About the book:
Earthquakes, hurricanes, civil unrest,
economic troubles- no one knows when the next disaster will strike. Will
you be prepared? With everything from cooking in a crisis to home
security and protection, “The Practical Prepper” is the ultimate guide
to making timely preparations for an uncertain future. You don’t need to
bug out to be safe; be ready in the protection of your own home during
any
emergency.
GUEST POST:
Nobody Gets Left
Behind
You are highly focused on your work when the level of
chatter in the office increases. Suddenly you realize that a tornado warning
has been issued in your area. Your first thought is for your family. Where is
everyone? At school? At work? With friends? Do they know how to stay safe if
the tornado touches down? Do you know? Should you risk the 30 minute commute
home to try and gather everyone?
This may never happen to you, but then again it might. Or it
might be some other scenario where the benefits of planning ahead could save
the lives of those you love. Developing a family emergency plan takes a little
bit of time, but it is well worth the effort. In our book, The Practical Prepper—A Common-Sense Guide to Preparing for Emergencies,
we review how to create a good family emergency plan in great detail. For the
purposes of this post, we will just review the basics.
A family emergency plan should include:
·
Contact numbers for each family member (work,
school, daycare, etc.) as well as other emergency numbers and addresses.
·
Prearranged meeting places may be with a friend,
family member or any other place that has been decided upon and prepared in
advance. Be sure to include the following:
o
A primary
meeting place just outside of
your home in the event of a sudden emergency such as a house fire.
o
A secondary
meeting place should be outside of your neighborhood and might be used for
localized flooding, a chemical spill, wildfire or any localized event.
o
An out-of-area
meeting place should be at least 100 miles away from your home. This
location would be used for larger scale events such as a hurricane.
o
A higher-ground
meeting place might be necessary if you live near the coast and are in
danger of tsunami or a similar risk of sudden flooding.
·
Home escape plan in the event of a house fire.
Physically practice fire drills regularly.
·
Evacuation plan, marked evacuation maps, and
up-to-date survival kits.
·
Communication plan should be incorporated into
daily life.
o
Where will notes be left? Be sure to include
time and date on each communication!
o
Text messages may eventually get through when
voice service is unavailable.
o
Decide how to connect using social media or
e-mail when possible. A quick update or post, even when service is sporadic,
can provide valuable information.
o
Create an out-of-state contact. It may be possible
to call out-of-state, but not your neighbor next door.
o
Communication devices are critical. Cell phones
are amazing when they work. Learn how to use family band radios or get an
amateur radio license to use when traditional communication lines are down. Play
with your chosen devices regularly.
·
Keep copies of vital documents organized and
ready to take with you.
·
Current family photos. They may be used for
comfort or to identify lost loved ones.
Those are the basics. Put the entire plan in writing and
strategically place copies so that everyone has access to them. We tape one on
the back of our coat closet door for quick reference and place one in each
survival kit. Our plan has the details on one side and photos on the other.
Each plan is laminated for protection and, theoretically, updated annually. Clear
thinking is difficult during high stress situations. The written plan
eliminates the need to remember details. The plan has been carefully thought
through in advance and clearly written down for reference.
Practice, practice, practice! Gather the family around and
talk about your emergency plan. Play the “What If” game. What would you do if
there was an earthquake and you were at school? What would you do if a tornado
warning was issued? Listening to the thought processes of family members can be
very enlightening. Make it fun. Remind your family that there is power in the
plan. We will be okay because we know what to do.
Kylene and Jonathan
Jones
Authors of The Practical Prepper—A Common-Sense Guide
to Preparing for Emergencies
My Review:
I know many of us think we are prepared for any disaster, yet when one actually arrives we find that we are much less prepared than we should have been. After a Tornado ripped through our neighboring towns, destroying many friends' homes, businesses and lives; we have all come to the realization that we were not as prepared as we could have and should have been.
My children were scared of Storms before, now they are terrified of a Tornado every time it rains. To help them with that fear, we have begun finding ways to "prepare" for each storm as it comes through our town. Making sure we have flashlights for every member of our family, that our dog and children are safely in the basement, that lights and electrical equipment is turned off unless needed to keep track of the coming storm.
Giving the children tasks to help them prepare helps calm them and give them a distraction as well.
Our family now has a rough tote in the basement with a few nonperishable foods, clean drinking water, flashlights and a few other necessities. We also have a safe area in the basement with extra bedding, pillows and a weather radio. And now that I have read The Practical Prepper, I have even more ideas of how we can be more prepared for any future disasters that may arrive to shake up our normal lives.
The Practical Prepper—A Common-Sense Guide
to Preparing for Emergencies is a wonderful book for every family to have on hand. It shows tips for how to prepare for any emergency and also how to prepare your family so that they are less scared and more prepared. A wonderfully written guide for families of any size.
About the author:
Jonathan is a
licensed civil engineer and an avid enthusiast of alternative energy
sources, especially solar and wind power. He has served as vice
president and advisory board member of The American Civil Defense
Association (TACDA), as secretary/treasurer for a local chapter of Civil
Defense Volunteers, and as an emergency preparedness and communications
specialist. As a city councilperson, has been tasked with developing
the city emergency plan in his own community. He has coauthored numerous
articles with his wife on emergency preparedness topics and published
them in The Journal of Civil Defense. He is the owner of Your Family
Ark, LLC, an education and consulting business designated to assist
individuals and families in preparing for an uncertain future
(www.yourfamilyark.org).
Kylene has an educational background in
business management and family studies. She has also served on the
advisory board and on the board of directors for TACDA and is currently
the editor for The Journal of Civil Defense. She has a passion for
researching and experimenting, which adds a sense of real life to her
writing and teaching. A firm believer in hands-on learning, she involves
her family in emergency training for everything from fire drills to
living off food storage and garden produce to turning off the power in
the dead of winter just to see if they can survive it. She’s learned
many powerful lessons from these experiences, the best one being that we
are tougher than any challenge. We will not only survive but will
emerge better, stronger people as a result of the adventure.
Jonathan and Kylene make a dynamic
combination. Together they have presented in a wide variety events,
including community education courses, educational seminars,
preparedness fairs, employee education programs, and community classes.
With Jonathan’s extensive knowledge and Kylene’s high-energy
personality, they have a unique talent for taking a relatively boring
topic and turning it into an exciting quest, motivating audiences to
join the ranks of provident preppers.
Disclosure: I received free the item(s) mentioned in this post in exchange for my honest review. Regardless ~ All my reviews are my honest and personal opinion. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”.
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