Emergency Preparedness
Jan. 21st, 2008 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
learnteachRan across a number of posts on go-bags today. Fairly interesting in a rather clueless way, as people squabbled about what to put in an evac bag (emergency pack, etc.) but never really asked the relevant question that I believe you MUST answer before you put a bag together.
<lj-cut>
What sort of emergency would force you to be evacuated from your home/place of work/car? (The three locations where you might put a gobag.)
Secondarily, what role are you going to be playing in that emergency?
Where I live in Sunnyvale, I'd be evaced for a fire, or possibly a major flood. Doubtful on both of those; the only other probability is a major civil disaster (earthquake, uprising, Bush becoming mayor and declaring war on Cupertino, whatever.) In the first case I need to be able to walk out to the gather point. In the second case I need to survive long enough to gather the clan and do the next step.
So what do I really need?
I need to be able to travel to my Mother's place in Mountain View by a number of possible paths. If I'm at home, I've got the bike (motorcycle) and shank's mare. Can I get there at night if the power is gone? Do I know a safe route if major streets are down? Can I walk the 5 miles reasonably?
I need to be able to communicate, if at all possible. The cell system's fragile; the phone is better but not great on a floodplain in earthquake country. Odds are after an emergency, when you get access to communication services the local last mile will still be out. So, I'll call our a agreed upon emergency co-ordinator who everyone is supposed to call. Where's the number?
So, the upshot of all of this is: Take a long walk with a friend, it'll help in case of emergency. More than most anything else.
Serious emergencies--that's another matter. Yes, I can survive 3 days. Yes, I have a month's supply of food laid in (but not water...need to fix that. Although I do have purification methods and a local creek, but...this is a superfund cleanup valley.)
******
More to the point, the most likely emergencies aren't general at all. They are personal/family emergencies--accidents, illnesses, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I've seen a few of those (not like some) and my conclusion? A good will, some estate planning, and taking care of my health as much as possible.
Back to those long walks with friends. Hmmm.
There's a plan for next week....
<lj-cut>
What sort of emergency would force you to be evacuated from your home/place of work/car? (The three locations where you might put a gobag.)
Secondarily, what role are you going to be playing in that emergency?
Where I live in Sunnyvale, I'd be evaced for a fire, or possibly a major flood. Doubtful on both of those; the only other probability is a major civil disaster (earthquake, uprising, Bush becoming mayor and declaring war on Cupertino, whatever.) In the first case I need to be able to walk out to the gather point. In the second case I need to survive long enough to gather the clan and do the next step.
So what do I really need?
I need to be able to travel to my Mother's place in Mountain View by a number of possible paths. If I'm at home, I've got the bike (motorcycle) and shank's mare. Can I get there at night if the power is gone? Do I know a safe route if major streets are down? Can I walk the 5 miles reasonably?
I need to be able to communicate, if at all possible. The cell system's fragile; the phone is better but not great on a floodplain in earthquake country. Odds are after an emergency, when you get access to communication services the local last mile will still be out. So, I'll call our a agreed upon emergency co-ordinator who everyone is supposed to call. Where's the number?
So, the upshot of all of this is: Take a long walk with a friend, it'll help in case of emergency. More than most anything else.
Serious emergencies--that's another matter. Yes, I can survive 3 days. Yes, I have a month's supply of food laid in (but not water...need to fix that. Although I do have purification methods and a local creek, but...this is a superfund cleanup valley.)
******
More to the point, the most likely emergencies aren't general at all. They are personal/family emergencies--accidents, illnesses, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I've seen a few of those (not like some) and my conclusion? A good will, some estate planning, and taking care of my health as much as possible.
Back to those long walks with friends. Hmmm.
There's a plan for next week....
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 04:19 am (UTC)Here in New England, widespread fire is unlikely, as is an earthquake, and our house is not in a position to be affected by any but a Noachian flood, although a hurricane once put a foot and a half of water into our cellar.
We do have emergencies that keep us house-bound on a regular basis, in the form of weather. These don't require a go-bag, but rather a stay-stash. A basic supply is firewood. (Our furnace suddenly quit about a week ago, when the temperature got down into the single digits. We had a repair guy here at $140/hour, till just after midnight. The heating system stlll hadn't caught up when we woke up in the morning!)
Soon after we moved to New England, I came up with a theory that local character is formed by the type of natural disaster that people expect. For instance, in CA, there are earthquakes. No one knows when one is coming, nor how big it will be, but they have a fairly good idea where they are most likely. People take basic precautions, like not installing bookshelves on the wall above their beds, but otherwise they develop a bit of a fatalistic attitude. And when the big one hits, it hits everyone, and they band together.
In New England, the weather is the hazard, and you know when it's coming, and about how bad it will be, though not exactly where it will hit. Our first year here, I listened in fascination to the radio and TV telling me that the Hurricane Gloria would hit our town at about 3 PM, and the winds would be a certain speed, and we should fill our bathtubs with water now. If you are out and about when the weather hits (whether hurricane, blizzard, or ice storm), it is because you are an ignorant fool, and should have been paying more attention.