Tag: emergency plan

The news is so frightening these days!

Threatened bombings, actual shootings and beatings, rape. Awful. Disheartening. And, unfortunately, reality. Here at Emergency Plan Guide we try to be as upbeat and level-headed as possible. At the same time, it seems sensible to be aware of personal safety options.

One option, legal in most states, is a stun gun.

You hold the stun gun in your hand. Press it against the body of an attacker, and its “electrical punch” can completely disable and disorient him for seconds or minutes, giving you the chance to get away. In fact, the zapping sound and electric blue flash of a stun gun being set off may discourage the attacker from approaching in the first place.

Here are a couple of examples, available at Amazon where we are Associates. They come in pink and black, and in different “strengths.” (The more the jolt, the more expensive the gun.) Personally, I prefer the pink because it’s a lot easier to find in a purse or the glove compartment. You can click on the images or on the link below to do some “shopping.” Read the “shopping questions” below, though, first!

VIPERTEK VTS-979 – 53 Billion Stun Gun – Rechargeable with Safety Disable Pin LED Flashlight, Black VIPERTEK VTS-880 – 30 Billion Mini Stun Gun – Rechargeable with LED Flashlight, Pink

Is this really something to consider carrying for personal safety?

I asked these questions as I was researching for this post on personal safety.

1. Is a stun gun legal?

Stun guns are treated differently in different cities, different counties and different states! Sometimes you have to go through a registration process to own one.

To give you an idea, one stun gun advertised on Amazon carries this disclosure: “We do not ship to the following locations: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, Annapolis, MD, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore County, MD, Crawford County, IA.”

If you intend to purchase one, I recommend you check carefully to find out the LATEST rules governing buying and carrying stun guns in your town. If you plan to travel with your stun gun, then check again, because different rules apply there, too. (Mostly, it appears as though a deactivated stun gun can be carried in checked luggage. But don’t take my word for it!)

A good place to start your legal research: http://www.stungunbuyersguide.com/stun-gun-laws/

2. Is a stun gun the same as a taser?

Legislation sometimes lumps stun guns together with tasers, and sometimes treats them separately. For our purposes, there is a distinct difference.

• A taser is a “long-distance” (15-20 ft.) weapon. It shoots out wires that carry the electrical current, and once it’s shot, you can’t quickly reload. Tasers start at around $400 and the “professional” models used by police cost more than $1,000. These tasers are of colored plastic in the shape of a pistol, with a hand grip and trigger, and are worn in a holster.
• The stun gun, on the other hand, is a close-up self-defense tool. It has to be pressed against the body to create the circuit. You can use it repeatedly as long as its battery is still charged. Stun guns start at just over $10 and there are many available in the $20-40 range. They could be carried in a purse or pocket.

You can see more about tasers and stun guns for personal safety here.

3. How do you charge the stun gun?

Obviously, your stun gun needs to be charged to have any impact. The typical gun comes with rechargeable batteries and a cord that you plug into the wall. You’ll get instructions to charge it fully (10-12 hrs?) when you receive it and then to “top it off” on a monthly basis.

A solar-powered charger suitable for charging your computer or phone would likely work to charge your stun gun, too. Check.

4. Other features to consider?

Stun guns have been incorporated into other personal items. We mentioned the flashlight/stun gun style above. Stun guns have also been incorporated into iphone lookalikes, into actual iphone cases, and into batons and other professional law enforcement tools.

There are many sizes and styles.

Pick the one that suits your own needs and lifestyle.

If I felt threatened, or were heading into an unsavory or dangerous place, I’d have my stun gun in my hand and ready to use. I personally like the “safety disable pin” that comes with the example above. This gun also comes with a wrist strap attached to the pin. (Scroll over all the images to see the wrist strap.) If the stun gun is taken away from you in a struggle, the pin will be pulled out. This stops the stun gun from working so it can’t be turned against you.

In my opinion, the stun gun is closer to being a weapon than other personal safety items we’ve talked about. I’d investigate carefully before deciding to carry one or to give one to a family member.

It might, however, be something that would give you new peace of mind.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Do you already have a stun gun? Have you ever used it? What more information can you share with Emergency Plan Guide readers to help us make our decisions?

