Are you heading out in your car today — into the snow?
How will you fare if you get stuck in a winter storm? Will you survive?
Most people make it through, of course. Last year a 36 year old man was stuck in a winter snow storm for 5 days, along with his dog. They made it out alive even though all they had to eat were taco sauce packets.
Some people don’t make it out alive. You probably remember the 2007 story of the Kim family. After being stuck in an unfamiliar mountain road in Oregon, the father tried to walk out to get help. His wife and two young daughters stayed in the car, and were found alive after 9 days. The father was found dead, 16 miles from the car.
Experts generally advise, “Stay with the car.”
Obviously, what you have with you IN the car will make that decision a lot easier!
I know you’re busy, what with Christmas coming in just a few days. But take the time NOW to review this list of survival items for your car. In just a couple of minutes you can make some choices about what to have in your car that could mean the difference between easy and hard, even life and death if you get caught in a winter storm.
Check off the things you already have in your car’s Survival Kit and your Emergency Road Kit. DOUBLE CHECK the items you should add right now, so you’ll have them before the next storm arrives.
(in the lists below, the underlined words are links that lead to earlier articles here at Emergency Plan Guide, go to YouTube for useful videos, or go directly to Amazon so you can check features and prices. We’re Associates at Amazon so we may get a small commission if you buy through our link. Your price isn’t affected, of course.)
For the average driver, even this list of car parts and supplies is pretty extensive.
If you know how to use something, you can decide to include it. If you think you should include something, but don’t know how to put it to use, time for a few training videos on YouTube!
For even short delays in traffic, you may need:
Bottled water, snacks, warm blanket
First Aid kit
Toilet paper, paper towels, unscented wipes, zip-lock plastic baggies for trash
Tool kit (Put a collection from your garage into a zip-lock baggie so you can see what you have: screwdrivers, pliers, wrench, tire pressure gauge, snow scraper, duct tape, etc.)
Battery charger (Different levels of quality: here’s a top-flight one.)
Jumper cables (Get heavy duty cables so they’ll work for sure. The smaller the gauge, the heavier the cable.)
Kitty litter, sand, or rock salt to pour in front of your tires. Check out Magic Traction as a better alternative. You may be able to dig down far enough to slide your floor mats underneath both of the tires that are receiving power. (May mess up the mats, of course.)
Pack everything in a sturdy pack or maybe two. Put the heaviest things on the bottom. And tie the packs down so they don’t fly in an emergency stop and hit you or one of the kids.
Now, that’s a good start! I am sure you will come up with other personal items you couldn’t do without in a winter storm. Add them!
The idea is to have enough of the important items that your car-stuck-in-the-snow adventure remains an adventure, and doesn’t become a real emergency.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. One other essential — an Auto Roadside Assistance plan! We’ve had AAA for years, and it has been a godsend. My latest research on plans suggests that plans associated with your auto insurance company may not be as good as plans from independent companies. Consider where you live, what’s likely to happen, what the crew will deliver to you, how far they will tow you without an extra charge. Above all, how many times can you USE the service? (per person, per household).
P.P.S. We welcome any good stuck-in-the-snow stories!
OK, we know. Get your flu shot. Wash your hands. Cook meat thoroughly. Only drink water you are sure is safe.
But no matter how careful we are, people get sick.
Once we were camping when my son – then in his 20s, tall, strong, healthy – started violently throwing up. We decided to cut our trip short. We had to stop a couple of times along the road because he was still throwing up.
At home, he lay quietly on the couch but couldn’t keep anything down, not even water. His voice became hoarse and his eyes seemed sunken.
Finally, we took him to the emergency room. They whisked him into the hospital where he stayed for 4 days! Test after test was unable to identify a clear-cut villain. Finally, the doctors treated him for giardia because he’d inadvertently swallowed some mountain stream water!
When I was a child, we purposefully drank water from mountain streams. But that was long ago. These days, we know to stick to water from a reliable source. The problem?
In an emergency there may be no immediately reliable sources.
In an emergency, it will be up to you to be sure your water is safe. If you can, you’ll turn to water you’ve stored. But even without that, if you are prepared, you’ll be able to make “found” water safe.
Look again at the photo. Imagine you have no other water and are desperately thirsty. Would it be safe to bring that cup to your lips?
The answer? Probably not. Let’s take a look at ways to make water safe to drink in an emergency.
Before we begin, please note this warning: water contaminated with fuel or toxic chemicals will not be made safe by boiling or disinfecting. You’ll have to filter out these contaminants. So as you consider the following recommendations, think about what kind of “contamination” you are likely to encounter in an emergency: dust and dirt, sewage, fuels, agricultural runoff, etc. It will help you decide on what equipment you need.
Boil
water – For how long?
As I am writing this, people in a community in San Diego county are operating under a Boil Water Advisory. (It’s already lasted 6 days!) Why? During recent heavy rains an overflow drain in the city water system didn’t operate as planned, and dirty water flowed into the clean water reservoir.
In a disaster you may not receive an official Advisory. But if your water is green or yellow, smells bad, has visible particulates or a colored sheen, it is likely contaminated. And drinking it could lead to serious stomach problems!
So your first thought regarding water probably ought to be to consider boiling it — keeping in mind the warning in the green box above.
You can pre-filter the water by pouring it through a paper towel or even a clean shirt. Then pour the clear water into a clean pan and bring it to a rolling boil for 1 minute. (Let it cool before you drink or store, of course.)
If you’re at higher elevations, say over 6,000 ft., boil for 3 minutes.
A nuisance? Maybe. But it could keep you healthy.
Disinfect water so it’s safe to drink – But what with?
After boiling, or if boiling isn’t feasible, a second option for cleaning questionable water is to disinfect it. There are a couple of common disinfecting agents designed to make water safe to drink.
Household bleach – the right amount of the right kind
You know to use only liquid unscented plain bleach, right? The amount of bleach to use depends on how much sodium hypochlorite it contains.
I just checked in my own cupboard. I have “regular” blue-label
Clorox bleach – with 6.25% sodium hypochlorite. There’s another bottle from
Clorox there, looks very similar but has a green label and is called “Cleaner
and Bleach.” It has only 1% sodium hypochlorite – and who knows what
else?!
So you have to look carefully. Then, add plain bleach (with 6.25%) to your water as follows:
For one quart water: 2 drops
For one gallon: 8 drops or 1/8 teaspoon
For 5 gallons: 40 drops or ½ teaspoon
Stir, then let it sit for a half hour before you use it for
drinking or cooking. (If you pour it back and forth between clean glasses the
chlorine taste will lessen.)
Tip: When using Clorox to disinfect water: write on the bottle with permanent marker how many drops you used and the date they were added. Use and refresh as appropriate.
Water purification tablets or drops
Tablets and drops are convenient and relatively inexpensive (some less than $10) and can last for several years. They work against bacteria, viruses, and parasites, although they may not protect against a particularly nasty parasite called cryptosporidium. I’d recommend having a bottle or two of disinfectant in every Survival Kit, as a back-up to whatever other method you’re using to make your water safe to drink. (Click on the links in the next paragraph for details.)
The disinfecting agent typically comes as tablets with iodine or as drops that contain chlorine. CLOSELY follow the instructions as to how much to use, how long to wait for them to work, etc. (I’ve read horror stories of people practically popping the tablets like pills, which of course makes them very sick.)
Important: the length of time necessary for the disinfectant to “work” depends on the ingredients in the tablet and what you’re protecting against. For example, if you are concerned about the water containing giardia, you will have to let the tablets work for longer than if you’re only trying to protect against bacteria.
Filter water – You can do this all the time!
With a portable water bottle with built in filter, you have a valuable tool during ordinary times and during emergencies.
Today, these bottles are inexpensive and handy. The filters are made of activated charcoal that absorbs all the bad stuff. Naturally, after a number of uses the filter will be full and will need to be replaced. (Read the fine print on the bottle description. Some filters last 3-4 times as long as others.)
Even inexpensive filters can be extremely effective, but the very best ones filter out debris, bacteria, viruses, and parasites – including cryptosporidium. Their ultimate effectiveness depends on the “pore size” of the filter. The very best are the very smallest – i.e., filters with an “absolute” pore size of 1 micron or less. (You won’t find many with a pore size that small.)
Protect yourself and the planet.
If you are carrying a filtered water bottle to make regular tap water taste better, and to avoid adding single-use plastic bottles to the environment, ordinary filter bottles are probably all you need. Get friends and colleagues to avoid single-use plastic, too!
In an emergency, where your needs may be greater, check out some of the bottles below. And remember, you can always add a disinfectant to filtered water for extra protection. (Click on the image or on the link to get current prices. There may be some holiday deals.)
Some of the best water bottles with filters.
Top of the line.
Let’s start with the bottle that seems to appear at the top of every reviewer’s list: the Grayl Geopress.
The company declares it “Safe for any adventure!”
It operates a bit differently from others you may have seen or used. I liken it to making French press coffee. That is, you pour water into the body of the bottle, then press the filter down through it. The filter “captures” the contaminants – silt, sediment, chemicals like benzene and chlorine, metals such as arsenic and lead — as it passes through the water.
Here’s a picture and link to Amazon, where we are Associates. This model comes in a couple of different colors, and you can also buy extra filters so you’ll always have a fresh one. (A filter is rated to last through 250 liters.)
If I were headed out on a serious trek, just about anywhere in the world, this would be my choice. (If you’ve ever had diarrhea while traveling, you’ll understand the intensity of my recommendation!)
Looking for something smaller?
Grayl has a second, smaller and lighter model called the Grayl Ultralight. It is more streamlined and would fit better into a backpack than the larger Geopress, but it’s still the same quality engineering. The Ultralight comes in a few different colors, so shop til you find the color you prefer. Each delivers 16 oz. of clean water with one press. Get extra filters for this one, too.
We’ve featured the LifeStraw personal water filter for years. (That link takes you to a post I wrote a summer or two ago. It has more details about boiling water!) As the name suggests, you suck water through the “straw” to make it safe to drink. LifeStraw has an impressive history and continues to make a difference for people throughout the world.
The classic one-person “straw” is light, easy to manage and pack, and as I write this it’s on sale at Amazon, so I am including it in this Advisory.
Over the past few years, LifeStraw has joined the movement to add replaceable filters to water bottles. The LifeStraw Go Bottle fits comfortably into the middle price range of filtered bottles, and has one noticeable feature – two different filters. (Scroll down the sales page at Amazon to look at the diagram that shows both filters in position.)
Again, shop for the color or colors you prefer. There’s a whole selection! (These make great stocking stuffers for all your kids and grandkids!) The attached carabiner makes it easy to hook to a backpack.
One final note. All filters will eventually get clogged and unusable. As mentioned above, if you are trying to extend your water supplies as far as possible, try pre-filtering water before running it through your carbon filter. First, let cloudy water settle. Then pour clear water through paper towels, through coffee filters, or through a clean t-shirt to remove larger particles and give your filter a chance to do its best work longer.
Gastrointestinal flu can actually be life-threatening. Of course, you can’t protect against everything, but in an emergency you must assume the risk of contaminated water to be much higher than usual. Be ready to act on the suggestions above to keep your water safe to drink.
Over the holiday I met some new family members. We have a VERY extended family with multiple generations so new people become attached to the group pretty regularly –new boyfriends, new girlfriends, new husbands of ex-wives, including kids of all ages. You get the picture!
All the original husbands and wives seem to stick, too, along with their children, so the assemblage just keeps expanding.
Three new kids were added this year.
