September 30, 2005
Toward Perfect Preparedness
Here it is folks, the creme de la creme, the ultimate disaster supply list. A must read for the perfectly prepared.
The author, AlphaGeek, of Daily Kos, lives up to the promise of his name. He is a "Silicon Valley technical executive with both professsional and personal experience in risk assessment and disaster readiness planning", who has obviously considered this subject from multiple angles . He also has a sense of humor-- as fine a one that anyone could hope for under the circumstances. Be certain to read the commentsafter the entry. They include more helpful hints, and a scrappy exchange with a carless-by-choice city dweller that is very useful for the urbane.
Wisely, AlphaG does not begin his five part series with this list of supplies, but, as is my inclination, I went for that part first. One never knows how long one's attention will span. I have now begun to read the series from the beginning, because he has so much excellent information. I figured he wouldn't have written three parts for no reason, before he got to the only part that interests me. A few tidbits to whet your appetite:
"When faced with a life-threatening situation, a great many people will simply freeze, unable to process events effectively and respond appropriately. A person who reacts in this manner may attempt to continue normal life at great risk to themselves and others, or may simply subside into shock and denial.
Another significantly large group will react by making a reasonable effort at ensuring their own survival and helping others, but may not be terribly effective at either. In many cases, these folks may take actions which increase risk to themselves and others. A significant percentage of this second group will, depending on the severity and duration of the emergency, go into shock and denial. In a group situation, good leadership can keep this to a minimum.
All the cool kids, though, fall into a third category. Whether by training or innate nature, members of this group are mentally prepared to overcome the challenges at hand. They have decided that dammit, they're not going to give up and die, and that's final.
Making the decision that you, personally, are going to survive makes all the difference in the world.
Now, dear reader, you may think upon your fears and insecurities, and fret that you will surely react like the people in that middle group, blundering about making (potentially deadly) mistakes. Or, horror of horrors, you may even freeze up under stress and fail to cope with the situation at all. These are normal reactions, but they are not helpful in a disaster situation, to put it mildly.
So how do you avoid joining the ranks of the ineffective masses, waiting passively for help? It comes down to minimizing FUD -- Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. If you have a solid basic emergency plan, you are well on your way to avoiding paralysis due to FUD. Like the smart man said, chance favors the prepared mind.
The principal means, however, of getting FUD under control and improving the chances that you'll respond effectively in an emergency is simple: practice, practice, practice. Until you have actually attempted to execute a plan which looks good on paper, you have no guarantees that the plan works or that you will be ready to use it. A critical part of any preparedness program is periodic review and practice of your survival-critical plans."
Here, he recommends the American Red Cross Get Prepared list, which has detailed plans for more disasters than you've probably ever thought about. The rest you will have to read yourself.
As a Painstakingly Preparing Person, I performed three pertinent preparedness projects today.
I learned to text message on my cellie -- a most important PPP skill, since the text part often works, even when the speaking part doesn't.
I had a chat with my town's public health officer. She assured me that my town was working on the avian flu issue, though just what it is doing is still "not public information". We do have a preparedness plan, and a committee, chaired by the fire chief. She assured me that avian flu is on her "radar screen", and she's part of the plan to distribute tamiflu when the time comes. I reminded her that there are only 2 million doses of tamiflu in the US of A and said that I doubted we would receive any in our fair city. "Oh right." she said. I asked her if she had ordered hers yet. "No", she said,"Don't you need a prescription?". This response did not give me great hopes for the effectiveness of the scanner on her "radar screen". I referred her to her a website, told her how to order, and said I hoped they had some left. I asked when information would be issued publically to residents, (since I hate to introduce myself to my two new neighbors carrying copies of "Preparing for the Coming Influenza Pandemic", with the Grim Reaper cover- maybe I'll bake a bird cake). I asked her if she would like me to forward any articles to her. She said that she was innundated. She told me that the preparedness plan was on the town website, so I went to find it when I hung up. Guess what? It took me right to FEMAs terrorism site, -- George W., arms outstretched, was on the frontispiece. Not reassuring.
I looked for a local source for those 55 gallon blue plastic barrels in which you can store waterfor five years, if you use the right preservative. I was trying to find a nearby dealer, since the postage on the monstronsity is huge.
Photo note: This is part of both my white on white and garbage series. You may find something familiar about the shape.
Posted by Dakota at September 30, 2005 07:09 AM