According to the Red Cross and the Department of Homeland Security, disaster preparedness consists of three basic steps:
1. Get a Kit
2. Make a Plan
3. Be informed.
Ask yourself, what is stopping you from accomplishing these steps? Maybe it is too scary, or you don’t know what to do. Making the kit will take too much time. The concept is too overwhelming or possibly you don’t understand the information.
How do you achieve this? First break down the project to smaller parts and set a time line with milestones. Before you know it you will have your Kit, your Plan and your information ready.
The Kit consists of the vital things you need to survive those 3-7 days that you will be on your own. Kits typically include water, food, first aid materials, prescriptions etc. There are many great websites that detail suggestions for your Kit. To ease the pain, make at least two Kits at the same time: one for your house and one for the car, and more for second and third cars as necessary. Use old duffle bags or other totes that you already own.
Here are a few suggestions to help you with the process of assembling your Kits.
* Make a complete list of everything you want to include in your Kits.
* Follow that up with collecting things around your house that you already own.
* Then update your list and go shopping.
If this doesn’t work for you there are several companies that sell prepared kits that you can purchase. Give yourself a month, but set a deadline and you will get this done.
Assemble your Kits. A great idea is to use a Sharpie maker and date everything you put in you bag. Set a date on your calendar to review the Kit every 6 months to check if any items needs to be replaced. The review should take no more than 5 minutes.
(In just one month you have assembled your Kits. Even if they are incomplete, this is better than having nothing. You can always add to the Kits as you think of more things that would be important.)
Make a Plan.
Have a family meeting to discuss gathering places. Talk about different scenarios such what to do if you need to a cross bridge that may be uncross able, or what to do if there is no cell phone service and you cannot communicate.
* Designate an out of area contact.
* Make cards with emergency numbers and plans for each family member to keep in their wallet.
Give yourself 2 weeks to have the meeting and to complete any follow up tasks that come out of the meeting.
(In a month and a half you have already completed your Kits and set a Plan.)
Compile and copy important paperwork and household information.
* Prepare a box that is easy to grab if you need to make a hasty exit.
* Make two copies of the important documents that you want to retain.
* Put one copy in your quick grab box, and send a second set to an out of area relative or keep elsewhere like safe deposit box.
These documents should include anything that is vital and important to your family and your home. These may include: house title, copies of insurance policies (health and home), passports, important numbers like bank information and social security information,
Preserve memories. Know one wants to lose memories. Create a home inventory by filming details room by room with a video camera and send it to your out of area contact. Not only is this useful for insurance purposes, but it will also be the memento of your home in the case where all is lost. Store your most treasured photo albums or boxes of photos in an easy to access place so that you can grab them. Transfer Photos to CD’s and store copies off-site.
Links to great kit lists and more information
These are some excellent websites to help you put together lists of items you want in your home and car kits.
American Red Cross
Ready Gov.
CORE Training for Oakland Residents
CORE Training is about the best you can do for your family and neighborhood. There are 3 levels of training and they are free to Oakland residents. Get your neighborhood together and schedule CORE I. See their web-site for details on scheduling.