At this year’s Thanksgiving party we had some new children added to the older teens in the mix — two girls around 6 years old, and a boy about 12. (The puzzle in the photo is one of my go-to toys for all new kids. It’s surprisingly difficult!)
Naturally I started talking with these children and some of my questions had to do with preparedness and their grasp of good habits for safety and security.
My questions were shaped in part by several sobering articles I’ve read lately.
As you can imagine, the chances are very good of a child being away from parents when an emergency hits. According to the CDC, 69 million children are separated from their parents each work day as they go to school or child care! Moreover, while most parents seem to think they’ll be reunited “within a few hours” after an emergency, the truth is not so benign. In fact, it took 7 MONTHS for the last child to be reunited with family after Katrina!
So I’m concerned about children. When an unprepared child faces an emergency, that child’s response is likely to be fear. Fear deprives the child from being able to make a decision. The prepared child has the chance to respond from a position of strength and confidence. What a gift!
What can we do to help kids be more prepared?
1 – Actively include children in our planning.
There are different levels of preparedness planning.
Level one – be prepared to get out of a dangerous situation. Level two – know about safe places to go to if you can’t stay at home. Level three – Have an idea of what to expect if . . .
You can work on all
three of these levels using simple questions. The answers would depend on
the age and experience of the child.
For example, here’s a simple question: “If you smelled smoke in the house right now, what would you do?”
(I remember a few years ago writing about how I got my
teenaged grandchildren to figure out how to climb out the second floor window
onto the roof, then to the pergola where they could drop to the ground.)
2 – Build life skills.
I was lucky in that my parents were true pioneers living in
the wilds of Alaska, so they had real, outdoor survival skills that I inherited
even though I grew up in a town. I’m talking about how to swing an axe, how to
tie a knot in a rope, etc. Now your children may be growing up in suburbia,
where cutting down trees isn’t advisable (!), but they can still learn basic
skills:
How to assemble a piece of furniture using hand tools.
How to repair a bicycle.
In my own experience, and based on everything I’ve read, the
more “capable” a child is at figuring out how things work, managing tools,
building or taking things apart – the more confidence she’ll have facing any
challenging situation.
3 – Repeatedly test kids’ level of awareness.
I think this discussion lends itself to a sport analogy. If
you are on a soccer team, you need to know where you are on the field, where
the other players are, their general direction and speed, where the ball is,
where the goal is, etc. Great players seem to be able to carry all this in
their heads and body all the time!
From the point of view of children and being prepared, it’s the same concept. For example, you can check in with your child as you are driving:
Where are we? (Name of street? How far from home or school? Where do we turn next?)
Name some of the things you see around us. (Street lights. Bicycles. Cars moving. A taxi letting someone off. A dog running loose.)
Do you see other people? What are they doing and how fast are they going? What is likely to happen when they reach a certain point?
Could something bad happen? (If that bicyclist came across in front of us, we would hit him. That dog could run right into the street and all the cars would swerve to miss him.)
What could we do?
The amount of detail that a child would notice will depend on age – and practice! And the conversation doesn’t need to include all these questions – it might be made up of only one.
“Wow, see that dog? What do you think he’s going to do next?”
For sure, your child
will be unable to answer a single question if he/she is buried in a digital
game or on a cellphone. For that matter, so will your wife.
Let’s create a list of good ideas for kids!
I’d like to capture some more good ideas from readers and share them with others. For example:
A mother in my LinkedIn group writes that every night, before they head to bed, her children make sure all toys are picked up so nothing blocks their escape route. And the children close the door to their bedroom, too, for fire safety.
The Centers for Disease Control reminds all parents, and particularly those of special ed kids, to have a list of emergency contact information in the child’s backpack. (If you laminate the page, it will last longer.)
I’ve written before about my own concern about children who don’t know their first and last names. Of course it varies, but by age 5 they probably should know that important information and be able to respond when asked. Older kids need to know a contact phone number by heart. All these kids should know how to call 911.
So now, to finish this Advisory, I’d like to ask for your help. Surely there are hundreds of kids represented by the readers of Emergency Plan Guide!
What do you do with YOUR kids (or students) to help them be more
aware of their surroundings, alert for potential danger, and ready to take action in an emergency?
Can you send me at least 3 good ideas for including kids in preparedness planning? I want to share all of them!
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. Just scroll down the page to below the Advisory sign-up box to the Comment section. Or send me an email. In any case, I won’t use any names unless I get your approval first!
Even if you’re one of the 33% of Americans who “wish they could skip the holiday season rather than spend money on gifts,” we think you’ll agree.. .
You really can’t skip over Mom!
But look past silly or pointless gifts. Rather, give her a gift that will make you feel better about her security and will show you really care. We’ve put together a Gift List for Mom to get you started. (If you don’t have a mom, just substitute any older person you care about!)
My shopping recommendations follow, along with some specific examples in a chart at the very bottom of the page.
Part One: Gifts to make life easier for Mom.
Most of these gifts are long-lasting material “things” that make fun stocking stuffers and great “mystery” gifts.
Part One gifts have been perennial favorites in our family. (You can actually find a gift for every age here!)
Bottle opener suitable for the kinds of cans and bottles that Mom opens
Flashlight/lantern/solar lamp with glow-in-the-dark handle
Emergency radio for news if the power is out
Motion-activated light in the driveway or on the porch
Portable cellphone chargers
A collection of batteries of various sizes
Part Two: Gifts to help Mom avert or avoid an emergency.
Part Two of the Gift List for Mom is another category of gift altogether. Each of these items requires some involvement on your part!
No use waiting for Christmas. Consider some of them for Thanksgiving . . .
Take a walk around the outside of Mom’s place. See some things that need to be taken care of before winter really hits? For example: trimming branches that may break in high winds. Making sure downspouts all connect and lead away from the house. Bringing in or covering up outdoor furniture.
Take on some fire prevention around your Mom’s’ home: rake up piles of dried leaves and clean out gutters where flying embers could find purchase. (Get the kids involved in this one, too.)
Make sure there’s a tool kit in Mom’s car that contains at the very least an emergency light, jumper cables and flat tire inflator. (Even if she isn’t sure about how to use these tools, a good Samaritan could make use of them on her behalf.)
Pack a simple Survival Kit for each car in the family, including Mom’s. Fill with warm clothing and/or blanket, snacks, a flashlight, a bottle of water. You never know when rain, snow or an accident will trap you for hours or even overnight on the road. For Mom, being trapped like that could be a real emergency. (You can find more info about what to look for on our Emergency Kit Reviews page.
Install a couple of new, lightweight fire extinguishers in Mom’s home. Put one in the kitchen. Make sure Mom holds and handles the extinguisher and understands how to use it. (PASS: Pull the pin, Aim the nozzle, Squeeze the handle, Spray from side to side at the base of the fire.) Again, see the chart below for a specific recommendation.
Part Three: Gifts that could save Mom’s life.
Before you head out for your next visit, pack up a few essential tools and supplies so you have what you need to complete these important household chores.
They may have been overlooked for too long.
Test Mom’s smoke and CO alarms! You may not enjoy climbing ladders, but your Mom may not be able to! Bring a few 9 volt batteries when you come to visit and take 15 minutes to test all the alarms in her house. (If the alarms are over 10 years old, replace them.) (We have more about CO alarms here.)
Does Mom live in earthquake country? Load up on a few brackets and straps at the hardware store and fasten shelves and bookcases to the wall. Tie down computers and TVs. Every day we get closer to one of the “big ones” and these simple preparations can save lives.
Has Mom added more electrical gadgets in the house, like fans, heaters or lamps? Maybe even an electric chair? Arrive with a couple of heavy-duty power strips and make sure none of her plugs is overloaded. (Get the kind with an overload switch. And choose the right length cord – 2, 4 or 6 ft.)
And here are some selected examples of gifts from the list for Mom!
All these items come from Amazon, where we are Affiliates. If you click on the images, you’ll go directly to Amazon where you can check full details including prices. Note that in a couple of places I’ve suggested variations on the basic product. Scroll down the Amazon page and you may find a comparison chart with those other variations listed.
Emergency lamps and lanterns -- These lightweight inflatables are solar powered! They do need to sit in the sun for several hours before they are charged - but if Mom has sun, she won't run out of light even during an extended power outage. Plus, these lamps are durable, waterproof, and the amount of light is adjustable. (If you need even more info about lanterns, remember we have a whole review page devoted to them here at http://emergencyplanguide.org/reviews/best-emergency-lanterns-for-power-outage/
Findable Flashlights -- The top one in the picture is a typical metal flashlight with a glow-in-the-dark handle. The second image shows a whole collection of smaller flashlights with entire rubberized, glow-in-the-dark cases. I've said it many times -- have a flashlight in every room! Having glow-in-the-dark models will make them a lot easier to find in an emergency.
Emergency radio will pick up news and weather even when the power is off. I like this radio particularly because it can operate with solar as well as with batteries. And it has a powerful battery storage bank.
Dawn to dusk security light is motion activated, powered by batteries. Once you have one on your porch, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. Once Mom has one, she'll wonder why you never thought of it before now!
Batteries and Power Banks. Yes, you could add a whole collection of batteries as a great holiday gift. But I'd also add a simple power bank like this one, to charge Mom's phone. (We own a couple of similar ones. They hold a charge forever -- well, not really forever, but for weeks.)
Car Tool Kit. We all have tool kits in our cars, in various conditions. Be sure Mom has one that's complete. This one holds jumper cables and emergency items; if Mom lives in a place where she could get stuck, find a car kit with a tow strap. (That will add another $10 to the price . . .)
Fire extinguishers -- yes, more than one. Be sure to have one near the exit in the kitchen! And get a size and a squeeze mechanism that fits Mom's capabilities. (There are even spray can extinguishers but they empty out almost instantly. Still, better something than nothing.)
In my experience, moms often delay making decisions that someone else might label as “just for her.” You can help your Mom avoid any of that by making sure YOU take action for her welfare.
She will appreciate your thoughtfulness. She may even love you more!
You’ve heard that jarring emergency alert sound, coming on the TV or on your cell phone, right? Something like BRRRRRRRKKKKKKK. BRRRRRRRKKKKKKK. Usually, the message that follows is: “This is a test.” Or it could be an AMBER alert about a kidnapped child.
Ever stop to think about where these emergency alerts are actually coming from? These days there could be several sources. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Emergency Alerts at the federal level
We’ll start with a simplified description of the federal system. If you want more detail, head to the Federal Communications Commission site. From there, you can go deeper and ever deeper into the subject.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) was first set up in 1997.
Its purpose was to allow the President to speak to the American public during a national emergency. The program is run jointly by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Some 77 radio stations across the country, equipped with special back-up capability, send out EAS messages. EAS messages can also go out over TV, cable TV, wireless cable, satellite and video.
In 2012 a second level of emergency messaging went live.
The Wireless Emergency Alert system (WEA) can send messages to specific locations (“geo-targeting”) and devices using – you got it – wireless technology. If your cellphone is WEA enabled, you may get an emergency alert – but the person standing next to you, whose phone is NOT enabled, may not receive it!
And be sure that in addition to your cellphone you have at least one (preferably more) working emergency radios! For a thorough discussion of the different kinds and the features they offer, please take a look at Emergency Plan Guide’s own Emergency Radio Reviews. (You’ll see photos of some of the radios we own!)
OK, those are basics for widespread, official alert messages. If you hear one, you’ll probably pay attention. Fortunately, they don’t come too often.
Emergency Communications at the local level
A second source of emergency alerts is likely to be your town or city. Every day, for example, communities experience fires, security breaches, power outages, accidents, and severe weather. These localized emergencies may impact many people – residents, transportation services, health care facilities, businesses, etc.
