Archive for October, 2009

Ready, Set, GO: Preparing Your 72-Hour Survival Kit!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

When disaster strikes, it can take up to 72 hours before responders can reach the call. As only 53 percent of Americans have even some supplies for survival, three days is too long to be without the assistance necessary to prevent fatality. Amy Sandoz, Owner of Ready Set Go Kits, saw firsthand the implications of natural disasters through her volunteer work with the Red Cross and created a survival kit company to address the needs of safety in emergency situations.

“When it comes to protecting yourself and those you love, whether it be in your home, work or as part of an active lifestyle, emergency preparedness is crucial. Our 72 hour kits are a cost effective solution for survival in your home, office, classroom or outdoor adventure. We now even have a kit for pets,” she said.

Each kit is a backpack stocked with supplies advised by experts in the emergency preparedness industry. The kits are thirty percent less expensive than a make-it-yourself and can be used both indoors and outdoors. They include supplies for eating, drinking, communication, shelter and warmth, sanitation and first aid.

The kits also include room for personalization with items like medications and personal health care products. This is a feature that Lucien Canton, former Director of Emergency Services for the City of San Francisco, sees as an added benefit. He also notes that emergency kits, like the Ready Set Go Kits, should address needs for every kind of disaster response. “You need to have the flexibility for both staying home or evacuating,” Canton said.

For those who have prepared emergency kits, the benefits are apparent during a disaster. Rob Hayes protected his family with his kit as they waited one and a half days for help after Hurricane Charlie hit Tallahassee, Florida in 2004.

“Knowing that we had enough water for a few days, extra medical supplies and an emergency home repair kit made a huge difference in how we felt facing each of these storms… every single person should have a disaster kit, period, Hayes said.

Kim Fuller, survivor of the December 2006 ice storm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, mentioned that the natural disaster demonstrated the need for 72 hour kits structured like the Ready Set Go Kit. “I needed it [her generic kit] to be a backpack type thing because you really need to have your hands free, and to assume that your stuff could get wet,” she said.

Regardless of the emergency, Ready Set Go Kits can address the specific needs of location and disaster. Sandoz is confident in the “power of preparedness.”I myself have several kits. I am an avid snowboarder and adventure seeker. I stock my car and my house with supplies that will keep me and my family alive in the worst of situations, she said.

This paid advertorial is for the purpose of educating the general public.

Oct 28, Food Dehydrating, a Great Emergency Food Source and Storage Alternative

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Advantages of Food Dehydrating - A Healthy Food Source And A Great Emergency Food Storage Addition.

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Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina, by TiredTubes

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

In September, 2008, Hurricane Ike--a Category 4 hurricane--pounded the Gulf Coast of the southern US. Some coastal communities like Crystal Beach no longer really exist. Inland, life was severely disrupted. For those of us on the South Coast hurricanes are a frequent reality. We were quite well prepared, but used the disruptions and dislocations as a test and opportunity to tune up our preparations.

1. Be ready to help others and to accept help We didn't need much during Ike, but the power went out before a neighbor finished boarding up his house. My 1 KW inverter, hooked up to his idling truck provide the juice for a Skilsaw and a few lights; allowing him to finish. Usually it is skills and not "stuff" that helps others and yourself. Besides strengthening a neighborly friendship, the number of damaged houses was probably reduced by one.

Read the remainder of Lessons Learned from Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina.

Prepping for the Worst Case: Becoming a Refugee, by Dr. L.D.

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

I am unable to make my home self-sustaining.  So, unfortunately, my family will probably become refugees in a true SHTF scenario.  My focus presently is in becoming desirable refugees rather than shunned refugees.  The key is minimizing any negative impact (extra logistics of all sorts) and maximizing any positive impact (filling in weak spots) to someone that is geographically fortuitous.  I was challenged to figure out how a small family could best become a wanted commodity when food is tight and security isn’t. I determined the key for us was that everything carried needed to be dense in value. Density equals mass divided by volume. In our case, mass would be the battered value of the item; volume was limited by the size of our packs. We can’t carry enough bulk food, but we can carry items that will have an excellent post-SHTF (bartered) value, an example would be trading  batteries for an illuminated-reticle or starlight scope in exchange for food.  Keeping our packs small (but danged heavy) will give us an additional advantage if we need to make a small camp.

Read the remainder of Prepping for the Worst Case: Becoming a Refugee.

The Power Of Asking Basic Questions As A Catalyst For Increasing Basic Public Preparedness

Monday, October 12th, 2009

In a speech concluding National Preparedness Month, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano urged Americans — when they are in their workplaces and social organizations — to ask a simple question:

“…we’re asking you to raise your hand and ask whenever you are in one of those groups, ‘What’s our plan? You know, the next time your group meets or your staff gathers for lunch, I want you to raise your hand and ask, “What’s our plan?” Any time that you’re with your family and you have a moment, take a moment, say, “What’s our plan?”, and take time to discuss what will happen if disaster strikes—if there’s an emergency of any type, so that we respond with resilience and preparedness, not with fear.”

It is a simple request but one that can have a lot impact, particularly as a catalyst for action. I say that from experience. As some of you may know, it was a similar simple question from my wife that led me to my current involvement in citizen preparedness.

Read the remainder of The Power Of Asking Basic Questions As A Catalyst For Increasing Basic Public Preparedness.