Survival Planning – Community or Individual

Jul 31

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Planning is the key to preparing for survival during a disaster. This is one of the reasons I developed my survival gear checklist which is available on this site for download.

Although we prepare as individuals, we can learn some important lessons from the people that plan for our communities when it comes to disasters. An example of this is in a recent article that I found on the web, Tuscaloosa Chief Offers Key Tips When Facing a Natural Disaster.

The Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Alan Martin, presented several tips to various community agencies to help better prepare them for natural disasters. Although these were aimed at emergency personnel, I thought that several of the items really apply to us as individuals as well.

Here are a few of the major points and my thinking as related to our survival needs.

  •  Staff 3-4 deep in critical sections. – Although he was speaking about personnel in the various departments, it reminded me that having a backup for many critical items is important. An example would be flashlights. We might have some readily available but the batteries might be dead. Having an alternative source would be helpful.
  • Resist sending most of your assets to the initial calls. Establish response priorities. – To me as an individual, this means that I need to take a few moments to evaluate the situation and consider what might happen in the next several hours. Think before you act or over-commit.
  • Remember that something you plan on won’t be there! – You can’t plan on everything working according to your initial preparedness plan. Be willing to adapt to the situation. As you have heard before, survival is largely based on your mental state.
  • There’s no time to do anything other than REACT when a disaster strikes. You must plan ahead of time. – This is exactly what we are doing right now, planning for the most probable so we WILL know what to do and what options are available for us should the time come. Planning reduces our vulnerability to an event.
  • Social networks are invaluable to allow people to check up on each other. – Consider using Facebook, Twitter or some other social site as a way to notify your family of the situation. Think of these social sites and services as a virtual meeting point for everyone in you family. This includes both the immediate family and those living away from you that will be worried and looking for updates.
  • Remember the words of Colin Powers that “PERPETUAL OPTIMISM is a FORCE MULTIPLIER!”. – Again, having a positive mental outlook will help both you and those around you.

No matter if you are an individual or a community, planning and preparedness can greatly reduce our vulnerability during a disaster. Take time today to begin you survival planning for the most probable situations in your area.

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