Cities, towns and counties are required to have emergency
management organizations and to develop emergency management plans for the
continuity of the government and the safety of residents. And many cities set
up programs to help their citizens be more prepared in emergencies – programs
like CERT.
Examples of some local emergency alert systems
So how do cities let people know that there’s a local emergency? It all depends . . . For example, here are some of the city/county systems I came across in preparing this article:
Santa Clara County (CA) sends text messages to residents via AlertSCC.
San Francisco has AlertSF as well as a public loudspeaker system.
The City of Pittsfield (MA) has installed CodeRED that can send out phone, text and email messages to thousands of its residents, in minutes.
Here in our city we have a similar, county-wide alert system. One of the challenges – unlike EAS or WEA, which go out automatically — people have to actively sign up to get on the local alert lists in order to be notified! (Sadly, since our system is relatively new, only a small percentage of people have gotten around to signing up.)
Action Item: Find out if your city or county has an emergency alert system. How comprehensive is it? (phone, email, computer, etc.) Do you have to sign up to get the emergency messages?
Emergency
Communications where you work
A third source of emergency alerts could be your work. It it experiences an explosion, a power outage, a crash, data breach, an active shooter incident, etc., how will employees find out what’s happening? How will they know what to do? What about families, customers, neighboring businesses, and the media?
Not having a plan for managing crisis communications is a
recipe for disaster. (At the very least, legal disaster! The most likely charge
if someone is damaged? Negligence.)
What to look for in a business crisis communications system
So what should your crisis communications plan include? Start with this basic list to see what you might need:
Your
messages need to get out without delay – even if the disaster happens at
night or on the weekend. This means having a number of pre-written messages “on
the shelf” that crisis team members can readily access. In particular, any
messages that might reach the media should be crafted in advance.
Messages
need to be able to reach everyone, one way or another because one way may
not work! This means email, phone, and text at a minimum. Messages need to be
short and simple (no acronyms) and, if necessary, in more than one language.
People
need to be able to respond – that they are safe, that they have evacuated,
that someone is injured at a given location, etc.
Can you target
your messages to just one location, one level of management, etc.? Just as
you want to reach everyone who is in the danger zone, you don’t want to
necessarily upset people miles away.
Can you
make the system work at the critical time? Is it easy to learn and easy to
operate? (Many companies use their crisis communications systems for more
everyday purposes, just to be sure more people know how it functions.)
Action item: So how well does your current business emergency communications system stack up?
If you think some improvements might be in order, follow up with these two resources.
Capterra reviews all kinds of business software. Here is a link to their 2019 list of emergency notification software programs. Fifty-one different programs/services are reviewed! (One of the services on this list is used by my own community association. One-way messages only, to my home phone.) You’ll get a good idea of what’s available by reviewing even a few. https://www.capterra.com/emergency-notification-software/
I went further and took a free, half-hour personal “guided tour” of one of the systems. Preparis was recently purchased by Agility Recovery, a company I’ve admired for years. If you are truly in the market for emergency communications system, I recommend you contact Agility and ask for a demonstration. Watching how the system works, and being able to ask questions, will give you a much better understanding of just how it might work for you and your company.
I encourage you to give your company the tools it needs to protect employees, property and reputation by having a stronger emergency communications plan.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. You know that sound that you hear as part of an AMBER alert? It’s called a “header burst” and is followed by an “attention tone.” These sounds were selected because they are so jarring and unpleasant! Oh, and by the way, advertisers or entertainers or anyone who misuses the tone can be sanctioned and fined. (I read about one fine of $1 million!)
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who is seriously interested in emergency preparation and response that theAmateur Radio Network(made up of Ham Radio Operators) is a valued part of emergency radio operations everywhere.
You’ve read here in Emergency Plan Guide about how our Neighborhood Emergency Response Team members communicate with each other via walkie-talkies. But that’s limited to within the neighborhood. When it comes to knowing what’s going on in the “outside world” and letting the outside world know what’s going on here, we plan to use our Ham Radio Operators.
Our Neighborhood Ham Radio Operators
We have three licensed Amateur Radio Operators. Each has his own equipment and is capable of communicating directly with city officials. And our neighborhood group recently purchased a more powerful base station with longer reach. It gives us the ability to communicate directly with county and other civic operations that will be activated in a major disaster.
(Our team worked closely with the city police department to come up with specifications for our mobile radio station. We can move the station to wherever it will be most effective. It is designed for duo usage. In the first situation, our own ham operators use amateur ham radio bands to reach out. They have direct contact with the local Emergency Operations Center. If no ham operators are available, option two allows trained team members to monitor and transmit relevant info on the FCC two-meter commercial band.
The system cost about $1,600. It consists of a transceiver, power supply and back-up battery. Everything is mounted on a rolling cart, with separate folding antenna with tripod legs. If you are interested in the actual specs, let me know and I’ll be happy to forward them.)
Ham Radio Resources for Review
Before you invest in any emergency radio operations equipment for yourself or your group, we recommend you do some study. Below are some of the references on the subject. And, of course, you can try to talk with someone in the community who is already licensed. Better yet, become licensed yourself. That process will give you an idea of what equipment you really need.
Here are some of the books that we have in our library . . .
The ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communication Course
ARRL stands for American Radio Relay League, Inc.. ARRL was founded in 2014 and now has 150,000+ members in the USA. Many ARRL members have registered to be part of ARES, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. It works with FEMA, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and other response organizations. This book does a good job of distinguishing between all the various “alphabet organizations” associated with ham radio operation. In over 300 pages, what it does best is prepare you to get a license and take your place as a resource within the emergency communications network.
The ARRL Emergency Communication Handbook
This handbook takes info from the basic course and puts it in action in a number of scenarios. You’ll find out how ham operators perform in a widespread emergency, how best to set up your system and your people for a given event, etc. Some excellent charts.
The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual: All You Need to Become an Amateur Radio Operator
The subtitle of this book is, “Get on the air with confidence.” It contains all kinds of advice for the new user. For example, how to pick your first radio and antenna. How to set up your station for best results. Coping with weak signals, etc. Many diagrams, photos and screen shots are helpful.
Now You’re Talking: All You Need for Your First Amateur Radio License
Now You’re Talking! Will help you pass the Element 2 test. It provides detailed explanations for all questions plus explanation of FCC rules. You’d be surprised at how often you need to know these details!
Emergency Power For Radio Communications
Once you’ve assembled the basics, you’ll want to know how to keep everything up and running. This book has (sometimes exhaustive!) details on options for emergency lighting, emergency power (solar, generators, batteries), instrumentation, and more. It has case histories and DIY guidance, too.
These books look similar because they are published by ARRL, but I found little overlap or duplication. Use Amazon’s handy “Look Inside” function to check on the tables of contents for more detail. (Click on the images above and you’ll go directly to the book itself at Amazon.)
Joe Krueger Your Emergency Plan GuideTeam
P.S. Keen about listening in to what the police are doing? In “the old days” a police scanner provided a fascinating real-time window into law-enforcement activity. But that window may have been closed. Today, many if not most police communications are encrypted
Depending on where you live your ham radio or even a simple app downloaded to your smart phone may receive fire and emergency medical team transmissions, but perhaps not police. Have you used any of the police scanner phone apps? What’s been your experience?
P.P.S. Interested in learning more about walkie-talkies as the first level of emergency communications? Check out these related posts:
So many disasters happening this week! Where’s the positive progress???
My attention has been drawn from the incredible wildfires here in California to political blowups in Washington D.C. to the aftermath of a monster tornado hit in Texas. I’ve read about home solar battery explosions, the threat of Boeing’s 737 MAX, vaping addiction and deaths among high-schoolers, and tonight, to ever-wider PSPS’s . . .there’s just more happening than I can keep up with!
(Oh yes, PSPS is the newest acronym, standing for Public Safety Power Shut-offs. That’s the deliberate shut-down of power by the utility companies here in California in an attempt to avoid more fires during this hot, dry, and windy weather.)
So I decided to turn away from all the bad news and focus on some good news.
And I’m starting with a note from one of our readers that was positive progress personified!
Here’s what I received earlier this week from Suzi.
Hi Virginia!On my birthday in September I asked my family to lend me a hand to create a dedicated emergency supplies cupboard. We emptied a cupboard, built some shelves, and stocked it with all of our Go bags, a big first aid kit, an emergency radio, lanterns, gloves, etc. Nearby is a closet where we store sleeping bags, a tent, and canned food. I’m a CERT/CMAP member and I feel like I’ve finally made good progress on my preparedness to-do list. I enjoy reading your advisories and I continue to learn about how to react in an emergency. If you’d like, I can send you a snapshot of my new cupboard. Thank you!
Well naturally I responded to her invitation with an enthusiastic “Yes, please!’
So she wrote: Here is the dedicated cupboard! It’s a space we made under the stairs. On the door you can see the list of phone numbers for family members. We also have an extensive notebook with pertinent financial info, birth certificates, etc. One of the best items in this cupboard is an Icon Lifesaver Jerrycan which allows us to filter any questionable water (lake, pool, tap water under a boil water order). https://iconlifesaver.com/product/lifesaver-jerrycan-starter-pack/
Check it out
and let me know what you think!
Suzi’s note and photo have inspired a lot of questions and comments.
Such a good idea – finding useful storage space where there wasn’t any before!
Stairs and staircases are a perfect example of “lost” space that can be recovered. Two-story homes often have whole strange-shaped rooms under stairs, perfect for storage. Any home with a porch may have space underneath that can be converted to emergency storage. Some of our neighbors have storage bins fastened to the roof in their garage (over the garage door tracks). We even use part of our Public Storage unit for storing emergency supplies. (The facility is located within walking distance of our home.)
Sometimes you have to create storage space if you want to make positive progress. What’s been YOUR most original and/or useful discovery?
What stands out for me in the photo of Suzi’s supply cabinet?
The list of important phone numbers and contact information fastened to the inside of the door! It looks as if it could easily be removed and stuffed into a Go-Bag, too, if necessary. (Joe and I have so many bits of “important information” that we have had to scan and store them on flash drives. But since we likely won’t have computers in an emergency, we have to have them on paper, too. The trick is to know exactly where they are.)
Items in see-through containers. This cupboard is awfully neat; as it fills up, as it is bound to do, having items in see-through plastic holders will make it so much easier to find what you’re looking for. I remember finding see-through soft zippered suitcase packing cubes at Amazon that might stack wonderfully on these irregularly-shaped shelves.
Duct tape. No need to comment about that except to be happy to see it! Do you have scissors and a knife? Not everyone can tear it easily. (This comment applies to all tools. Only collect and store tools that work and tools that you or family members can use safely.)
Icon Lifesaver Jerrycan for purifying water. I can’t identify it in the picture – Is it hidden deep in one of the shelves? — but the more I hear about long-lasting outages, the more sensible a water purifying system sounds. (As you know from reading my Advisories, I have a number of small water purifying devices from LifeStraw, and have read good things about the family-size Berkey purifier.)
The full-sized First Aid Kit. One of my neighbors opened the trunk of her car today to get out a shopping bag, and I saw a small first aid kit fastened near the wheel well. I didn’t say anything but I wondered . . . How long had it been there – in the heat and cold? How much useful stuff could possibly be inside such a small box? I think we’re often too casual with our first aid supplies.
The LED light. That’s a great one – so compact! (Here we have to be ready for an earthquake so we have a flashlight or lantern in every single room including one on each side of the bed.)
Suzi, your picture inspires one additional planning piece . . .
