If you’ve known me or my website for a while now, you probably know that my mission in life is to train as many people as possible with the skills to survive a disaster – that’s how I got the name for my business back in 1991. We know the United States has suffered enough casualties from disasters in the last 15 years to justify a practical approach to emergency preparation. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released a statement in April 2015 claiming that 60% of Americans do not have any disaster precautions in place. So why haven’t more families taken the safety advice of their Government? If you still haven’t packed your disaster survival kit, then please continue reading, because I hope this post will give you a kickstart to get prepared today.
“Disaster Survival Kit” means different things to different people, but it’s really just pre-packing the necessary items that will aid you and your family in a disaster or emergency. So you have to consider your risks and then take the steps to create solutions for those risks. Getting ready for a major earthquake really prepares you for just about anything. In an earthquake your risks are; no power, no water supply, first aid injuries, gas leaks and fires. There will transportation issues, people trapped and then mix all that with a whole lot of chaos. Everyone will be overwhelmed.
“Failure To Prepare, Is Preparing To Fail”
You don’t have to be overwhelmed if you can quickly shut off the gas, put out fires and treat your family’s first aid concerns. Oh yeah, this all needs to take place in the first 15 minutes of your life changing event. You will need two things to survive. Skills and Supplies. You need the tools to support your common sense survival skills. If you are waiting for someone from the government or your community to help, you could waiting a lot longer than 15 minutes. Because they will be busy responding to other emergencies. I’ve seen this stuff happen in more than 3 decades of service as a firefighter.
So what is everybody waiting for?
What’s your excuse for not packing your disaster survival kit? I am not a psychologist, but I think it only boils down to 3 things – and I really hope I can help you take action.
- I don’t think that my family and I will encounter a disaster (at least not in the near future). So you think you have plenty of time to prepare. Just remember it is better to be 5 years early than 5 minutes late. If this is your reason, I think it’s because you haven’t experienced a disaster in your lifetime, yet. I won’t try to scare you to convince you that we are all vulnerable to nature. All I can say is, “We should all hope for the best, and prepare for the worst”.
- It’s overwhelming. I don’t know where to begin, it sounds like a lot of work, and I don’t have time to do the research. Okay, this is an easy one. I have created a Family Disaster Preparedness Calculator, which will generate a report listing the foundation items with exact quantities that are necessary for your family to survive a disaster. This report is so simple to follow, realistic, and all the supplies are listed in the order of importance. It covers first aid, fire, utilities, water, food, shelter, sanitation, lights, pets, and even your cars. I also included a quick guide on how to use the supplies.
- I think it will take a lot of time and money to assemble a kit. Yeah, running around town trying to assemble the dozens of items will take a lot of time and work. It is actually probably cheaper and quicker just to buy a kit already assembled. Just make sure you use my guidelines for supplies, so you know you are getting what you really need in a real disaster. Nobody wants to spend a lot of money for a disaster kit that won’t get the job done. That’s why I created these real world recommendations. So give it a go – generate your checklist now and let me help you get started.
Just like most things worth doing, getting started is the hardest thing to do.
So, do your future self a favor, start now by generating your checklist and let’s take action. Become your family’s Hero!