Disaster Tip of The Week: Don't Tell Others About Your Emergency Supplies

One very important rule of thumb about keeping supplies and having disaster or emergency plans and kits is to not tell others about it, especially if you don't want them showing up on your doorstep or even worse they could make taking your supplies part of their plan.

You may even want to have some extra supplies built in to give to some people so they will leave if the do show up. But you must be careful with this strategy as well since they may return with more people to try and take what you have.

These are of course worst case planning scenarios, but that is exactly when you want to keep what you are doing a secret.

This also goes for other locations you plan on heading to. If others know, all your stuff may be gone when you get there, or someone may have taken over your place. Keep everything a secret and tell your family to do so too.

Disaster Tip of The Week: Make Sure You Bring Items To Entertain The Kids

A basic but often over looked area when building your preparedness kit is to have items to keep the kids entertained and occupied.

Having them pack a an electronic gaming device like a Game Boy or Nintendo DS, or even an ipod are great ways to keep them entertained. Make sure you have battery backups, a solar or wind up charging device to keep them powered.

Another great way is pack some of your favorite board games, great not just for the kids but the entire family and will help to pass some time if you are waiting something out while sheltering in place. It also presents a way to make friends at your community shelter if you must go there.

Giving them pens, pencils or even crayons and blank paper can be useful as well.

As a last resort you can always share stories and story telling to pass the time, another great way to learn about one another or a new group of people.

Again, this is not the most important item in a survival kit, but if you have kids an excellent idea.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Preparedness Considerations for People with Disabilities and Special Needs

Photo by: exfordy 

Like everyone else, people with disabilities and special needs need to prepare for disasters and the unexpected at home and in the work place. While the basic needs are the same as most individuals there will be some obvious differences depending on the needs of that specific person. 

In the corporate world as I have worked as a consultant and spoken to others on this issue the preparedness level runs across an entire spectrum from the excellent, where people volunteer to help those with special needs to help them evacuate, to the legally questionable, "those people are on their own" attitude.

While I will not be addressing any of the workplace issues here, it is important to know that people with special needs, should be incorporated into your disaster planning. What I will be doing here is providing some basic advice for those with disabilities and special needs and for their family members who may also have concerns about preparedness issues.

First since everyone can start with the same basic preparedness needs here is an excellent checklist you can use for your emergency preparedness kit from Ready.gov It is in PDF format so it is easy for you to download and print out.

Next, start with the individual needs of the person, do they require more water? Odds are, they will for hygiene and sanitary purposes. Do they have special dietary needs, feeding tubes? These will require you to stock some extra items for these people in case of an emergency. People who take insulin which requires refrigeration also have concerns about power. These are just some small examples to get you thinking about deferent needs.

Here is a list from ready.gov which is quite useful to help you get started in planning for persons with disabilities:

• Create a support network to help in an emergency.
• Tell these people where you keep your emergency supplies.
• Give one member of your support network a key to your house or apartment.
• Contact your city or county government's emergency information management office. Many local offices keep lists of people with disabilities so they can be located quickly in a sudden emergency.
• Wear medical alert tags or bracelets to help identify your disability.
• If you are dependent on dialysis or other life sustaining treatment, know the location and availability of more than one facility.
• Show others how to operate your wheelchair.
• Know the size and weight of your wheelchair, in addition to whether or not it is collapsible, in case it has to be transported.

• Encourage electronic payments for federal benefit recipients. Keep in mind a disaster can disrupt mail service for days or even weeks. For those who depend on the mail for their Social Security benefits, a difficult situation can become worse if they are evacuated or lose their mail service – as 85,000 check recipients learned after Hurricane Katrina. Switching to electronic payments is one simple, significant way people can protect themselves financially before disaster strikes. It also eliminates the risk of stolen checks.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury recommends two safer ways to get federal benefits:

• • Direct deposit to a checking or savings account is the best option for people with bank accounts. Federal benefit recipients can sign up by calling (800) 333-1795 or at www.GoDirect.org.
  • The Direct Express® prepaid debit card is designed as a safe and easy alternative to paper checks for people who don’t have a bank account. Sign up is easy – call toll-free at (877) 212-9991 or sign up online at www.USDirectExpress.com.

  Signing up for direct deposit or the Direct Express card is a simple but important step that can help protect your family’s access to funds in case the unthinkable were to happen. If you or those close to you are still receiving Social Security or other federal benefits by check, please consider switching to one of these safer, easier options today.

• Additional Supplies for People with Disabilities:
  • Prescription medicines, list of medications including dosage, list of any allergies.
  • Extra eyeglasses and hearing-aid batteries.
  • Extra wheelchair batteries, oxygen.
  • Keep a list of the style and serial number of medical devices.
  • Medical insurance and Medicare cards.
  • List of doctors, relatives or friends who should be notified if you are hurt.