Just in studying the picture and in writing about all these emergency
supplies I realize that at some point you may have to add another piece of
paper to the door: a diagram listing
everything in the cupboard and showing where it is located!
As you know, I love lists and use them for just about everything, but I must admit to one challenge I haven’t solved. And that’s a good way to pack/store/keep track of my CERT duffel bags. We have a variety of them on the floor in a closet, and unfortunately I pull one or the other out for a different purpose – demonstration, first aid exercise, actual turnout to look for a missing person — add just what I want for that day, and then put the bag back at the end of the day. The next time I can’t remember what’s in which bag and find myself sorting through them all . . .
Dear Reader, what’s your best suggestion for keeping track of my stuff in duffel bags?
So hasn’t this been an Advisory of a different style!? Thanks to Suzi for getting us all started in taking another look at our emergency supplies and how and where we have them stored. Again, please share your own positive progress stories. They help us all!
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. Another cool thing about Suzi’s cupboard is that when it’s closed the valuable items inside are hidden from the casual observer. It’s important to be discrete about preparedness supplies so as not to draw uninvited attention.
P.P.S. I invite you to add to this conversation. The more positive progress we share, the more we’ll all be rewarded with good ideas! Drop me a line via the CONTACT form and we’ll see how to package your suggestions for everyone’s benefit.
Here at Emergency Plan Guide we usually focus on disasters that impact whole communities: wildfires, floods, earthquakes, power outages. We want your community to be better prepared and better able to respond when something bad happens. This week, though, we want to consider a personal financial emergency – identity theft.
Let’s take a look at identity theft, scams and fraud.
We want to share some of what we learned from our local police department last week on the topic of identity theft. Over 70 people showed up to hear the presentation and they had stories to tell, too. And of course I have added some details pulled from online sources. Buckle your seat belt!
Did you know these facts about identity theft and fraud?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports that over $1.48 BILLION was lost to fraud in 2018 – up nearly 40% from 2017.
The biggest losses were to impostor scams, debt collection and identity theft. Interestingly enough, younger people reported losing money more often than older people!
Scammers prefer to get money via wire transfer, but they also like their victims to “pay” them using gift cards: Target, Walmart, and drug stores.
Credit card fraud – someone opening a new card in your name and then using it to the maximum – was up 24%. And it’s not just credit cards that are threatened. The 2019 study from Javelin Strategy and Research reported that “criminals are beginning to focus their attention on different financial accounts such as loyalty and rewards programs and retirement accounts.”
While fraud transactions on existing credit card accounts have gone down, particularly since the introduction of embedded chip technology, hackers are now increasingly able to open new accounts on mobile phones!
What resulted in the biggest financial losses last year? Romance scams!
I was surprised by this statement. Probably I shouldn’t have been. Apparently as many as 1 out of 10 romance profiles online are fake.
And when I looked into the subject more deeply, I discovered
the stories of hundreds and hundreds of people tricked this way – into romantic
relationships and often into marriage. Their stories are heartbreaking – and
their losses devastating.
I found this book about the subject. If you think you or a
loved one is being drawn into an unhealthy relationship, find out more before
it’s too late
The most common concern of the people in our senior audience?
Phone calls from impostors pretending to be from government agencies – Social Security, IRS, and Medicare. Nearly everyone in the room raised a hand when the question was posed about these calls! (The police politely refrained from asking for a show of hands for who had actually fallen for the scam.)
Our crime prevention officers said it very clearly:
The government does not make phone calls to request money. Hang up the moment you hear any threatening language or urgent appeal from what sounds like an “official” phone call.
How can we protect ourselves from these scams?
The Federal Trade Commission is the nation’s consumer protection agency. If you have a complaint about fraud, misleading advertising, businesses that don’t deliver what they promised, go to the FTC website and register it. I found a lot of interesting and up to date info there including posts on
Scams and the older consumer
What the government is doing about robocalls (and what you can do to limit them)
Special info for military consumers, who lose 44% more than the general population to fraud
Other recommendations for protecting yourself against identity theft:
Keep the inside of your car as clean as if it were brand new! Nothing visible!
Use a purse with a cross-body strap; don’t place it in a shopping cart.
Carry just what you need in the way of ID and/or credit cards. If you lose them, it’s a lot easier to track down just a couple of things instead of a whole collection!
Use credit cards instead of debit cards. Credit cards typically have purchase or theft protection that debit cards don’t.
And from Joe and me, some final thoughts based on our own experiences:
If you buy anything online – particularly if it’s a trial offer – READ THE FINE PRINT! Many magazines, for example, are inexpensive when you first order, but they will be automatically renewed at full price at the end of the trial subscription.
Money back guarantees are great – but again, read the fine print. This feature may expire within just a few days, and then you are stuck with an item you really didn’t want.
Review your bank statements carefully and get a free credit report each year. This is the only way to discover that your identity may have been stolen! ATTENTION: “Free” credit reports aren’t. The only legitimate free service that contains all three major credit reporting agency reports is available at www.annualcreditreport.com.
By now you should have seen enough movies or read enough
crime novels to know that thieves (and police, for that matter) routinely
search trash for identitying names, addresses and account numbers.
Shred ALL financial documents that you don’t want, in particular offers for new credit cards, insurance, etc. If you don’t have a shredder, or don’t have room for one,
Finally, consider a theft prevention stamp!
This gadget rolls over paper mail, covering addresses and personal data with a specially designed patented pattern that masks the writing underneath. Easy to use, convenient, makes a great gift for a kid off to school or for an elderly parent.
Click on the images or links below to go to Amazon (where we are Associates). You’ll find a number of different styles and sizes of ID protection stamps, ranging in price from around $7 to $30.
Note: A while back I saw ads for what were called “RFID
blocking wallets.” These purported to protect your credit cards from being
“scanned and read” by thieves carrying special readers. From what I can now
tell, these are useless and may well be a scam, themselves.
And one last suggestion to consider – an identity protection subscription program.
The most well-known of these personal protection programs is probably LifeLock. As you can imagine, there are many competitors offered by private companies and even retailers like Costco.
You pay monthly for the service – anywhere from around $10 to as much as $30. Most are around $20. Look for features such as Dark Web monitoring, mobile apps to protect against phishing, credit monitoring, bank account and credit card alerts, Social Security alerts, tax refund alerts, and reimbursement for funds stolen.
I hope all this is familiar to you, but it’s worth a review. A number of people came up to me after the meeting and said how good it had been. You may want to ask YOUR local law enforcement agency to come to YOUR next group meeting and give their own presentation!
That’s it for now. Stay safe out there.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. As always, bringing in a “guest expert” is often a lot more effective than putting on a meeting yourself. Lots of suggestions in our book on Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas. Still our best seller!
Original map from Math/Science Nucleus showing major faults in California
During the summer I wrote a couple of times about the earthquakes we experienced on the 4th and 5th of July. If you recall, those quakes, a 6.4 magnitude followed the next day by a 7.1, were centered in Ridgecrest, a town of about 30,000 located north of Los Angeles. (I added the approximate location to the map above.)
At the time, we saw news videos of homes on fire, store shelves emptying onto the floor, and images of cracks in local highways.
Ridgecrest faded from the front page of the news, but suddenly it’s right there again because there have been over 110,000 aftershocks in the web of interconnected faults in the Ridgecrest area. And as a result:
A once dormant fault has been awakened! And it’s a major one!
Look just below the red Ridgecrest label on the map to see the Garlock Fault. For well over 500 years the fault, running in an east-west direction for nearly 200 miles, has been silent.
But since the Ridgecrest quakes, that major earthquake fault has begun to move. Garlock has been reported as capable of producing a magnitude 8 earthquake!
Here are the questions I’ve had, and the answers I’ve found.
Is the Garlock Fault
actually part of the Ridgecrest network?
No. The Ridgecrest network of smaller quakes stopped a few miles from the Garlock. But their activity destabilized the Garlock fault, which is a major fault. And as you can see on the map, the Garlock fault DOES connect to the San Andreas fault.
What kind of movement
does the Garlock show?
The Garlock fault is just creeping at a slow pace, without any shaking going on. No one living in that area has really noticed it. But satellite imagery is so precise that it can measure the movement. Add the satellite info to measurements taken from seismometers and scientists now have an accurate picture of what’s happening. The fault has crept about .8 of an inch since July.
Doesn’t creeping lessen the strain on the faults?
Apparently not. Sometimes creeping can reduce the strain on
the faults, but it could also trigger an earthquake.
Does all this mean
that a major quake is more likely?
All the reports that I read said the same thing: “We just
don’t know. The chances of ‘The Big One’ hitting are the same as they have been
for years. It could arrive at any minute.”
What should we be doing as a result of this discovery?
Let’s review. When a major earthquake hits, buildings and roads collapse, cutting off communications and transportation and causing injury. However, most injuries are not from falling buildings. Rather, they are from items flying across a room or falling from shelves. Preparing in advance can reduce these dangers.
The good news is if you haven’t started preparing yet, you can start today using the step-by-step list below! (Find more to-do lists at BusinessInsider and also at Earthquake Country Alliance.)
Do a few things every day. Any preparations we make give us a better chance of making it through.
Step 1: Secure your house and where you work.
Just stand in the middle of a room and slowly turn around, and you’ll see what needs to be done to protect yourself from falling or moving items!
Fasten down heavy pieces of furniture (refrigerator,
bookcases, computer stands) using earthquake straps.
Anchor light fixtures to the ceiling.
Hang heavy items using brackets and screws and special
earthquake hangers (monitors, mirrors, pictures).
Remove heavy books and decorative items from
high shelves and move to bottom shelves.
Put small items into cupboards or use Museum
putty to stick them to shelves (vases, collectibles).
Store glass food containers in closed cabinets
with latches.
Step 2: Have supplies to carry you through.
After a major earthquake, you are likely to be on your own, with no immediate help, for hours or even days. (1) Build a 72-hour survival kit that you can grab if necessary. Have one for each person at home, at work and one in the car. (2) Store other supplies in convenient places so you’ll be able to shelter in place for at least 10 days.
Here are the 8 categories you’ll want to consider for both the kit and for the shelter-in-place supplies: water, food, shelter/warmth, health/safety, light, communications (assume no power), sanitation, and personal items. (You may also want to add tools to help you make repairs after the quake.) Here’s a link to our two complete lists with dozens of items to consider.
This is a lot of stuff to think about! Make your own customized list and start to pull things together day by day. Don’t forget pets.
Step 3. Make a disaster plan.
Decide on an out-of-town friend or relative as the contact person for your family. Be sure everyone knows the contact’s cell phone number! Teach everyone in your household how to text, because when communication lines are overloaded a text may get through when a voice message won’t.
Train family members on how to use emergency equipment that might be necessary after a major earthquake: emergency radio, fire extinguisher, gas turn-off wrench.
Step 4. Start now to protect yourself financially.
This can include reviewing insurance coverage, setting aside emergency funds, and organizing all important documents. (Many disaster victims can’t prove they own their home, don’t have car ownership documents, lose IDs showing eligibility for pensions, etc.) Scan important documents and store them on an easy-to-manage flash drive or “in the cloud.”
Step 5. Know what to do when the quake hits!
There are many out-dated notions still floating around about standing in doorways, finding a “triangle of life,” etc. In a major earthquake you will NOT BE ABLE TO MOVE SAFELY. Try to keep away from glass windows and doors as you . . .
Earthquake? Act NOW to save your life.
If you are outside, stay away from buildings, power lines,
etc. that could fall.
Step 6. Organize your neighborhood for more resilience.
