re camping in the wild, you KNOW it will be totally dark!

Without any light , you’re going to feel – and be — a lot less secure.

Of course, you can carry a lantern or flashlight with you wherever you go, inside or out. But there’s a certain sense of relief to know that if someone or something approaches your campsite or home, they’ll be visible.

We use permanently mounted security lights in a couple of places at our home: in the car port, and also at the front steps. This solar-operated light is PORTABLE so you can hang it over a simple screw or nail at home or when you’re camping.

You’ll want to set the appropriate mode: turns on when motion activated, always on, or “smart” mode (dim gets bright when activated).

Solar Lights Outdoor, 3 Optional Modes Wireless Motion Sensor Solar Light, IP 65 Waterproof, Security Lights for Front Door, Yard, Garage, Deck, 1 Pack

8 – Solar powered pool pump

Don’t have a pool?

In an upcoming Solar Advisory we’re going to cover “bigger” systems, and that will include a roof-mounted solar system big enough to power your pool pump. Watch for that Advisory.

In the meanwhile, smaller water features also are quickly compromised when their pumps fail. I’m thinking about garden fountains, greenhouses, animal watering troughs, hydroponic gardens, etc. If your emergency preparations include a “survival garden,” you surely wouldn’t want to lose it just because the power goes off!

Therefore, time to consider a solar pool pump. This one might be the starter equipment you need.

Solariver Solar Water Pump Kit – 360+GPH Submersible Pump with Adjustable Flow, 20 Watt Solar Panel for Sun Powered Fountain, Pond Aeration, Hydroponics, Aquaculture (No Battery Backup)

9 – Solar oven for the adventurous!

I have to admit this is one tool I have never used. I have seen them being used (and smelled the delicious odors) at fairs, by Girl Scouts, at energy efficiency demos — and I have been threatening for years to get one for myself as a present! If kids can use ‘em, then so can I!

I find this model the most intriguing. It’s lightweight, folds up, comes with trivet and pot. Keeps the food protected as it cooks, has a thermometer so you know what’s happening. (Heats up to max 285 degrees.)

This is the mini-version, probably best for small groups of diners.  There’s also a larger one from this same company that comes complete with pots, pans and dehydrating racks. 

Sunflair Mini Portable Solar Oven

10 – End the day with a warm shower!

Looks like a UFO, doesn’t it? But no, it’s a warm shower, perfect for your campground or as adjunct to your RV or, in an emergency, when you have no other way to get hot water to get clean!

This shower holds 2.5 gallons. (You’ll have to act faster than usual, perhaps, to get all the soap off. ) The company also makes larger versions, but I know how much 2.5 gallons weighs and that’s just about as much as I want to struggle with.

I liked this brand for one particular reason: it has a temperature gauge!

Advanced Elements 2.5 Gallon Summer Shower / Solar Shower

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Well, that is quite a list of solar tools! I hope you’ve found some ideas for gifts. Maybe your gift could start a conversation about renewable energy!

Again, we’ll be addressing larger solar systems in a coming Advisory. In the meanwhile, let’s look forward to some sunny summer days!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. If you have favorite solar tools or gadgets, let us know about them in the comments!

The market for drones for emergency response teams continues to expand.

Updated 5-2020

We started reporting on drones about 5 years ago. At that time, drones were mostly high-tech toys. Two years ago we updated our reporting, and today it’s time for another update because . . .

Drones for emergency response teams are becoming more common. 

Before you start looking at drones for use by your neighborhood emergency response team, however, it’s a good idea to listen to the advice I got from an excellent training film put on by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region  Center for Regional Disaster Resilience. Here’s the link to the video: https://vimeo.com/296920234  One of the speakers said: “Before you decide on a project, become the local expert and understand how to collect and manage data. ” By the time you’ve done that, you’ll know what equipment you need and the rules you’ll need to follow.

The video mentioned above was by and for a governmental agency. You may not be part of a governmental agency; you may be a hobbyist. But you need to know all the rules!  Here they are as of 2020 . .

Rules for hobbyists, commercial and non-governmental use of UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) . . .are changing!

You need a pilot certificate.

If you’re operating your drone as a hobbyist, that means hobbyist. You’re not operating as a service, or planning to be paid for your services, or to sell your photos, etc. In the past, you didn’t need a certificate but it looks as though you WILL need one soon if not already!