Real preparedness extends beyond the walls of our homes.

We spend a lot of time at Emergency Plan Guide examining the best supplies to lay in, and how to select the right emergency tools. Last week we reviewed in detail individual or family survival kits, and everything that needs to go into the best ones.

Yes, focusing closely on our immediate needs is a good idea.

But from time to time we need take a wider look around.  Joe and I often do this at our monthly team meetings.

This week’s Advisory could become a great topic for YOUR next meeting. At the very least, it will broaden your personal horizons!

Here are 7 news headlines to inspire NEUE IDEEN! (That’s German for “New Ideas!”)

For each headline, I’ve added a brief comment and then posed questions for you or your group to follow up with.

You know our favorite saying: “The more we all know, the safer we all will be.” Well, I hope these questions inspire a new level of knowledge – and safety!

1-“Fayetteville NC works on downtown evacuation plan in case of emergency on train tracks.”

It turns out Fayetteville has train tracks running right through the town. And the city doesn’t know exactly what those trains may be carrying. Since they have experienced more than one terrible train wreck, it seems to make sense to prepare for the next.

Questions: Do you have nearby train tracks? Do you know what’s being carried on them, and at what time of day? Perhaps more pertinent, do your city’s First Responders know this information? Find out! (Hint. It may be impossible . . . but whatever you can do will move the ball forward for your community.)

2-“Everett WA Graduates First Ever All Spanish Speaking Only CERT Class In Washington”

When the disaster hits, everyone will be pretty much in the same boat. Think of how much safer you’ll feel – and how much safer you’ll BE – when neighbors pitch in as a coordinated team!

Questions: Does your city put on CERT classes in another language? If not, what language/s should they consider? How could you or your group make that happen? (Think about reaching out to work sites, churches, private schools.)

3-“Florida’s 3,200 assisted living facilities and 640 nursing homes were ordered, by this week, to submit emergency plans that include enough generator power to run air conditioning . . .”

You surely heard about the 14 people who died in Florida during the aftermath of Irma. You may not have heard that nearly 2,000 facilities in FL haven’t yet complied with the order.

Questions: Do you have elderly relatives? Any in nursing facilities? What is that facility’s requirement for an emergency plan? What are your city’s requirements when it comes to emergency and/or evacuation plans for facilities of this sort? Can you bring pressure to bear if it appears to be necessary?

4-“The Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency will begin testing its Attack Warning Signal or ‘Wailing Tone’ next month as they continue preparedness for attack from North Korea..”

Whether you live on the West Coast, the East Coast or in the middle of the country, a nuclear disaster is a frightening thought. It doesn’t have to be the result of war; it could just as well be the result of a natural disaster or even an accident at an aged facility.

Questions: Are there nuclear power plants anywhere near you? How old are they and what kind of maintenance do they receive and/or report on? What sort of warning signals do they have? (Have you ever heard one?) What’s the evacuation procedure for your home, your town? (Important: Sometimes the evacuation zones of plants overlap, which could make one or both of the individual plans inadequate.)

5-“Amid wildfire risk in Bay Area, UC Berkeley’s emergency management office to lose 50 percent of its staff… “

This isn’t the only headline I’ve come across on the topic of staffing. Communities and their budgets change, often without much warning. If emergency management funds are cut, the quality of response to emergencies will decline.

Questions: Does your city have an Office of Emergency Management? An Emergency Operations Plan? Who heads up the department right now? What are the leader’s qualifications? What does the future for the department look like? What role can your local neighborhood group play in community preparedness? (Maybe you can get that department leader to be a guest speaker at one of your local meetings?)

Ask these same questions about the place where you work!

6-“JOHNSON COUNTY, ARKANSAS — The owners of C&H Hog Farms and the international corporation that supplies the operation’s swine are planning to apply for a permit to operate another farm, this one in a flood-prone area just south of Hartman.”

We heard just a couple of months ago about how unrestricted development added to the flooding tragedy in Houston. We all remember from 2014 the massive landslide that swept away an entire town in Washington – a town built below a hillside with a well-known history of slides.

Questions: What’s the status of your home and your community with regard to flood plains and/or past flooding? Has it been the victim of wildfires? What about hurricanes and/or tornados?