Recent disasters of all kinds have shown that neighbors can and will help, particularly if they know each other and have trained on what to do. (1) Get CERT training as a start. (2) Get one of Emergency Plan Guide’s Neighborhood Disaster Survival guides and use its suggestions to help your neighborhood get organized.
And something new if you are in California: the MyShake cellphone app.
Last Thursday was Great California Shake-Out Day. Over 10 million people participated! And Governor Gavin Newsom announced the launch of the nation’s first statewide earthquake early warning system.
The ShakeAlert system, developed by the University of California Berkeley and the Wire Emergency Alert system, has been available for schools, hospitals and other public agencies for a while. Now it has been made available to all citizens through a simple cellphone app – the MyShake app.
The MyShake app can be downloaded from Google Play (Android) and through iTunes from the Apple app store (iOS).
Basically, hundreds seismic sensors track ground movement, transmit it for analysis, and then if a quake of 4.5 magnitude or stronger is expected, the system sends an alert to selected grid locations. The alert message will be simple: “There is an earthquake. Drop, cover and hold on.”
(It all works because shaking waves travel at around .5 to 3 miles per second — but electronic transmissions are instantaneous. Want more details about ShakeAlert? Get this fact sheet from the US Geological Survey. )
What good will a few seconds warning do?
In a few seconds . . .
You’ll be able to grab a child and huddle under a sturdy table or desk.
You will have time to turn off the stove or blow out a candle.
Doctors and dentists can lift the scalpel or drill.
Officials can slow or stop trains.
Elevators can be shut off.
Automatic doors can be opened.
Equipment can be shut off or set to safe mode.
What would YOU do right now to protect yourself if an earthquake were arriving in 5-10 seconds?
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. During the time I was working on this Advisory, two more quakes were felt in Northern California – 4.5 and a 4.7 magnitude. Earthquake activity is continuous. You can be prepared.
We have written regularly and determinedly about being prepared for a power outage – planned or unplanned — as the most common “emergency” in the country.
Our goal is to keep an inconvenience from becoming an emergency. Or perhaps, keep an emergency from becoming a disaster.
Inconveniences, emergencies and disasters are happening right now in Northern California because of a massive planned power outage.
PG&E, the country’s largest utility, is deliberately shutting down power during an anticipated high wind event to avoid possible forest fires from downed lines.
So far, about 500,000 people have been affected. Further planned outages may impact as many as 1 million households — 2 million people!
It’s the most extensive planned power outage ever employed.
Some examples of how residents are coping – and struggling.
Gas stations have long, long lines or are closed completely as people rush to fill their cars and buy fuel for generators.
Stores have sold out of generators, water and batteries.
Food stores without generators have packed some items into ice-filled containers or refrigerated trucks, trying to keep them cold for a few more hours. Other stores have already started disposing of ruined food.
Some retail operations show emergency lighting, but are closed because they can’t operate cash registers.
Traffic lights are blinking or out completely, creating dangerous intersections and traffic jams.
Cell phones are running out of battery. “Community Resource Centers” have been opened, and can provide residents with bathrooms, bottled water and power recharging – but apparently only during daylight hours. (Find list of open centers here.)
People who need electric medical devices may be in real trouble unless they have made advance preparations for back-up or alternatives.
How long will the planned outage last?
Again, according to news reports, “Once the fire weather subsides, PG&E will inspect and test the grid both electronically and with on-site crews before restoring service. That could take up to five days.”
(Surely California can expect help from other states and/or utility companies, just as Florida and Georgia did during Hurricane Dorian.)
It’s not often that we experience a self-inflicted disaster.
PG&E Senior Vice President: “The safety of our customers and the communities we serve is our most important responsibility, which is why PG&E has decided to turn power off to customers during this widespread, severe wind event.”
As you can imagine, many citizens and citizen groups are outraged that the power line infrastructure has not been maintained to withstand high winds. Watch for more on this. In the meanwhile . . .
Even if you aren’t in Northern California, an extended power outage could hit at any time. Please take simple steps to keep an outage from being a disaster for you and your household!
Think for a moment. In your household, how many people take prescription medicines?
In all, how many different pills or medicines do you keep track of on a regular basis?
Last week, I told you about Joe’s episode with the allergic reaction. Since then, OUR list of medicines has grown exponentially! New pills with dosages that changes daily. Inhalers. The doctors assure us it’s a temporary thing, but keeping track of them all is tough!
Managing medicines in an emergency will be so much more difficult!
Imagine how you’ll cope when your home is damaged by flood, fire or winds!
First, you have to find all those medicines. If your home is severely damaged or you had to rush out, it may take a while, or you may not be able to rescue the medicines at all! Do you have an emergency supply packed up so you can grab it and take with you at a moment’s notice?
Next, to make sure no one is taking the wrong dose after an interruption, you will have to set up a new schedule. (Surely you have seen bottles that say, “Do not stop taking this medicine!” or, “If you miss a dose, follow these important instructions . . .”) Consider people taking insulin. You need to know by heart what the appropriate response to missed insulin would be for YOU based on your condition and the type of insulin you take.
OK, you have no emergency supply, or you’ve used it up, and the emergency continues. You are searching desperately for a refill, but all the offices and stores where you usually shop have been shut down by the disaster, too. What can you do?
Here are some new resources for managing medicines in an emergency.
Find a pharmacy with RX Open.
When Dorian hit a month ago, a website was activated that showed all the pharmacies that were open for business in every state in the southeast. Here’s the notice I got thanks to a post from Michael Smith that appeared in the LinkedIn CERT group. (Not a real clear image, sorry.)
Rx Open displays the precise location on Google Maps of open pharmacies, closed pharmacies, and those whose status is unknown. The site is maintained and is open to the public at no cost during a disaster through the support of Health Care Ready and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, (NCPDP) Foundation.
Of course, pharmacies have to sign up to be listed in the RX Open database. Action item: Next time you head to your pharmacy, ask if they are members.
Get an emergency prescription refill.
Let’s assume you had an emergency supply of prescriptions, and were able to use it. But now you’ve run out. Your doctor is unavailable, and your usual pharmacy is still closed. What are your options for getting an emergency refill?
It turns out that some states have what are called emergency prescription laws. They vary, of course. But they all seem to require that first, an emergency be declared. Then, if a pharmacist can’t reach the usual doctor for authorization, a prescription may be refilled “if failure to refill might interrupt the patient’s ongoing care and have a significant adverse effect on the patient’s well-being.” (These quotes are from a statement issued in 2017 by the CA State Board of Pharmacy.)
This last paragraph applies to California, which seems to allow “a reasonable amount of the medicine.” Some states limit emergency refills to a 72-hour supply. Some states have NO emergency refill laws.
Action Item: Find out about YOUR state’s requirements regarding managing emergency prescription refills! Here are two places to start your research:
A couple of reminders before we move on. I hope you’re familiar with these.
If you have specific medical conditions or allergies, consider wearing a medical ID bracelet. Essential in an emergency situation.
If you get regular medical treatments (for example, dialysis) find out what the emergency procedures are at your clinic and get a list of back-up service providers in case you need to get treatment in an emergency. Keep that list in your important papers.
Now, we’ve said it so many times. The most LIKELY emergency you’ll encounter will be a power outage. That means no refrigeration.
Your problem: medicines that need to be refrigerated!
Here are some suggestions that we put into the new Disaster Survival Guide series Workbooks. Will any of these work for you? Build your own Action Item list.
Find out the safe temperature range for your medicines. (Some may not really
need refrigeration.)
In an emergency, could a different formula of your medicine work, one that doesn’t need
refrigeration? Check with your doctor on this!
If an outage is announced, be ready with an insulated cooler that you can promptly
fill with ice to protect medicines for at least a few days.
Consider purchasing a solar-powered refrigerator/freezer and know how to use it in an
emergency.
Below is an example of a solar-powered portable refrigerator so you can get an idea of size, capabilities, and cost. What to consider as you shop:
Capacity – Measured in quarts. How much space do your really need for your medicines?
Weight – While most portable refrigerators have wheels so they can be rolled, they are heavy to lift.
Temperature achieved – A number of the “camping” or “portable” refrigerators get down to -4 degrees, which is below freezing. The lower the temperature you require, the more expensive the refrigerator you’ll need. “Cool” or “freezing” is the question.
Battery power – Some portable refrigerators have no battery. They simply plug either into the wall or into the car battery for power. If you want solar, you’ll need a DC connection for solar AND a battery to store the power when the sun isn’t shining. (You’ll probably get an AC connection, too.)
Solar panels – The chest itself does not provide sufficient solar panel expanse (if it has any at all) to provide the cooling power. You will need to purchase companion panels (maybe 80 – 120 watt) at additional cost.
Click on the image or the link below to go to Amazon, where we are associates. This particular model of portable refrigerator/freezer has a lot more information below all the sales and comparison information, so scroll down to read it. There are pictures of a complete set-up (with panels and storage battery) and also a couple of homemade videos that I found very useful.
P.S. If I had a need for emergency refrigeration, I would probably keep the portable refrigerator pre-cooled all the time, using its electric hookup. Then in the emergency, use the solar to keep the frig “topped off.”
About a year ago, Joe and I came out with four books aimed at helping people and their communities get better prepared for emergencies. (Have you published a book? If so, you know it’s a proud moment!)
I trust you’ve seen these images before!
Now, people do buy our books. (Thank you!) But here’s what we hear from too many of them . . .
“We love reading all this good information about getting prepared. But we just can’t find time to make consistent progress!”
Hmm. Joe and I are nothing if not committed! So over this past summer we worked like crazy and as a result . . .
As of this week . . .
We have added four NEW books to the shelf that are meant to make it easier to get prepared! Check out THIS image!
(These are full-sized, 8 ½ x 11 volumes.)
Yes, to get the value, you’ll still have to read. But here’s the difference. These are WORKBOOKS!
Workbooks make it easier to get prepared.
The content of each workbook follows the flow of its companion book. The workbook actually often refers to its companion book for reminders, lists, background info, etc.
But in contrast to the books, most of the material in the workbook is presented in the form of simple questions with space for you to fill in YOUR answers! We encourage you to doodle, draw arrows and exclamation points! Here are some examples of questions taken from the Apartment Communities version.
Who will benefit most from the workbooks?
If you find it challenging to get started, or to keep making progress, or if your group is stuck – one of the book/workbook combos may be exactly what you need to break the log-jam!
Five reasons to work your way through the workbook questions and fill in answers.
Visible progress. You can see progress! (Along with using colored pens or highlighters, I recommend using a bookmark, or folding down the pages as you complete them!)
No stress. There are no right answers so you won’t be intimidated.
Decisions get made. As you answer questions step by step, you are actually making important decisions based on your circumstances, your family, your budget, etc.
Lasting impact. By writing your answers, you are engaging not only your brain but your muscles. (We believe strongly that physically writing things down helps memory and understanding in a way that typing on a computer simply can’t. Joe often works late into the night over a yellow pad.)
Compare and confirm. You can share written answers with others in your family or on your team – or compare answers if they are completing the workbook, too. They will be there as a physical record and as proof of your commitment to the process.
What’s the next step?
We invite you to consider a “package deal” (book + companion workbook) for your own household, for neighbors, your emergency response team, your church — any group of people who are looking for help to become better prepared.
You may want to get the small business book and workbook for your own company, for your employer, for the other businesses in your association.
As you can imagine, there’s more detail on the books at Amazon. Here are the links to each of the books and workbooks. (They haven’t been up at Amazon long enough to be reliably connected with their partners!)