Getting a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA requires that you pass a test as well as meet other requirements. Here’s a link to find out more: https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/part_107/remote_pilot_cert/

Register Your Drone.

Whether being flown by a hobbyist or for another reason, any UA must be registered. If it weighs less than .55 lbs you can register it online; otherwise, go to the FAA website to get started registering it on paper.  Here’s the link:  https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/UA/  

A drone weighing MORE than 55 lbs. falls into another category altogether. (That 55 lbs. includes any cargo that the drone is carrying.)

Pilot Your Drone Safely.

Even though rules change, the main thrust for hobbyists and commercial operators is always on safety. You can check in on a regular basis to monitor any changes, at http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/

Here’s a summary of the current rules:

• Drones must remain in visual line of sight of the pilot or a sighter — no first-person-view cameras. (This means no flying by what the camera shows as opposed to what you actually see from where you are standing.) You can only fly one line-of-sight vehicle at a time. Maximum distance from pilot is 3 miles.
• Maximum speed is 100 mph and maximum altitude is 400 feet.
• Pilots must be at least 16 years old and hold the “remote pilot airman certificate,” mentioned above.
• Operation is only allowed during daylight hours or twilight with appropriate lighting.
• Pilots must avoid flying over cars, populated areas or over specific people not involved in the operation.
• You must understand airspace zones and respect them. Manned aircraft always have the right of way.
• You must be aware of no-fly zones. (The best drones have “no-fly” zones built into their software.)
• The big issue, of course, is privacy. While there don’t seem to be clear cut rules regarding privacy, you’ve got to remember that there is a concept called Expectation of Privacy. This usually translates into giving people a warning if you’re going to be flying, not capturing “private” footage if you don’t need to, and deleting it if you’re asked to. If you’re part of a group, you would do well to have a privacy policy to protect your members. Here’s a reference that might be helpful: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/voluntary_best_practices_for_uas_privacy_transparency_and_accountability_0.pdf

Please note — again! – rules keep changing! Some changes have been promised and awaited but are now on hold as a result of the Coronavirus. Get the rules at the FAA.

Using Your Drone as an Emergency Response Tool

While not commercial, and yet not recreational, here are some uses your team might be considering. Before you actually decide to implement any, be sure your use is legal.

• Use a drone to provide overhead lighting when searching an area at night
• Inspect upper levels of buildings or structures (in industrial or high-rise residential areas)
• Film damaged areas or obstructions following a disaster (as long as you don’t interfere with First Responders)
• Identify “hot spots” after a fire (using infrared technology)
• Map area covered by the CERT team to segment into manageable areas
• Find a missing person
• Search areas for survivors
• Identify pathways for access or escape or to to safer positions
• Drop markers to designate specific damages or routes to follow
• Monitor teams during training exercises with filmed records for group critique
• Transfer supplies, first aid items, batteries, replacement radios, etc.
• Transport high value items over a distance, reducing the need for multiples of expensive equipment (e.g., gas sniffer)

You can probably come up with many more.

Challenges for Emergency Teams

1-Rules may limit your emergency response team’s use.

When you look at even this short list of uses, you will see that a number of these uses would be against current rules! Let’s look again . . .

• Can’t fly at night.
• Can’t let drone out of your sight.
• Can’t fly higher than 400 feet.
• Can’t fly over people.

From our standpoint as emergency responders, these restrictions limit the use of the technology. In a serious situation the safety of our neighbors in the community is more important that the actual altitude of the drone looking for them!

You may request a waiver of some of these restrictions if you can show you can conduct your operations safely. And we have confidence that some of these restrictions may be lifted or clarified, so we are not letting them stop our analysis.

2-Battery life may limit your team’s use.

Most drones have a flying time of only around 20-25 minutes. As technology improves, that will improve. To get a couple minutes more of flight can cost a couple hundred more dollars in purchase price. No matter which model you get, plan on getting at least 3 or 4 extra batteries right along with the machine so you can rapidly put the machine back in the air.

3-Set up in advance to be able to share your images and videos.

Clearly, the emergency planning and response ideas above would generate information you’d want to share with the rest of your team or with First Responders! There are several options available – the obvious one being sending footage to YouTube or Vimeo.