A developer, real estate agent and/or insurance agent may not be eager to share the history of the locale. In fact, they may not know it!

As a homeowner, you need to know this information. As a member of the wider community, you want everyone to know and be prepared to the extent possible.  What plans does the city have for growth and new development?  You CAN find out . . . and maybe keep ill-advised development from taking place.

7-PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — State health officials are encouraging people with special health care needs to enroll in an emergency registry.

In a widespread emergency, people with special needs will be most vulnerable. But they’ll not get the help they need if people don’t know they need it! Some sort of registry, like the one mentioned above, may help direct resources.

Questions: Does your state or local community have a registry for people with special health needs? How do you sign up? How is the registry maintained? How is it updated?  Note: People with special needs could be a target for unscrupulous or even criminal behavior, so privacy and security for any registry are paramount.

How to use these headlines.

OK, so while you’re digesting this spread of preparedness morsels, I hope you will have taken note of several questions that you want to answer for your personal benefit.

You can expect that getting those answers will take some time.

But as we have discussed many times, being prepared is a continual state of mind built on awareness, knowledge, and confidence.

I think pursuing news headlines like these can help on all fronts!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Use these headlines at your next group meeting, or ask people to bring in their own news item on emergency preparedness. Pick a few to discuss. Come up with questions like those above and, if appropriate, turn getting answers into a group project.  (In our neighborhood team, we almost always have one small group or another pursuing one idea or another!)

 

f course, you hope nothing will ever happen.

And it’s painful to imagine yourself, a loved one or a co-worker buried in darkness under debris, fighting to stay alive long enough to be found.

Almost too painful to contemplate.

But if you’ve watched the news, you know that this has been a reality for dozens, even hundreds of people this year alone!

It’s also a reality that most lives that can be saved will be saved by neighbors or co-workers in the first 15-30 minutes.  In a big disaster, First Responders are simply overwhelmed.

In a big disaster, you and the people around you become the First Responders whether you like it or not!

When asked, about half the American public says they have considered all this and that they are prepared with a plan for disaster.

When questioned a bit more, though . . .

Even prepared families admit to a number of flaws in their planning.

How about you?

Flaw number one – Doing only the minimum.

. . . like storing some water and food at home and letting it go at that.

If this applies to you, perhaps you have the notion that bad things only happen to OTHER people???

The top three emergency supplies most commonly overlooked:

• Medicines for at least 10 days
• Emergency Communications for when phones are out
• Light to see by at night.

Remember, when the electricity goes, phones don’t work, your cell phone can’t be recharged, there’s no internet, no heating, no lighting, no gas for the car, no ATMs, no cash registers at the market . . . the list goes on. Water and food are just the start of what you’ll need.

Flaw number two – Not thinking about where you’ll actually be when the disaster hits.

Where will your children be, where will other family members be?  How and when will you make it home?

There’s a really good chance that when the disaster hits you won’t be at home where your emergency supplies are stored!

Take a moment to think about your day:

At 7 a.m., where are your family members? What about at 8? At 9? Have they arrived at work or at school? Are any of them on the road? When do they start heading home again? How will they manage if they get home and you don’t?

Flaw number three – Ignoring planning at your work.

Statistics show that 3 out of 4 small business owners don’t even have an emergency preparedness plan. Without a plan, after a disaster half those businesses will fail and take the jobs of their employees down with them.

Other stats are even more sobering:

“If the company can’t get back to work within five days, there’s a 90% chance you’ll all be out of work within a year!”

This applies to an at-home or part-time business as much as to a full-fledged enterprise with employees.

Does the place you work have a plan to . . .

• Take care of employee safety and survival?
• Help employees connect with family members?
• Maintain essential functions if the building can’t be used?

These are only three of the possible flaws in a plan. As you can imagine, every person’s plan is somewhat different.

What’s the solution?

Take it a step at a time. When it comes to emergency preparations for the family, start with one of the simple Top 10 Lists like this one. And make sure you have completed a Family Communications Plan. At work, get the conversation started using our simple flyer.

 

Follow up. Get these resources now and make sure you won’t be blamed for obvious flaws in your plan.

Or worse, hear one of your family members say, “Why didn’t you do something to protect us?”

When the emergency hits it will be too late to make any corrections.