If you have questions, drop me a line. If you purchase the books, please be kind enough to leave a review at Amazon. And,
If you are working with a community, let us know what challenges you are working on and we’ll try to address them here at Emergency Plan Guide – or create a special checklist or resource document just for you!
As I said above, Joe and I are nothing if not committed to the mission and to our emergency preparedness “tribe!”
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. We have one more book that is a sort of hybrid book/workbook. And it’s the most popular one of all! Here’s a link where you can see the entire collection!
What good did it do for the Bahamians to be prepared for emergencies?
Here at Emergency Plan Guide we don’t really focus too much on being prepared for when it’s time to evacuate. Rather, we spend most of our time and energy investigating ways to prepare for and to shelter in place after a disaster. For example . . .
Last week we talked about ways to store water, particularly if you have advance notice.
Several times over the summer we talked about being ready for power outages, including using solar technology as an alternate source.
And of course the July 5thearthquake generated a couple of Advisories about what might happen in the aftermath of a bigger one.
And then, two weeks ago, Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas.
And we witnessed images like the one above, only far more vast in scale and far more dramatic. I have to assume you asked yourself the same question I asked myself:
“What good did a stash of emergency supplies of water and canned beans do for these people, whose homes were leveled?“
The inescapable truth is that some disasters are so
terrible, so violent, that just coming out alive is all you can hope for.
Still, Hurricane Dorian both in the Bahamas and in the U.S. reminded me about other aspects of preparedness that we may not think about often enough. Have you considered them in YOUR planning?
There is a time to evacuate.
Many of the residents of the Bahamas did not evacuate, even in the face of the predictions. Why not? Here are some of the comments I culled from news reports.
Bahamians are “used to riding out storms.”
By the time people realized the storm was a category 5, it
was too late to do anything.
The government issued watches and warnings but did not issue
a mandatory evacuation order.
Dorian moved from the Bahamas to the east coast of the U.S. Over a million people followed recommendations to evacuate, but others in the U.S. did not evacuate, either. Why not?
Some people were losing work because everything had already been shut down. They couldn’t afford the expense of evacuating.
Some had no means of transportation.
Others thought their homes could withstand the storm.
So here are evacuation questions for you, your household and your neighbors.
(1) Are you aware? Are you prepared with battery or solar-operated radios so you know the status of approaching storms, even when the power is out? There’s no good excuse for not knowing what’s coming. And, of course, is your car always half-full of fuel?
(2) Do you agreethere may be a time to evacuate? Are you agreed that at some point it will be time to evacuate – and have you figured out who will make the call? Or are some people in your household unwilling to leave, for whatever reason? (Pretty tough to leave some people behind!)
(3) What route will you take? Do you know HOW to evacuate? That is, what roads you can take and which to avoid? What bridges are likely to be out?
We’ve talked before about having a map of your community and area so that you can find alternate routes when main routes are blocked. Of course, heading off through an unknown neighborhood could put you in danger of flooded roads, etc. Again, stay tuned to official channels to know which routes are being monitored.
It’s
possible, of course, that you will have only one route, and in an emergency it
could look like this . . .
“Massive traffic jams as people flee storm . . .”
(4) Do you need to plan to leave early? If you live in one of the U.S. cities that has limited evacuation routes, your plan must include leaving well BEFORE the order is called. Here’s an article that actually lists the worst cities for evacuating ! (Click the link within the article to see the full listing of the 100 evacuation-challenged cities.)
(5) Do you have money? Finally, do you have money set aside to allow you to evacuate? You will need to pay for gas, for food and lodging and perhaps other supplies. It could easily add up to hundreds of dollars a day until you get to where you’re going, even if it’s to out of town relatives. And then, you’ll have to come back.
We’re working on a more detailed look at the financial aspect of emergency preparedness. In the meanwhile, if you live in areas that could be threatened by natural disasters like storms, fires or hurricanes that would force you to evacuate, consider stashing some cash in your survival kit (along with important ID and/or travel documents).
Hurricane Dorian was an historic category 5 storm. But any hurricane or rain storm or approaching fire could require you to make a decision to evacuate. Are you really ready?
After 20 years of training and writing about disaster preparedness, and with well over 500 articles now under my belt, I discover that some topics keep coming up again and again – in the news media, in questions people ask, and on the various internet sites and in specialty magazines that report on “survival trends.” Thanks to Google Analytics, we can also track which articles are most often viewed on our site, too. Here are our top survival resources!
Here are the 5 most popular topics on our site, with links that will take you immediately to more information.
Are you in the mainstream? Are these among YOUR favorite subjects? Check them out!
1. Emergency Radios and Radio Communications
If there is one topic that stands out, this is it. In fact, radios and radio communications are twice as popular as anything else we report on!
A radio for your personal survival kit.
Are you ready to buy an emergency radio for yourself or a family member? Check out our Updated Reviews of Emergency Radios with comments about solar, hand-crank, etc. We’ve added new info about some nifty, palm-sized radios that fit perfectly in a pack, glove box, etc. Most of the radios we discuss are found on Amazon, where prices are as good as they get, and buyer comments are very helpful in selecting the best fit for your needs.
Two-way radio communications for groups.
Interested in how to use walkie-talkie radios effectively for your group, whether it’s your family or a neighborhood response team? Then you need a way to not only listen, but also to speak.
We have used many different models, and review walkie-talkies here. EmergencyPlanGuide.org also has a number of Advisories on walkie-talkie use:
If you are serious about building a neighborhood group, each of the books in our Survival Series has a complete discussion and a diagram showing one way to use radio communications, how to assign channels for your different divisions and specialty teams, etc.
2. Emergency/Survival Kits
We know that some people simply don’t have time to actually build their own kit, so we start with a review of Popular Ready-Made Kits to be found on Amazon. The purpose of the review is not to recommend any one kit in particular, but to highlight different things to look for as you shop. (Again, please be aware that if you buy something from Amazon through one of our links, we may receive a commission from Amazon. The commission does not influence the price you pay.)
Because every person and family is unique, we recommend strongly that you build your own basic kit, and we have written a booklet to guide you through the various decisions that need to be made. Once you have the basic kit, add items that fit your climate, your skill and your interest level.
We have also discovered that most people continue to improve their kit by adding specialty items. Some of the most interesting additions:
Much of the “prepper” literature deals with developing skills that allow you to survive by living off the land. For urban or suburban dwellers, particularly people living in apartments or condos, these survival skills need to be adjusted to the realities of the city.
Some of the top survival resources for city dwellers:
We probably spend more of our time on water than on anything else (even though, as reported above, website visitors seem to prefer reading about radios!). How to store water for an emergency, where to find more water when the emergency hits, and how to protect yourself from contaminated water – these are ongoing challenges that need to be overcome if we are to survive.
A few of the most comprehensive articles focused on water:
And finally, one topic unique to EmergencyPlanGuide.org . . .
5. Counting on Neighbors for Survival
We know that the first people to be there to help in an emergency are the people already there – the neighbor at home next door, or the co-worker at the next desk or in the next room.
With that being the case, we think that the more we all know, the better chance we’ll all have to survive, at least until professional help arrives.
We also know that professional help – police and fire – will be overwhelmed in the aftermath of a widespread disaster, so it may be hours or even days before they do arrive. A strong neighborhood team, ready to take action, just seems to make great sense.
Our 20-year commitment to neighborhood emergency preparedness has been focused primarily on building a neighborhood response team. It has been a labor of love – and yes, a LOT of labor!
The website has many stories about what it’s taken to build the group. You can find many of these stories by heading to the list of categories in the sidebar and clicking on “CERT” or “Neighborhood.”
We have even compiled much of this information into two in-depth resources:
Survival Series (One for Apartment Dwellers, one for Mobile Home Communities, and one for Single Family Neighborhoods. Each has suggestions for building a neighborhood team on the foundation of CERT training)
I hope you’ll find this list of top survival resources helpful, and a reminder of areas in your own planning that may not be as secure as you’d like. Also, if you would like to see more on any aspect of emergency preparedness or disaster recovery, please just let me know!
Virginia and Joe Your Emergency Plan Guide Team
We mean it! Let us know in the comments what topics YOU like to read more about!
I’m a very big fan of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. I took the course in 2001, and have been happily participating as a volunteer in various follow-up activities once or twice a year since. Accordingly, this summer Joe and I took a refresher course on NIMS, the National Incident Management System. We just finished it up last week.
With both hurricane and fire season ramping up, it felt like a good time for a review!
Here’s how we respond to emergencies in the U.S.
Citizens are usually the victims of an emergency — which also makes them the very first responders!
CERT members are citizen volunteers trained to respond – to help themselves and others.
Now when CERT members are activated by their sponsoring agency (police or fire department), they may find themselves working with other local volunteers, perhaps from a different city. They could easily be working with local or borrowed first responders – police and fire departments or emergency medical personnel – and maybe even other city, state or national agencies including the National Guard.
In a disaster you could find yourself surrounded by all sorts of professional responders — and all of them strangers. How would you be able to work with them?
Because of NIMS, everyone is able to work together!
Per FEMA, the purpose of NIMS is to “guide all levels of government including territories and tribes, nongovernmental organizations like the Red Cross, and the private sector (including families, faith-based organizations, etc.) to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from incidents of all sizes, in all locations, no matter how simple or complex.”
That’s a tall order!
The way I understand it, what NIMS really does is give everyone involved in an incident three important assets:
shared vocabulary
an agreed-upon management system that expands to coordinate disaster responders on the local, state and federal levels
a standardized approach to a specific on-the-ground incident
The “on-the-ground,” tactical component of NIMS is the ICS or Incident Command System.
As a neighborhood response team member, or as a CERT volunteer, you are most likely to be exposed to the ICS. Here’s how its underlying principle has been described to me: “The first person to arrive becomes the Incident Commander, until someone more senior/experienced takes over.” The command chain builds out, step by step, using a common hierarchy to incorporate as many people or teams as necessary. As the problem is resolved, the chain contracts.
Here are a couple of diagrams that will help explain the ICS:
The chart above shows the basic structure. At the top, the Commander, who is supported by a public information officer, safety officer and liaison officer. Directly under the Incident Commander are four “Sections.” Even your simple neighborhood disaster will have an Incident Commander and an Information Officer. You might also have Sections (though probably not a Finance section).
Below is a chart of a “fully expanded” Incident Command System. It shows the sub-groups associated with the various Sections. Again, if you are a small neighborhood group, like we are, your Operations Section might have Division Leaders (and Block Captains), all reporting up the chain to the Incident Commander. If you are able to field Special Teams (medical, search & rescue, etc.) they might logically fall into the Logistics Section.
How did this all come to be?
After the terror of September 11, 2001, followed by the chaos of Hurricane Katrina in 2004, the nationwide approach to emergency management underwent dramatic changes. NIMS was formalized. Today, all official emergency management groups in the U.S. follow the NIMS system, and all “incidents” are managed using ICS, the Incident Command System.
If your community experiences a disaster, whoever comes to help will be following these systems. You will be far more useful and confident if you are familiar with the set-up and the vocabulary!
And if you are building your OWN citizen community teams, consider how they might fit into this same national framework. Of course, you don’t have to have every position. But try to choose titles for your positions that reflect the “official” vocabulary. You’ll find it far easier to integrate with professionals when they finally do arrive on the scene.
This short article is not really sufficient to explain the full system. Here are a couple of official resources for citizen volunteers.
(1) FEMA offers a series of online courses for volunteers and professionals at https://training.fema.gov/nims/ Start with IS-100 (a. is the original, b. and c. are updates).