However, the FAA may label your video as “commercial use” if it appears with an ad on it, whether or not you wanted it!  (Again, in an emergency, I’d probably not worry about that. But be aware . . .) Other sharing options include apps provided by Facebook, Dropbox and certain drone manufacturers.

Moreover, if you share any photos, issues of privacy raise their head. Understand how you will manage your data to maintain privacy. Review the resource above in the long list of bullet points.

If you goal is to share your work, find out more before purchasing.

OK, with all this in mind,

Which drone is best for our Neighborhood Response Team?

In our community, we already have some guys who race electric cars. And there are a couple who build and fly model airplanes. The skills they bring to the table will be valuable – but not all of them are on our emergency response team, of course.

So, as we shop for a drone, we have to add “ease of set-up” and “easy to fly” to our shopping list.

Here’s the whole shopping list so far:

• Big enough to fly outside, in somewhat inclement weather (Cheap toys won’t work.)
• Strong enough to carry something to a designated location
• The best battery life we can get for the price
• Proven performance (not bleeding edge technology)
• Reasonable image and video quality, though not necessarily the highest
• Easy to set up and start flying
• Compatible with variety of hand-held mobile devices

We’ve done a lot of comparing of different machines to get to this point! I hope the data above will be helpful to you in your own search.

See our top choices for drones in Part Two of Drones for Emergency Response Teams.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S.  I found these important additions. Become an expert before you buy or fly!

• “Report to the FAA within 10 days of any operation that results in at least serious injury, loss of consciousness, or property damage of at least $500.”
• “Failure to register an unmanned aircraft that is required to be registered may result in regulatory and criminal penalties. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years.”

If you are a regular blogger or copywriter, poet or essayist, educator or consultant – you probably find yourself, like me, writing all the time. Projects. Lists. Instructions. Presentations. Speeches. Lately, though you may be experiencing a new sense of urgency.

For me, nothing much changes when I “work at home.” I may use a different chair or a different desk but that computer screen is right there, poised to welcome my every key stroke!

I’m finding it tough to break away from the computer, actually.

The virus has given me a new sense of urgency.

Oh yes, I take a few minutes to move wet laundry into the dryer. I clean off the counter in the bathroom, with special attention to the faucet handles. After that, though, it’s back to my desk – to answer a few emails from friends, or draft a message to the volunteers of our Neighborhood Emergency Response Group who are making daily check-in calls.

And without a pause I find myself again adding to one of my current manuscripts. Even though . . .

I have already published another book on Amazon, just this week!

It’s the next title in our mini-series – a collection of short books, fast reads in question-and-answer format, each focused on just one aspect of emergency preparedness.

We began the series early this year, before the Coronavirus really got started. As it turns out, this simplified Q&A format fits perfectly with the way my brain is working lately – slightly disjointed, moving from one topic to another.

At any rate, may I introduce to you . . .
(drum roll)

Latest in the Emergency Preparedness Q&A Mini-Series!

Our goal with this series is to make it easier for people to think – and take action – to improve their preparedness for emergencies. Surely, this COVID-19 disaster has shown us how ill-prepared the country as a whole was for something so dramatic and wide-spread. We are still struggling to find a cohesive, concerted plan to combat it.

The virus has made individuals rethink their own personal situation, too, with what I hope is a new sense of urgency.

Whether it’s supplies of grocery staples, or the basic painkillers or cold remedies we always want to have available, or a desperate worry about running out of toilet paper, the order to stay-at-home has pressed some sort of “reset” button.

I’d like to think that we’ll remember this, and take action now so we will be less desperate because we are more prepared next time an emergency hits.

Now, you probably still have running water, and all the conveniences of electricity, cell-phone communications, and of course whatever you use for writing. So you probably aren’t really concerned today about safely managing human waste — Pee ‘n Poop.

But if an earthquake hits, or a tornado threatens, or a hurricane begins to form . . . Will you know what to do if you can’t use the toilet?

What else do you want to become more expert at?

Check out all the booklets we’ve completed so far, here at our website: https://emergencyplanguide.org/books I am confident you will find some of what you need to answer that question in the gold box!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. I say “we.” That refers to me and my partner Joe. He tends to have the ideas and the questions for these current materials. I tend to do the research and the writing. It works pretty well!

