Your Emergency Preparedness Guide

You Must Be Prepared for any Emergency!

Emergency Preparedness (or Disaster Preparedness) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a discipline that involves preparing, supporting, and rebuilding when natural or man-made emergencies occur.

If a disaster happens in your community, it may take emergency workers some time to get to you as they help those in desperate need. You should be prepared to take care of yourself and your family for a minimum of 72 hours.

By taking a few simple steps, you can become better prepared to face a range of emergencies -- anytime, anywhere. This will help you to take care of yourself and your loved ones during an emergency.

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Your 4-Step Emergency Preparedness Plan

1. Know the Risks: We all face a number of hazards, from earthquakes, to blizzards, to hurricanes. In addition to natural disasters there are other types of risks, such as power outages, industrial accidents, major transportation incidents and the possibility of acts of terrorism. We need to prepare for all types of emergencies.
2. Make a Plan:  Every household needs an emergency plan. It will help you and your family know what to do in case of an emergency.  Make sure everyone in your home knows the plan and keeps completed printouts of it in an easy-to-find, easy-to-remember place (with your emergency kit, for example). You may also want to make duplicate copies to keep in your car and at work. You will need to cover the following:
   • where the exits are from your home and neighborhood
   • a meeting place to reunite with family or roommates
   • a designated person to pick up your children should you be unavailable
   • close and out-of-town contact persons
   • health information
   • a place for your pet to stay
   • the risks in your region
   • the location of your fire extinguisher, water valve, electrical box, gas valve and floor drain.
3. Prepare a Kit:  In an emergency you will need some basic supplies. You may need to get by without power or tap water. You should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours.  Not sure what to put in your kit? Find out what you need to get through 72 hours.  For suggestions of where to buy a kit, see the links on the right.
4. Know What to Do During an Emergency: During an emergency, you may not have time to make alternative plans. You may also not be aware of who to listen to for instructions. That's why it is important to know who to call and what to do. Practice makes perfect. 

   If you live in a city, you need to plan how to get out in the event of a catastrophe. Immediately. Not the next day. Not that night. Immediately. Remember what South Central LA looked like just hours after the Rodney King verdict was handed down? That’s how quickly it will degenerate.

   No freeways. They will be death traps. You need an escape route that takes you through neighborhoods you know will be safe for a time. Being among the first to leave will help to ensure that roads are not blocked.

   You must have a plan in place for assembling your family for the trip, regardless of the time of day that it becomes necessary.

   Assemble a "bug-out" kit and keep it in your trunk.

   Store enough gasoline in cans in your garage to get you to wherever you already have planned will be your retreat. Recycle the contents every six months, because gasoline degenerates fairly rapidly. Keep your escape vehicle gassed up and well-serviced at all times.

   Make a list of the things you can grab while the family is being assembled. Keep the list in the bug-out kit. Make a copy and keep it in your sock drawer, in case the car is busy picking up kids. Think apocalyptically today.

   You won't be capable of rational thought when the need arises, but you will be able to follow your list. Include any gold and silver you might be keeping stashed away (if you don't have any, then shame on you). Include weapons – you will need them, rest assured. 

   Get permission in advance, even if you treat it as a big joke, to arrive on the doorstep of friends or family in the country, if that is what you must do. Otherwise, they will not be happy to see you. Arrive with enough of something or other that makes you a valuable and welcome addition to their enclave. Food. Gasoline. Bullets. Gold. That sort of thing.