(2) You can also purchase a book from Amazon, authored by FEMA, so you can have it to refer to at a meeting or in the field. Click on the image or on the link below for further details and price. (less than $10 as I write this.)
Once again, please remember I’m writing this article after long-time familiarity but I’m not a professional emergency manager. Still, I hope you’ll get a helpful overview. Please feel free to comment with corrections or suggestions!
One of my favorite sources for preparedness information is the online newsletter, Government Technology. (It has various sections, including Emergency Management, Cyber Security, Emergency Tech, Cloud, and more.) Two weeks ago the magazine included a report from a local Oklahoma newspaper on the results from a preparedness survey.
The article really struck home and has pushed me to further
action here in my own neighborhood! I hope you’ll find it as interesting as I did!
Background to the preparedness survey
OK, swivel your thinking from wherever you are right now to the middle of north-central Oklahoma. Plains, rolling hills. Flooding earlier this year. Consider, specifically, the town of Stillwater.
(For those who like to know stuff like this, the area was settled in the 1880s and 90s during a series of famous “land rushes.” Today, it is the 10th largest city in Oklahoma with about 47,000 inhabitants and is home to Oklahoma State University.)
It turns out that Stillwater put out a “flash-survey” on the topic of
emergency preparedness. They sent the survey to citizens who had signed up to
participate.
(Note that whenever you have people willing to “self-select” you tend to
get more accurate responses.)
And here are some of the survey questions – and answers.
Please think about what YOUR answers would be!
Question: What disasters do you
worry about?
Stillwater: Tornados (93% named this as #1!), floods and then earthquakes.
Other choices were wildfires, public health emergencies, heat, cold, and
terrorist activity. Plus “other” – which was mostly power outages. Your turn: What disasters to YOU
worry about? (Are you being realistic?)
Question: What have you done to prepare? (I assume they provided a list of options to check.) Stillwater: Flashlight and extra batteries (81.5%), first aid kit (68%), portable radio (less than half), NOAA weather radio (37%), 3-day supply of food (less than 50%), 3-gallons of water per person (22%). “Have done nothing” (10%). Your turn: What preparations have YOU made?
Question: Have you signed up for Stillwater’s emergency alert
system?
Stillwater: Yes,
45%. Never heard of it, 55%. Your turn: Have YOU signed up for
your local alert system?
Question: What does our community
need to do a better job of when it comes to emergency management?
Stillwater: More public trainings or drills; need more public or community
tornado shelters. Your turn: What more should YOUR
community be doing? Have you let them know?
So here’s the last question, and it comes not from the Stillwater newspaper,
but from Emergency Plan Guide.
Question: What answers would your neighbors give to these survey
questions?
What’s the next step?
If you’re not sure what your neighbors’ answers would be, why not put out your own survey so you are working with facts, and not supposition? You can do an online survey, via SurveyMonkey (free if fewer than 10 questions and 100 responses), or on paper.
Some suggestions for designing your survey (based on my years in the marketing world!):
More than 10 questions will depress response.
If you make the survey anonymous you’ll get more responses.
To improve response and capture names and/or emails and build a list – add a deadline with offer of a drawing and prize to the winner. At the very minimum, promise to share results of the survey with participants.
Whether you make it
formal or informal, the answers to your survey should serve to help as you plan
for upcoming meetings or events for your community.
After all, September is preparedness month – so you could use the survey to get the ball rolling for your team! That’s what we’re planning to do!
Virginia Your Emergency
Plan Guide Team
P.S. Need some suggestions for questions to include on your survey? SurveyMonkey has a sample survey on their site. I’m not necessarily recommending it but it may help you get started drafting your own. Here’s another sample series of questions from the State of Indiana:
P.P.S. Thanks to reporter Michelle Charles, who wrote about the survey in the StillwaterNewsPress. Let me know what YOU decide to do with a survey and I’ll pass along to her the impact that her article had, across the country!
The power outages I wrote about last week never materialized. The weather has cooled down a few degrees, too, and that has taken the edge off the power discussion. Still, the whole episode took me back to capturing sunlight for emergency power – via a portable solar system.
A couple of years ago I bought a small
fold-open solar panel, advertised as a source of emergency power for my
cellphone. I put it together then, but it has sat on the shelf for a while now,
unused.
Time to get back to being ready!
Since then, there have been improvements on this basic set-up. Panels have become more efficient. Power controllers connect the panels to more types of devices. Handy fasteners have been added on all sides.
The purpose remains the same, however. And I still really like it! Set it up in the sunshine, strap it to your backpack on a hike – let it charge your phone “for free!”
Over this same period, I’ve also become more aware of just what solar can do, and what it can’t. If you haven’t really had the chance to learn about solar (yet),
Here are some very basic solar basics.
Solar panels capture photons of light and convert them to electric power.
The power coming from a solar panel is Direct Current (DC). If a gadget uses battery power, it can use the current from a solar panel. (If a gadget needs to be plugged into an electric socket, it is using Alternating Current (AC). Solar panels can’t directly power your AC appliances.)
When the sun stops shining on the panels, the electricity stops.
To summarize so far, if your emergency
takes place during the day, your solar panels may be useful. If it continues
into the night, the panels will be useless.
What do you do for power when the sun isn’t shining?
Since real emergencies are not conveniently scheduled, you may want to add a way to STORE some of the electricity that is created during the day. And that’s where solar batteries come in.
The manufacturer of my own mini solar-system also offers batteries to extend the usefulness of the system. I have a small battery pack that is charged with the solar panels. This small storage unit is called a “power bank.” (I have other power banks, too, made by other manufacturers. You can read more about power banks here.)
I charge the power bank using the panels,
then, at night, I can use the stored power to charge my phone and its
flashlight, etc.
If you’ve thought about how you would
manage after days without power, when your phone and your computer’s batteries
are dead, having the ability to recharge them using solar may sound
attractive! It certainly does to me.
Another short summary about this technology . . .
Solar panels are one thing. Solar-powered storage batteries are a separate item. Each has its own capacity, requires its own connectors depending on what equipment you want to run, and each has its own cost.
It takes a lot of solar power to drive big appliances.
If you are considering solar for emergency communications needs, you need to start with only the essentials, and then buy sufficient panel and battery capacity to meet your needs.
Here’s the current kit at Amazon – the panels plus the power bank, exactly as I have it. As you can imagine, there are other larger versions – take a close look to be sure the portable solar kit will charge the devices YOU have.
Click on the image to get current pricing. (Remember, I am an affiliate at Amazon and may get a commission if you buy through this link. Thanks for supporting my work and helping spread the word about preparedness!)
This technology makes a great Christmas present, by the way. It’s never too early to start making your list!
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 31 of Summer Vacation. The last day of this special effort to provide you with some shorter and lighter Advisories as a change of pace. Hope you have enjoyed them — and welcome to some of my new Summer Vacation readers!
I’ve written in the past about good procedures to have in place for the front entrance of your place of business. Security at work suggestions include a controlled entrance, good visibility, good lighting, etc.
Because it’s summer, though, it’s so easy to relax your procedures. People arrive in casual clothing. Family members from out of town come to visit. Your business may host picnics or other summer activities attracting many different people.
Why can’t we relax our security at work during the summer?
Consider some of the underlying reasons for focusing on security all the time.
First, to avoid distraction or unnecessary
accidents.
Second, to discourage theft, sabotage, or
violence.
Third, to uphold legal requirements for
security and confidentiality.
Let’s take a look at just one aspect of security at work: VISITORS.
Do you have an appropriate procedure to welcome, identify and track visitors? Are you following your procedure during these casual summer months? How would you answer these questions about visitors at your workplace?
Are all your visitors required to sign in and get a visitor badge? Does this include employee family members, employees coming in during off hours, former employees, and temporary employees? What about contractors and suppliers? Do visitors sign out, too?
Should visitors be accompanied in your building? By whom?
Should certain areas of your workplace labeled as “off limits” for safety, confidentiality, etc.?
What should employees do if they see un-badged or unaccompanied visitors? Strangers in the “off limits” areas?
In an emergency, who is responsible for tracking the whereabouts of visitors. Can you be sure they all make it out safely?
Is this all we have to consider when it comes to visitors?
This isn’t everything you’d want to look at in building a true visitor management program. (Here’s an article that lists the top 5 visitor management programs for 2019. You may find them far too complicated for your needs — but they will open your eyes to the possibilities!)
Regardless, you can bring up the issue in the coffee room or at a staff meeting. Use these questions to get the conversation going. See what suggestions or push-back you get from co-workers.
Whatever the results,
you will all become more aware – and some important changes might be made.
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy — and therefore it is the perfect time to revisit security at work!
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 30 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
Sure, she can talk on the phone. But could she call 911?
Where you live has a lot to do with the threats you and your family members face. But there is one situation that we can all assume will happen. And one skill that we all need to master.
We all need to know how to call 911!
Right now, think of the kids in your life – neighbor kids, nieces and nephews, pupils, grandchildren. Can they all answer all these questions?
Turn this into a game and test children before school
starts!
Set up an imaginary emergency.
With the help of your child, set up an imaginary emergency
right in your living room. For example, a family member has fallen, broken an
arm, there’s blood, etc. (Obviously, make the “emergency” something appropriate
and not too complicated.)
Play act the 911 phone call.
The child calls 911 (pretend only). You take the part of the
911 Operator.
A real 911 Operator may have a slightly different set of
questions, but they are likely to include ones similar to what you’re reading
here.
Start by asking . . .
What do we do if there is an emergency? (“Call for help.”)
What telephone number do we call if we need help? (“911”)
Who do you think answers that number? (“The 911 operator, the police”)
Now, conduct the call. As operator, you pose the questions and the child answers.
“What is your emergency?” (This is the exact question our operators ask. I’ve called more than once.)
“What has happened? What help do you need?” (Child describes the emergency you came up with.)
“What is your name?” (Be sure your child gives a FULL name – first and last.)
“What is your phone number?” (The connection could be lost, so the operator needs this info.)
“What is the name of the person who needs help?” (First and last name)
“What does the person who needs help look like?” (Age, hair, clothing, etc.)
End the call this way.
“OK, help is on the way. Here’s what I need you to do. STAY ON THE LINE WITH ME. DO NOT HANG UP. I will tell you when to hang up.”
Now, I know you may think this is just too simple.
But what you don’t know is that I am a school crossing guard! I interact with hundreds of children throughout the year. And I learn every kid’s name.
At the beginning of the year many children do not know their full names. Most children do not know their home address. Hardly any children know a single phone number by heart! (Frankly, their parents don’t know numbers, either . . . but that’s a different Advisory.)
In an emergency, these children are at a big disadvantage.
There is no reason for YOUR children not to be able to Call
911, answer questions like those above, and get help.
Please give them this important skill as soon as you can.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
P.S. If you accidentally call 911, do not hang up. Stay on the line and explain there is no emergency. If you don’t do that, the dispatcher will call back to check, and even send a police car to check. You certainly don’t need for that to happen!
Day 29 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
There should be no controversy around emergency preparedness, right?
Wrong.
Even from my perspective as a “grass roots organizer,” I’m aware of several levels of controversy in the industry. For people who are serious about preparedness, it’s important to know about them. First of all, let’s look at . . .
Controversy at the individual family level
As you know, at Emergency Plan Guide we try to examine actions people can take that are mostly easily accomplished, not too expensive, and generally considered sensible. We count on most of our neighbors to be on the same wave length.
You can consider this approach as one side of the coin. If you spend any time online, you’ll be presented with the other side.
In contrast to the “neighborly” approach, this side is held by people who anticipate and make plans for significant societal upheavals, invest in self-defense including weapons and ammunition, and often don’t trust neighbors at all.