P.P.S. Oh, and if there is a title you’re really like to see on the list, but it isn’t there yet, let me know! We have 15 total on the drawing board – yours may be coming soon, or we could add a new one, just for you!

April — Month of Action

Look up! Clear your head of coronavirus news for just a minute. Notice the sky, and the light. Feel the breeze. It’s spring! What’s coming next?

As someone always conscious of preparing for the future, I have recently been reminded by friends and experts that some unusual events are just around the corner. And we need to be ready!

What am I referring to? Why, dramatic weather!

• Do you live in “Tornado Alley?” Tornado season has started – with April, May and June being the peak months.
• The wildfire season is just around the corner, too. Traditionally most dangerous in the fall, the fire season in California has lengthened by 75 days. Fire departments are urging people to take the time now to “fire harden” their homes.
• The official hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 to November 30. Experts have already named 16 tropical storms – and 8 of them are expected to reach hurricane status.
• In the Northeast, mosquito season will be starting before April is out, and will last until the first frost in the fall, typically in October.
• And while it’s not exactly related to the weather, everyone in the Pacific Northwest needs to keep one eye out for earthquake activity in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It stretches from Vancouver Island to Northern California and has a lot more pent-up power than the famous San Andreas fault.

Oh, my!

Virginia, why are you giving us more to worry about?!

I’m not meaning to add to your worry. I want to add value — because I have the feeling that you may be one of those people not ready to bury their heads in the sand. For people like you, these weather-related events are another aspect of ordinary life and while they are challenging, they are welcome in their very ordinariness.

And you can take advantage of their coming!

Smart preparations you can make for what’s coming next will hold you in good stead for nearly all that’s coming! So now is maybe a good time to review some of the basics of your emergency plan. For example:

• Do you have food supplies over and above what you need right now? Yes, it’s tough to shop when you are “sheltering in place,” but I’ll bet you have a much better idea now of what’s really essential!
• Can you take some time now check out your home? Do you need to clear out weeds or dead plants? Secure a porch or patio to withstand the wind? Finally, you’ve got time!
• With the family at home, now would be a good time to practice some safety drills – like where to reassemble after an emergency, or what to do if there’s a fire. Turn these into family learning experiences!

It’s scary and depressing being overly focused on the bad news from the coronavirus.

Taking positive action can make you feel a whole lot healthier.

And in the case of emergency preparedness, taking action will give you a measure of peace of mind.

That’s what I’m striving for, anyway!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

April – A month of Action

The small booklets from our Q&A Mini-Series are meant to do one thing — get people started on planning for emergencies!

You may already know the answers to all the questions (or just about all of them). The booklets may not be meant for you.

They’re meant for ordinary citizens, friends and family who need a jump-start!

The press release below tells the story . . .

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For Immediate Release
Virginia Nicols (949) 733-1778
Director, Emergency Plan Guide
Subsidiary of Dentrovisi Incorporated
virginia@emergencyplanguide.org
https://EmergencyPlanGuide.org

NEW MINI-SERIES OF SINGLE TOPIC BOOKLETS SIMPLIFIES FAMILY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING  

Emergency Preparedness Q&A Mini-Series Kicks Off with Six In-Demand Titles

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 9, 2020 — A new series of simple, single topic booklets available on Amazon breaks the disaster planning process into easy to read FAQ, letting readers focus on one element at a time while building toward a complete plan.

Even people wanting to prepare for emergencies can find the process overwhelming. In fact, FEMA’s 2019 National Household Survey reports that while most families have taken at least one step toward preparedness, 43% have not taken even three basic preparedness actions.

The Emergency Preparedness Q&A Mini-Series aims to solve this problem. It approaches planning in a simple, guided way. Each book in the series addresses only one topic, allowing readers to choose according to their current needs or interests. Each book is short – under 50 pages. Simple questions and answers give readers a path forward to understanding and preparing for that specific emergency. Fill-in-the-blank checklists avoid intimidation and demonstrate tangible progress.

“For this series we’ve picked topics that come up again and again in our neighborhood meetings,” says author Nicols. The first titles: Pre-Disaster Plan, Emergency Communications, Custom Go-Bags, Power Outage and Prepare Your Home for Earthquake. Another nine booklets are scheduled for publication by mid-April, with additional titles to follow.