Be sure to visit the website Disability Preparedness from DHS for more information and resources.

One last note if you have family at home on an important life sustaining device that requires power at all times make sure you communicate that with your local power provider. Once they know that you have someone in your home that is a high priority and that you need power returned ASAP when it is out they will work with you to restore your power quickly. They will try when possible to keep power running to your home in many cases when servicing the area, and may even provide additional assistance in some cases by providing a generator (though not all may do so). You also can often get a direct number to someone in the office as an emergency contact as well. If this is a real concern for you I also would recommend having your own generator ready to go at all times. 

Disaster Tip of the Week: Still Not Sure on How To Prepare? Learn the Basics

When it comes to preparing for a disaster many people are not sure where to begin. In fact I often hear from many people that they are overwhelmed so they just don't do it.

Well it doesn't have to be so complex and you can get started with just the basics. Just watch this 3 minute video from the Ready.gov campaign and you will quickly learn the basics you need to prepare.

Disaster Tip of the Week: Start and Keep a Go Bag Ready At All Times

First let me start off by saying that your Go-Bag or Bug-Out Bag should not be your only, or main source in a survival situation. You should have other supplies ready to keep you and your family sustained for an extended period of time.

The idea of a Go-Bag or Bug-Out Bag is to have supplies ready at a moments notice should you have to leave or evacuate from your home, or other location. These supplies should be packed ahead of time and hopefully placed into a backpack so it is comfortable to carry since you may be traveling a long distance.

In most cases you would not have time to gather the supplies needed during an evacuation, so it is best to have them ready to go at all times. I see many people intending to use a go-Bag as their main source for survival if everything goes south. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep your go-Bag separate from your regular supplies.

In addition, every member of your family, or party if you have one should have their own bag. Even children should have their own bags so long as they can carry one. We'll discuss go-Bags for kids at another time.

Now that we have covered the true purpose of a go-Bag lets discuss what you should put in it. First the bag should be a good solid bag, preferably as mentioned earlier a backpack. If you have to leave on foot, or become stranded a backpack is the easiest bag to carry.

What should you put into your bag? While many people argue about what items and brands are best to carry, we are just going to stick with the basics.

Here is a basic list of items you will want to consider including in your go-Bag:

1.  Cash - plenty of it because depending on the event credit cards may not be useful. Consider having about $500 in ones (the more the better, and try to make them all singles), that way you never need change. A couple of quarter rolls could come in handy for Public phones, vending machines and laundry. Do not "flash" it around, unless you like being robbed, even assaulted, i.e. mugged. I suggest carrying different amounts in various pockets and keeping several "Throw Away Bills" in case you do get mugged, throw that onto the ground so you can make a fast get away.
2. First Aid Kit - a decent well-stocked kit, including a couple of weeks' supply of any prescription medications you need.
3. Sewing Kit. Include in this non-waxed floss and a U-shaped leather needle. Include extra needles, thread, buttons and if you can, fabric.
4. Clothing - Wool is best as cotton is useless once it gets wet; add thermal wear, underwear, sock and carry extras of everything.
5. Crank style Flashlight and glow-sticks.
6. Crank style NOAA weather/AM-FM Radio. If you use one that takes batteries, carry extras.
7. Food and water -- Carry enough to get you where you want to go plus extra.
8. Lighter, waterproof matches and another source such as a strike based fire starter. Always best to carry extras here as well.
9. Hand and feet warmers -- 2 per person if you can.
10. Good sleeping bag -- can double as a blanket at a shelter.
11. Good air matress if you can.
12. Wool blanket, not a must if you have a sleeping bag, but great to have.
13. Emergency Mylar Space blankets.
14. Good rain poncho -- one that covers you and your bag is best.
15. Rope -- Carry several, great for many things, from shelter, to rescue.
16. Duct Tape.
17. Tarp -- can double as emergency shelter if you don't have a tent.
18. Dust Masks carry several per person.
19. Maps -- local and the location where you want to go.
20. leather work gloves.
21. Folding saw.
22. Hatchet.
23. Multi-tool.
24. 2 knives.
25. Toiletries.
26. compass/GPS (good to carry 2 compasses if just for reassurance).
27. Gun and ammo if possible.
28. Fishing hooks, and fishing wire, a couple of sinkers and floats ill be good too.
29. Important documents, license, passport, etc.
30. pen and paper.

This is a great list to get started with and you will have to make adjustments based on what type of load you can carry, and how far you are traveling.

What are some items that you keep in your go-Bag?