Oh joy oh bliss, just what you needed on a sunny morning in April right?
Right.
As promised, I’m talking today about emergency preparedness, which basically means that you can take care of yourself when or if the ***bleep*** hits the fan.
In a nutshell, here’s what you need to think about.
1) Money and gas. Make sure your car is filled up at all times. In an emergency, earthquake or whatever else could happen, you’re likely not going to be able to get gas. power may be out, people may be panicking and the last thing you want to do is go anywhere near a commercial centre. I am NOT a big fan of the idea of going to a “gathering” place and those should, in my opinion, should be left to anyone who hasn’t taken proper steps to ensure their preparedness.
Money. Always makes sure you have cash on hand at all times. In this day and age of electronic credit transfers, the bank machines will be down and stores that do manage to stay open will only be able to process cash. period.
2) Update your first aid training and first aid kit. This is especially critical if you have staff and maintain a production facility. Make sure you have extra medication on hand at all times, and add an extra pair of glasses, sunscreen, hats, dust masks and eye protection.
3) fire extinguishers. keep them handy, maintain them, make sure everyone around knows how to use them. know where the gas shut off is and how to turn it off yourself. Make sure there is a wrench in your go-bag or stored near the shut off. That way, if you smell gas and there are fires around you, shut it off and then go help your neighbours. just because your home is safe now, doesn’t mean that a fire can’t spread! Whatever you do, do not light candles inside your office or home until you know for certain the gas is shut off, and it’s been aired out.
4) Make sure you have extra food and water on hand for at least two to three weeks, if not a month…for every single person in your office or home! With the earthquakes and tsunami, people were left stranded with no water, electricity or access to cash. I keep two 20 litre bottles in my garage along with another 18 litre jug in my home. I also have water collecting in buckets and am in the process of converting an old agave syrup barrel into a rain collector. Be sure you know the laws in your state or province. I read recently that there are states that have actually made collecting rainwater illegal… yup, you heard me. And here I thought the rain belonged to god and to all of us. guess not eh?
In terms of food, make sure you have items on hand that can be eaten raw, cans of food, tinned nuts,lots of superfoods, chia seeds, chlorella, spirulina, rescure remedy for both you and your pets to help with stress and anxiety, sprouting seeds which you can sprout in a few days and are packed with nutrients and protein. Make sure you have a secondary form of cooking, like a BBQ with a full tank of propane, or camping stove, or even a campfire.
5) make a go-bag for you and everyone in your office. make sure each person has a bag stashed in a safe place that can be accessed easily. Go-bags should have money, flashlight, extra clothes, warm socks, food, first aid kit, windup radio, knife, rope, whistle, water and copies of all your most important papers, like insurance, drivers licence, passport, emergency contacts. there are lots of resources available to help you decide what you think is best to have.
6) on a more mundane note, buy and use a shredder in your office. Just do it. you can compost some of the paper or all of it if you use paper that is eco-friendly and doesn’t have too many chemicals in it.
7) create a plan in an emergency. You want to know what you’re going to do and where you’re going to go in an emergency. Make sure someone out of your immediate area has your contact information and those of the people you love who do not live close. That way, you may be able to get information to your contact and then they can call out for you if you’re stuck. This happens all the time. Maybe you are not able to travel, but emergency crews do and can take a written message from you to another out of town location where your contact can then spread the word you’re ok. this has to be done in advance and is very simple to do.
Plant a vegetable garden. If everyone who had even a tiny patch or balcony all planted one little box of food, we’d all be better off in this world. In my neighbourhood alone, if ever single person put in just a 4×4 box and grew lettuces, a tomato plant, carrots, and beans, we’d all be able to feed ourselves, at least partially, and it would take the burden off emergency shelters.
9) Finally, keep a sense of perspective at all times. People scoff all the time at this kind of planning and try to make you feel like you’re some freak for being prepared. It’s not about you expecting it to happen or doom and gloom attitude. What it is is a sense of calm self-assuredness that you can take care of yourself, your family or employees.
Now, take a deep, cleansing breath, be thankful for being alive, right here, right now, and try to do at least one thing today to get better prepared. Go buy a jug of water and store is in the shed. Pick up a few extra cans of food when you pop out to buy groceries. Start now. I can bet that no one in Christchurch or Japan had any idea that the day the earthquakes hit would have changed their lives how it has.