Emergency Plan Guide’s flagship series of Neighborhood Disaster Survival Guides, each with a separate Workbook, was published in 2018. It addresses comprehensive planning for four types of neighborhoods: three types of residential neighborhood (single family houses, apartment & condominiums and mobile home communities) with a separate volume for small businesses. Each book and companion workbook focus on concerns and organizing opportunities for people in that specific setting.

The two series are from partners Virginia S. Nicols and Joseph A. Krueger, whose backgrounds include military training, disaster response marketing and nearly 20 years of hands-on experience building, training and mentoring Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Full details on the authors and their series titles are available at https://EmergencyPlanGuide.org.

# # #

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Download the print version of the press release here. And if you want a bit more information on each booklet or are ready to order right now, check out the page we’ve added to our menu under BOOKS. (It has direct links to Amazon.)

You know our motto: “The more we all know, the safer we all will be.” Our goal with this new Mini-Series is to expand preparedness knowledge exponentially!

Virginia and Joe
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Our intro pricing at Amazon is $4.99 for each paperback booklet and only $2.99 for the ebook. We’re trying to make it as appealing as possible!

Assume a major storm, hurricane or earthquake. Communications are disrupted. What happens to your bills – and your credit rating?

Today we went to the bank to set up a new account. We’ve been planning recently about how to promote building a savings account specifically for emergencies, so we figured we’d do some actual background research.

Setting up the account took a lot longer than I expected. It felt as though the “Know your customer” (KYC) regulations, set up after 9/11 to combat fraud, have been integrated into every step of the account opening process!

This exercise brought me back for another look at an earlier Advisory about what happens when a disaster interrupts your regularly-scheduled bill paying. It’s clearly time for an update!

Do you receive bills, and pay them, via the US Postal Service?

Yes, online transactions are more popular than ever, but still, did you know that 4 out of all 10 bills are still paid using a paper check? So let’s start with them.

If you like the control of paper bills and checks, do you have a record of when your various bills come due and where the payments go? Would you be able to write and send at least a minimum payment if the actual paper bills didn’t arrive? (As we have seen, this isn’t fantasy. Over the course of the summer 2020 delivery times for the U.S. mail were severely impacted.)

You can be sure that just because the mail truck couldn’t make it through the flooded creek, your creditors will be looking for their expected payment. When that payment doesn’t arrive, your account will be automatically charged with a late fee.

Do you receive bills and pay them online by going to your creditors’ websites or by using the bill pay functions offered by your bank?

In a disaster, your bank’s website will continue to be open for business – but if your computer or smartphone isn’t able to access the internet, you may not be able to get to that website to pay the bills that are coming due every day!

What can you do starting now to protect your credit rating?

Even if you’re used to paying bills online, and using ATM machines for convenient transactions, there are three things you should do starting now to protect your credit BEFORE an emergency strikes.

Step One: Pay your bills immediately.

Pay your bills as soon after you receive them as possible. If you wait until the last minute, you may end up weeks behind because of the emergency and you run the risk of late charges and damage to your credit rating if your payments didn’t get there on time.

Step Two: Have payment slips prepared.

If you pay by check, take time now to make two hard copies each of the payment slips that have the account numbers, barcodes and amount/s due imprinted on them. Following a major even you can use these to make minimum payments by hand until things get back to normal.

Step Three: Set up automatic bill-paying BY COMPUTER.

Paying online is faster, less expensive (no stamps) and the chances are good that you will be able to get back to operating on line more quickly than by mail following a major disaster event. Setting up accounts to be paid automatically each month simplifies things even more.

Of course, monthly automatic bill pay assumes that you will have an automatic deposit made each month! You’ll want to find out just if and how you will be paid if an emergency interrupts your work.

How will creditors react?  

We’re often asked, “Won’t the creditors give me leeway in a major emergency?”

 Yes . . . there’s a concept called “disaster forbearance” that may apply — but usually only if you are in a federally-declared disaster area. And that declaration may take some time — or never happen. (We have witnessed a “forebearance” policy from some banks as the result of COVID-19 — but that period came and went . . .)

