No I don’t mean spending time with the osculating toy on a string but the time “You're On Your Own” (YOYO) from the time a disaster or emergency happens and when help arrives. As we have seen in the past few years natural disasters happen and happen in areas that are sometimes not known for having disasters. To date in 2011, according to FEMA (FEMA, 2011), here have been 86 disasters in the first nine months of the year draining FEMAs operating budget for the year and we still have three months to go.
So getting back to the YOYO time. What will happen in this time? How long will it take for help to arrive? Why will it take so long for help to arrive? These are but a few questions that come up in the time of a crisis. Let’s start off with the last question first; why will it take so long for help to arrive? City and county resources are limited even for normal day-to-day operations, through in a disaster and they are stretched even more by the needs of the people. First responders are dispatched to areas requiring the most help first like the scene of the disaster or the area with the most people in harm’s way. How long will it take for help to arrive? Good question it could take minutes if you are at the source of the disaster or in harm’s way. It could also take many days if weather conditions hamper rescue personal or utility crews. Let’s look at hurricane Irene. While not producing the damage predicted many people were without power for up to two weeks – can you live without power for that long? The final question, what will happen during this time? Just about anything you can think of depending on the disaster. You need to be prepared to take care of yourself, family, and possible your neighbors for several days. Are you prepared?
Yes are you prepared? Most people in the US are not. A 2007 poll by the American Public Health Association found that "only 23% of the public had taken steps to be prepared" (Taylor, 2007, p. 430). The same poll found that 27% of the population said they were prepared but only half of them said they had three days food, water, medicine, and first aid kits. Family planning and communication plans were lacking and a surprising 23-28% of the population was not prepared at all. My personal feelings, based on people that I have spoken with is that these number of people not prepared are much higher than that.
So how do we get prepared? What do we need to stock up? Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit:
• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger
Where do we go or find information on getting prepared for a disaster? There are so many additional questions and so many different answers these questions that identifying one single source is impossible. With today’s internet technology and social networking all we have to do is Google “disaster preparedness” and you will find thousands of web pages, links, forums, blogs, face book, twitter pages, the list goes on. On top of the list for resources are the government and Red Cross web sites:
• http://www.fema.gov/
• http://www.redcross.org/
• http://www.ready.gov/
Personal or private Blogs:
• http://www.disasterpreparednessblog.com/
• http://www.all-things-emergency-prepared.com/emergency-preparedness-blog.html
• http://survivalblog.com/
Podcast are my favorite to listen to. I typically listen to three a day, sometimes for the content and some days for the humor. Of these podcast I like “The Survival Podcast” by Jack Spirko. His motto is “Helping you life the live you want, if times get tough or even if they don’t”.
• http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/
• http://www.prepperpodcast.com/
• http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper
There are also numerous videos on www.YouTube.com just look up videos for Dave Canterbury or Jack Spirko.
No matter where you look on the internet you will find information on disaster survival. Look it up, get involved with a forum, blog, or podcast, and most important, get prepared.
Jerry R.
Works Cited
FEMA. (2011, Oct 2). Disaster Totals Annual. Retrieved Oct 2, 2011, from http://www.fema.gov: http://www.fema.gov/news/disaster_totals_annual.fema
Taylor & Francis Group. (2010). Theory-Based Approaches to Understanding Public Emergency Preparedness: Implications for Effective Health and Risk Communication. Journal of Health Communication , 428–444.
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