Where do you fit in this controversy?
Controversy at the First Responder level
We have always promoted the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training that is provided in many communities, at little or no cost. It gives citizens basic knowledge about how to protect themselves and their neighbors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Everyone who has taken CERT training has found it worthwhile and really appreciates the effort put into the training by the fire and police departments.
I hear from multiple sources, however (mostly online discussion groups, and some face-to-face conversations) that some trained First Responders wish the CERT people would just “get out of the way and leave us to do our job.” I have even heard recently of CERT budgets being raided by professional First Responders to meet their own departmental desires.
Controversy at the National level
Since the fiasco of Katrina under Mike Brown, FEMA has been headed up by people with actual emergency management background. But the agency hasn’t had a smooth ride over the past few years, with hundreds of declared emergencies. Brock Long, Administrator from June 2017 until February of this year, seemed to handle Hurricane Harvey pretty well, but FEMA’s response to Maria was widely criticized as slow and inadequate.
The latest development – two new Acting Administrators.
While FEMA leadership seems willing to deal
with whatever hits the country next, we can’t count on it being effective, thanks
to politics. President Trump delayed providing aid to victims of Hurricanes
Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico for a number of different political (and apparently
some personal) reasons. When fires burst out in California in 2018, Trump incorrectly
blamed the fires on “poor forest management” and threatened to withhold disaster
relief. (He conveniently overlooked the fact that over half the forests in
California are under federal land management.)
Because national leadership has suggested more than once that some Americans are worthy of response and relief, but OTHERS ARE NOT WORTHY, the entire federal emergency management program becomes suspect.
What
is the answer?
From my perspective, all we can do is take on the responsibility for our own safety. We can all make an effort to become better prepared and better trained, build stronger relationships, and be ready to protect ourselves and our neighbors in an emergency.
That’s the posture Joe and I take, and
that so many of our Emergency Plan Guide readers seem to take, too.
Depending on someone else may be
ill-advised.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 28 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
It started with a hot smell and smoke from under the hood.
Over the past 2 weeks we’ve had serious trouble with our car. (That’s what kept me from writing yesterday’s Advisory.) It all started with a hot smell and suspicious puffs of smoke from under the hood, followed by a big leak SPLAT onto the driveway.
I don’t want to go into it all. But we had a huge repair
bill following hours and days spent peering at hard-to-recognize engine parts, calling
towing services, hanging around in repair shops, transferring stuff into rental
cars, signing contracts for loaner vehicles, you get the picture.
As of today, the car seems to be working OK. I am not
holding my breath because it’s too hot to hold your breath, but I am still alert
to every hick-up, stray sound, new odor and any smoke from under the hood.
Which brings me to today’s Advisory.
Now, be alert!
Change of direction!
We are no longer talking about a breakdown.
We’re switching to a popular SCAM that involves white smoke from under the hood!
I think it’s worth taking 1o minutes to learn more from the
video below. After all, this is a scam that could create an emergency and could
actually turn into a financial disaster for the people who fall for it.
(This video takes about 10 minutes to watch. You may have to
click to get past an ad or two. And don’t waste your time reading any of the
comments, which are inane.)
The white envelope on the seat notwithstanding, it’s the white smoke that caught my eye in this video. . . Watch for it.
The more we all know about all the types of scams out there, the safer we all will be.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 27 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
For a writer, that’s an important question! And for every
writer, like it or not, there’s one answer that seems to come up every time.
People want
to read lists!
If your list is short, you can write details about each item. If it’s long, you can break it into sections. You can use icons instead of numbering your list. As a direct marketer, I tend to use empty check boxes in front of the items on my list, so people will subconsciously feel they need to “check them off!”
Today, it’s time to bring up another of my lists that is a favorite of my own. This is a very long list, the longest I’ve ever put together. It has no detail. It doesn’t even have checkboxes to help you decide which item to follow up on.
My favorite list — A list of threats
This is a list that’s perfect for people who are paranoid. It’s also good for anyone thinking about emergency preparedness! The directions? Pick out the 5 threats most likely to impact you! Then, get started in preparing for them!
Active shooter
Arson
Bomb threat
Bomb blast
Brown out
Cable cut
Chemical spill
Communications failure
Construction
Crime investigation
Drought
Earthquake
Electrical outage
Emergency alert
Employee strike
Epidemic
Evacuation
Explosion
Extreme heat
Fire
Flood
Frozen pipes
Gas line leak
Hail storm
Hazardous materials
Home fire
Household chemical emergency
Hurricane
Ice storm
Insect infestation
Lightning
Landlord conflict
Landslide
Land subsidence
Nuclear explosion
Nuclear power plant leak
Place crash
Pandemic
Power failure
Power surge
Public disturbance
Raw sewage
Rodent infestation
Sabotage
Smoke damage
Snow storm
Terrorism
Theft
Thunderstorm and lightning
Tornado
Train derailment
Tsunami
Vandalism
Vehicle crash
Virus
Volcano
Water supply problem
Wildfire
Wind storm
Hope you got this far, and selected 5 threats to get started preparing for. Which were they?
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide Team
Day 25 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
By now we’ve all heard the concept of “muscle memory.” That
is, if you practice something enough, when called upon your body will remember
what to do even if your brain is sidetracked.
Professionals train
constantly. They develop all kinds of muscle memory, and every day we hear stories
how that training has paid off.
Volunteers, on the other hand, are a different story. When it comes to preparedness training for volunteers within the neighborhood, we have a challenge.
Here is
the training challenge as I see it.
Even in a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training session with the guidance of professional instructors we can TALK about what to do in an emergency medical situation. We can SHOW people how clear airways, check for breathing, and test circulation. We can PRACTICE once or twice with professional supervision.
Then we go home! And we are lucky to get a refresher course on those particular procedures within the next month or even 6 months!
In our local neighborhood group meetings we don’t have professionally-trained leaders. We depend on our own volunteer members to come up with good ways to prepare and to respond. When we’re lucky, we attract a guest speaker with special credentials.
Then we go home! And we may never hear from that speaker again!
A
current LinkedIn discussion group sees the challenge, too.
I participate in a LinkedIn group for emergency managers. There’s
a discussion taking place right now about providing enough on-going training
for people at different levels of expertise.
In particular, the discussion is focusing on the very
audience I mentioned above – the concerned
and committed volunteer who may be part of a local community but not part of a
formal program.
How can we give these people the chance to develop that
all-important “muscle memory?”
Here’s some of what I’ve learned about meeting the training challenge.
Online resources.
There are a number of online resources, courses and online videos. We have used
many of them in our group. The challenge is having to first find and then sort
through them all, site by site and video by video, to find one that fits your
group’s level of interest, its budget and is of a quality you’re comfortable
with. As we know, there is no easy way to “rate” the quality of ANYTHING
online!
Books. By now, you realize I’ve tried to capture some training ideas in the books I’ve written. The advantage of books is that they are inexpensive, available everywhere, and eminently portable. The disadvantage – reading about an idea in a book doesn’t train muscle memory! Some dedicated member of the group has to turn the idea into an actual training exercise. (That’s what I try to assist with in Emergency Preparedness Meeting Ideas.)
Training that can actually involve muscle memory is by far the most desirable. For volunteers, it’s still very tough to come by.
But when it comes to emergency preparedness, ANY training is better than none!
You can get started now with some of the resources mentioned above. One thing for sure: There will be no time for training once the disaster hits!
Day 24 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
I’ve had to do a lot
of research for my Advisories and my books.
If you take a quick look at our Advisory archives you’ll see topics you may never have really thought about! I certainly hadn’t thought of them all when they came up . . .
Consider these issues, for example:
Best respirators
for after a forest fire
How to know if your home is vulnerable to landslides
How are drones
being used in disaster response?
Will this fire extinguisher work on this fire?
Insurance
for volcanoes
Are you within the range of a nuclear reactor emergency?
Front office
security – are you liable as owner?
When I first started, it’s probably safe to say I knew very
little about any of these. (Well, I DID know something about security in the
workplace.)
Now, however, after writing not once but in some cases
several times on these topics, I feel that I am pretty knowledgeable. Maybe
even better,
Now I know where to go to get reliable information!
Here are three of my favorite sources. I recommend them to
you.
NFPA. Anything to do with fire prevention, statistics, standards, careers, education for children – The National Fire Prevention Association has global reach and its site is an amazing treasure trove. I also subscribe to their newsletter. The illustration for this Advisory came from NFPA.
Agility Recovery protects businesses against interruption and disaster. I’ve followed the company’s growth over the past half dozen years, and taken advantage of their excellent webinars, case histories and other free resources they make available on their site.
Earthquakes. Because I live here in California, where there are typically over 200 noticeable (over 5.0) earthquakes a year, I have a permanent link on my desktop to the United States Geological Survey Earthquake map. I check it often and read all the fine print! (When we had the earthquakes over the 4th of July, the site was temporarily down because so many people were trying to find out just what had happened!)
I urge you to go to these sites if you’re looking for info on fires, business continuity or earthquakes. And if you are looking for information on other preparedness topics, please drop me a line. There’s a lot of misinformation or half-information out there and perhaps I can steer you around some of it to more reliable sources.
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 23 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
Hardly anyone ever disagrees with the concept of emergency
preparedness. When it comes up, the usual first comment goes like this:
“Yes, I know I should be doing more about being prepared. “
This comment is usually accompanied by a duck of the head
and a slightly sickly smile.
If the conversation continues, the next comment is,
inevitably:
“But I just don’t know where to start.”
I have been on the receiving end of this one/two sequence hundreds of times over the years. And I’ve tried many ways to get past it and get people moving on to the next step!
First, I try to engage people in a friendly dialog. But since I can’t talk to everyone, I started writing.
First, it was my blog posts (that I call Advisories). Then I felt more was necessary, so I started on a series of books. You see them in the image above!
Then, develop some tools to move the action forward.
Here are some of the tools I’ve developed. Some of them are featured on our EmergencyPlanGuide.org site. Others have more info at our companion website EmergencyPreparednessBooks.com, where we review books written by a variety of authors.
For individuals — A simple list of “The Top Emergency Kit Starter Items.” This is list suggests 10 good GIFTS that you could purchase for family members – or for yourself! – to get things started! Check it out!
For individuals and their neighbors — A friendly 120 page book to get people working together for mutual benefit. Actually, I’ve written three of them, based on the type of neighborhood people live in. You can find out about that neighborhood series here.
For employees and business owners – Obviously, when disaster hits a business, it hits the whole community. Every business ought to understand basic steps to take to stay alive long enough to get the whole organization back up and running. Joe and I are particularly proud of this book because we have worked with small businesses for years, and with very large businesses before that!
For leaders – When I started building our neighborhood group, there were absolutely no resources available. There still aren’t — so I decided to create one! This book has suggestions for meetings on preparedness to attract and engage members of a community group. The meeting ideas could be used by a church group, a neighborhood emergency response group, the PTA, whatever.
Make the tools widely available.
All these books are for sale at Amazon. You can actually find all of them — plus others I’ve written — listed on my Author Page.
Now that I have figured out how the system works, I have two more titles in the works, hopefully to be finished within the next couple of months. (Amazon tells me that building a SERIES is good for sales!)
If you or loved ones are asking, “How do I get started with preparing for emergencies?” you will certainly find some answers here! If you know other people who are asking the question, you can help them get answers and get moving, too.
I welcome your interest, your support — and your reviews on Amazon!
Virginia Your Emergency Plan Guide team
Day 22 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!