In any case, creditors will be happier to work with you if you contact them before your next bill is due! If you are lucky, you may be able to avoid late fees and extra interest payments.

But be ready to jump through all sorts of hoops to correct the records. Once you get put sideways into their (and the credit reporting agencies’) computers, you go through hell trying to straighten them out. Multiply this times the number of creditors and you have a monster of a problem to look forward to at a time when you will have plenty of other problems to be solving!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. Oh, and getting back to that “emergency savings account?” Like every other good idea for saving money, the simplest approach is to set up an automatic “payment” to yourself, designed to go directly into a separate account.  Since the average American who says they have put money aside for emergencies has actually saved less than $400 (!), it would be a good idea to set that up now!

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I was running late – to my own community meeting!

But we’d done some good planning, and by the time I got to the community room, a handful of volunteers were already digging into the oh-so-carefully-packed box of supplies. Name tags went out onto one table along with colored pens; handouts went onto another.  Two people were pinning photos from past events all across the back of the room. And refreshments had magically appeared on a table in the corner. (“Make people walk past the photo display to get to the cookies.”)

I saw immediately that our guest speakers had arrived before me, too!

But my back-up host had directed them to the electrical set-up, the microphone and projector were humming, and as neighbors started arriving, fire extinguishers in hand, everyone was standing about just casually chatting!

What a relief!  All I had to do was grab that microphone, take a deep breath, and gather my thoughts for the introductions! Here I am, a few minutes later, double-teaming with our fire captain.

What was behind this special community meeting on fire extinguishers?

Pretty simple. We’ve had two fires recently in our neighborhood. In one, the whole house was engaged before the fire department arrived. (No person injured, but two pets died.)  In the other, smoke filled the kitchen but an observant neighbor noticed, grabbed a fire extinguisher, ran across the street and stopped the fire before any real damage was done.

The obvious lesson:

“If you can catch a fire right away, and you use the right equipment, you can put it out yourself.”

After the most recent fire, we took a poll of neighbors.

1. “Do you have a fire extinguisher?”
2. “Are you confident you could put out a fire in your house with your extinguisher?”
3. “Have you ever even USED an extinguisher?”

Too many “no” answers! 

So we contacted our local fire department for help.

Not only were they willing to come do a special community meeting on home fire extinguishers, but they offered a magnificent surprise – a chance for us to actually practice putting out a fire.

But not a real fire.

We had the chance to train using a laser-driven fire extinguisher simulator!

First, we went over the basics of fire extinguishers.

In fact, we had invited everyone to BYOE — BRING YOUR OWN EXTINGUISHER – and it made a big difference! 

Many people had never even taken their extinguishers out of the box! Hardly any knew what sort of fire their extinguisher was good for. And I don’t think any had searched out the date of manufacture.

Imagine if you will a room full of people, many clutching red and white fire extinguishers in their laps, as our fire captain went over the basics using a power point presentation. There were MANY interruptions, much squinting to read the fine print, and MANY questions before it was over. (Remember, this meeting took place in a senior retirement community.)

• Classifications tell you what kind of fire this extinguisher will put out – A, B, C, D and K.  In our group, nearly all were A, B, C.
• What’s actually INSIDE the extinguisher? Again, for our audience, probably dry chemical that comes out as a powder to smother the fire.
• How long is the extinguisher good for? “Check the date.” (This became an embarrassment and pretty humorous as people found the dates and called them out. The oldest extinguisher in the room dated to . . . 1987!)  The recommendation from our fire department – “Check ‘em often and replace after 5 years to be sure it will work when you need it.”
• Where and how to store it? (Designated place, clearly visible. Turn it upside down and hit it with your hand to loosen the powder.)
• Other comments – Only attempt to put out a fire you can control. Have an escape route. Call 911. and many more . . .

Then it was time for the SIMULATOR training!

The head of our local CERT training stepped up to demonstrate the equipment. The digital “flame” on the screen was very bright, very realistic! The green dot from the laser was easily visible.

Before she was completely finished, people were already lining up to try it! (What a relief. As meeting planner you just never know what kind of reaction you’ll get!)

PASS – not so easy to remember when you have an extinguisher in your hands and the clock is ticking.

Our fire captain had gone through the steps to extinguish a fire.

And our CERT trainer had gone over them again, demonstrating two or three times just how the equipment works.

Still, when people came up to try, sometimes they forgot! They dropped the pin. The extinguisher was quite heavy and some couldn’t hold it and squeeze at the same time. A couple squeezed before they aimed!

Everyone was terribly engaged. Some were anxious. All were watching VERY closely.

More than half the people in the audience tried the simulator. And everyone succeeded in putting out their fire. (A few did need a couple of tries.)

More important, as our CERT trainer observed, every one walked away with new-found confidence.

As the community meeting on fire extinguishers broke up, several people told me they wanted to learn more about our city’s CERT training and others wanted to join our local neighborhood response team. (We have no requirement for CERT training.)

As we gathered up all the stray handouts and took down the displays, we were very satisfied at the outcome.

Could any meeting be more successful?!

Why yes, because that very evening I got several thank-you emails with many positive comments.

At 9 a.m. the following day our office manager wanted copies of anything that was left over “because people have already been coming in asking about it.” A bystander in the office volunteered, “I’m going to buy a new extinguisher for myself, and two for my daughter.”

Then the manager added, “I have never seen people come out of a meeting with so much excitement. They were talking and waving.  They were laughing. They were energized!”

I think you can agree, somewhere along the line this training will pay off. I hope you can add a similar meeting to YOUR group’s schedule!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. I’ll be adding this to my next collection of published Meeting Ideas! Let me know if you want to be on the pre-publication list!

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If you love words like I do, you probably cringe when you read something like “practice situational awareness!” I guess if I had to use a better expression it would be “Pay attention to what’s going on around you!”

This image above is one of my favorites. That young woman could walk right off a curb, or into the arms of a stranger, without even realizing it!

OK, now let’s add a second image to help our story. Imagine this driver cruising right up beside the woman in the first picture, grabbing her phone and speeding off!

Have you heard about the Moped Muggers? Phones are being snatched from purses, from pockets and right out of people’s hands — often by thieves on skateboards or scooters.

As one newscaster put it, “You wouldn’t go out on the street waving five $100 dollar bills in your hand, would you?” (Time to update that figure to more like six or seven $100 bills, eh?)

Situational Awareness will save you.

Being aware will save you from losing valuable items. It will save you from embarrassing mistakes. It could also save your life in an emergency by giving you a head start on decision making.

You can train yourself and your kids to be more observant.

For example, when you go into a building, note the number of people you see, where they are and what they are wearing. (Try to do this unobtrusively, of course!) Notice the number of doors to the room or exits from the building.

When you get back outside, quiz yourself and the kids on those details!

Here’s another example. If you find yourself waiting for a train or a bus, take a closer look at people around you. Try predicting where they might be going or what they are planning to do. If your timing is right, you may actually be able to see if your prediction was accurate.

These exercises can be fun. The most important result? You’ll find yourself getting better at noticing when and why people “just don’t fit.”

When things don’t look or feel “right,” trust your instincts and take action.

At that point, your first action may be to simply move away from the uncomfortable situation. You can go further and report your concerns to authorities. (“See something, say something.”)

Either way, you have taken a move to protect yourself from possible danger.

Paying attention to what goes on around you isn’t hard. But it surely is essential to being prepared!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

P.S. Response to our Advisories about Situational Awareness has been so great that we added a lot more on the topic in our Q&A Mini-Series booklet, Personal Safety. Situational Awareness starts off the second part of the book, and there are several more “exercises” for practicing with your kids. Perfect for getting a conversation started on being responsible for your own safety!

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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!)

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!

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When you are lucky enough to enjoy a few days of vacation, or if you’re in the mood to CHANGE your mood, consider spending some time with some survival entertainment!

Read for escape and pleasure!

If you are a hard-core reader like I am, you’ll demand a certain level of quality in your survival books.  Or magazines, as the case may be. I found the article from Popular Mechanics, shown above, to be a treat!   (Have you heard of the Swedish fire? You break apart one block of wood, wrap it loosely with wire to keep it all held together and upright, build your fire on top of the center splits so the fire falls down into the cracks. Burns for several hours! Love it!)

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I managed to discover and read something totally different – a survival novel that takes place in a nearly ruined America of the not-so-distant future.

I have reviewed that book — Lighthouse Island — and a half-dozen other outstanding survival books and magazines at our companion website, Emergency Preparedness Books.

If you’re looking for some different survival themes, different levels of intensity and even survival excitement, please head over there and take a look. Several of the books are “How to” on survival; a couple are novels with plenty of accurate survival imagery, and a couple are written for young people – and young at heart like me! I’ll be adding more.

Of course, in addition to books there are . . .

Movies for thrills and excitement!

It’s the day after Christmas as I write this Advisory. Yesterday we watched the obligatory re-run of Die Hard. Not a classic wilderness survival movie – but certainly an epic survival story! (Hans Gruber, so very smooth and sinisterly multi-lingual!)

Which brings me to some more of the “Best Survival Movies Ever Made.”  Here’s a short list. Which of these have you seen?  Would you watch them again?

• Most recent disaster film, which you’ve surely heard of if you haven’t seen it: San Andreas! Sure, it’s not the most scientifically accurate disaster movie. (Savvy preppers here in California find it pretty easy to pick out the faults – a pun!) But what special effects! And Dwayne Johnson!
• The Martian – science fiction full of well — science mixed with humor!  I read the book a few years ago, and I loved it. (Made me laugh out loud even though the hero was stranded on Mars and had to survive on practically nothing but his brains until he could be rescued! The thinking man’s survival skills on display . . .!) Of course any movie with Matt Damon deserves a Golden Globe nearly sight unseen.
• Just the next year a traditional survival film actually won an Oscar – in fact, many, many other awards, for that matter. It is The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The scene: western frontier wilderness in the early 1800s. The challenge: winter weather, grizzly bear and other wildlife, plus some treacherous travel companions. Hollywood loved this film, and movie-goers turned it into a blockbuster.

Now, there have been survival movies for years, well before the three described above which you’ve probably at least seen ads for.

How about some survival movie classics?

• Into the Wild came out in 2007, directed by Sean Penn. It’s an absorbing story of a young man who leaves his comfortable life to test his survival skills in Alaska. I saw this film myself several years ago – every spectacularly beautiful and excruciating minute of it. This is more drama than adventure. And it’s good!
• Volcano, starring Tommy Lee Jones (another must-see actor) as an emergency manager. It came out in 1997 and is available on Netflix. Set in L.A., this one line describes it all – “Hot on entertainment!”
• Twister was the second highest grossing film of 1996! It followed storm-chasers across Oklahoma. A Rotten Tomatoes review cites the film’s “visceral thrills” and again, special effects.

Learn some good stuff via documentaries and semi-documentaries.

In no particular order, here are some films that captured the interest of professional members of the Emergency Management group on LinkedIn. I’ll be checking these films off my own holiday viewing list. (One or the other might be appropriate for showing at a neighborhood meeting.)

• Fire in Paradise, which aired on Frontline, covers the 2018 wildfire that basically destroyed the town of Paradise in California. It’s a 39 minute documentary with interviews of people who went through the ordeal. You’ll learn a lot about evacuations.
• Dirty War is a docu-drama first broadcast in 2004 by the BBC and made available in the U.S. through HBO. The situation:  A radioactive “dirty” bomb detonates outside a subway station in London. At that time, this was a thriller. Today, it’s become too real.
• American Blackout is now top of my own list. Produced by National Geographic, the 90-minute docu-drama “reveals in gritty detail the impact of what happens when a cyber-attack on the U.S. takes down the power grid.” The power shut-downs earlier this year gave us a taste . . .

There’s plenty more survival entertainment where these came from!

These movies are available at Amazon and other streaming services. Most are available for purchase at Amazon, too, if that’s how you want to enjoy them. Click away here!

Of course, not all survival fiction may be award-worthy.

But today we’re talking about a vacation change of pace! If necessary, you can always pick out the totally unrealistic moments and describe to your family members what it REALLY would be like. (They may not appreciate the interruption, so maybe save those criticisms until afterwards!?)

At the very least, a book or movie can start a conversation at home to inspire new interest in emergency preparedness and response. Maybe you’ll get ideas for a family adventure tour, or some cool gifts.

Who knows what might happen?! We’re talking survival entertainment here! Hope you enjoy some of these!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Of course you have your own survival entertainment favorites! Let us know what they are!

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