Emergency Preparation - We Survive It

Swine Flu Warnings From The 1970′s

Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 12:29 pm

This is a series of Government Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) from 1976 warning people to get the swine flu vaccine. It’s actually very creepy to see these commercials. There are reports that there was a swine flu death in 1976 and over twenty deaths from the old vaccine. Please keep in mind that this was over 30 years ago and medicine and vaccine production has come a long way since then. As with any situation that is known throughout the world and shown constantly on the news, there will be conspiracy theories regarding the swine flu vaccine. I am in no way adding to the conspiracy theories, but these commercials do make you think. Please click the link below to view the commercials.

Swine Flu Vaccine Commercials From The 1970′s

I will post follow ups on this as I research it. I am not saying the vaccine is dangerous, in fact I am most likely going to get the vaccine when it is available to me.

Doomsday Shelter – Or Survive In Place?

Saturday, October 15th, 2011 at 11:40 pm

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Doomsday shelters are in vogue again. It hasn’t been like this since the cold war, bomb shelters in back yards, freeze dried food flying off shelves, people wanting to feel secure. Why not? Even if you don’t believe in 2012, or civil and economic collapse, it’s always a good idea to be ready for ANYTHING! How can you prepare for “anything”? You can’t. You can make some basic decisions and take some safeguards that will help you and your family survive a lot of different scenarios, but not everything.

: © Marijus – Fotolia.com

While doomsday shelters can guard against a lot of emergencies, they can’t guard against them all. If an asteroid the size of Rhode Island hit the central United States tomorrow, there isn’t a bomb shelter made that would save you and your family. The best you can do is stock up, plan, and pray. You could spend the equivalent of a new home for what it costs for a bomb shelter. If you have that kind of money, go for it.

If you are like the average Joe, and you just want to do what you can, with what you have, then concentrate on just a few important points. First, spend what you can on water purification - be it filters, tablets, storage, or wells (all of the above if you can). Second, stock up on non-perishable foods. Keep in mind how many family members you are planning for. Third, fortify any space you can, a basement, shed, or, in extreme cases, a fortified hole in your yard with basic roof coverage. Please, DO NOT just dig a hole in your yard, it will kill you. Only dig a hole if you know danger is imminent, then make sure you fortify the walls, every step you dig. (Please, I cannot caution you enough on how dangerous this can be).

In the end, planning to survive in place, is the most economical, and most encompassing method of preperation. Think about it this way, if you spend thousands on a doomsday shelter, food, and water only to experience a catastrophe that no one normally could survive, are you sure you want to be around afterwards? A slower, more painful end may be the ultimate result.

Take Basic Steps To Avoid Catching H1N1

Monday, October 10th, 2011 at 3:33 pm

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This virus is an an air borne flu. That, however, is only true for a short period of time. The virus needs to land, as it dies quickly in the air. The virus is not floating around

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looking for a victim, it floats for a short period of time, then dies, or lands in an area it is safe. The most dangerous aspect of H1N1, is when it lands somewhere safe.

The good news concerning this fact is that is easily avoidable for most people. If you follow some basic principles, you can decrease the chance of catching it, altogether. The best means of survival is to not have to fight to survive in the first place.

Always do your best to avoid touching common areas. The virus can get on your hands in a matter of seconds, or less. These areas includes door handle, sinks, toilets, phones, elevator buttons, grocery carts, counter tops, and the worst of all, digital pens from Fed/Ex, or UPS deliveries.
Even if you have done everything possible to keep from touching “common areas”, DO NOT touch any part of your face. It is very important to keep from touching any moist opening, like your nostrils, eyes, and mouth. The virus will travel from your hands to a moist, rich, breeding ground without you even realizing it.
You should wash your hand every chance you get. The object is to not disinfect your hands by drowning, or killing the virus with chemicals. The point is to wash the virus away from you. Ordinary soap is the best tool you have. Your clean hands are the KEY.
If you sneeze, or cough, use your elbow, or hands. If you are sitting down with short sleeves on, pull your leg up and cough into your pants! No joking, it’s that important that you keep any fluids from escaping into the air.
One of the most difficult habits to break is shaking hands. We have been taught all of our lives how important a handshake is. The handshake can take a break. If someone reaches out to shake your hand, pat them on the back, instead. If they seem turned off, tell them why. Be honest, they need to understand the importance of it. If they feel you socially embarrassed them, so what? This is more important than some guy’s ego.
If you feel the least bit of fever, body aches, etc. Quarantine yourself! Times are hard, I know, but if we don’t show some personal responsibility in this pandemic, times will be much worse.
Disposable kleenex ,or bathroom tissue, and paper towels are the best tools for noses, coughs, and sneezes. Once used, flush them away. Don’t save them throughout the day, you’re just spreading the virus more. Use common sense on garbage waste, but err on the side of caution. The environment can live through this temporary use of paper products.
Please follow these simple guidelines, and prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. Keep in mind that if you have to quarantine yourself, you need to have stocked up on survival necessities ahead of time.

A General Guide To Survival Planning

Saturday, September 24th, 2011 at 6:00 am

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Survival is easy if the proper steps are taken. This cannot cover specific elements like the possibility of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The three main categories to plan for survival are preparedness, basic survival, and a plan to rebuild. To be prepared you must define a scope for your plan, for example if you are planning for a flood include only those things that involve that flood don’t plan for everything all at once, such as a terrorist attack , Hurricane, and flood. That is too much to take on all at once. Basic survival means making sure you have enough supplies for all of the people that depend on you for survival. For example if you have a 72 hour survival kit for four people, and you have planned to survive a Hurrican strike for three days, then your elderly neighbor needs help, your supplies will no longer last the duration of 72 hours. Lastly, rebuild have a general plan on the short term survival, but also have in mind a plan for after the event so if there was a flood you could resume normal life as soon as possible.

Preparing A Disaster Plan For Your Family

Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 11:04 am

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Are you prepared should a devastating disaster or emergency occur where you live? Things like fire, flood, earthquakes, and terrorism can trigger a mandatory evacuation notice. If you are asked to evacuate due to an emergency, you should follow a prepared checklist, high stress events may scramble your thoughts and you may forget important items. A well thought out checklist will make things run smoothly and can be used to practice with your family. Familiarization with items in the checklist will help children cope with the disaster and they can help during the emergency.

Items to include in your checklist are things you would not be able to replace easily, like important papers, wills, etc. Things like your passport, social security card, drivers license, medical records, and insurance information will be needed after the event to begin the repair process. Think about your pets, what are their needs? Tags and Identification, a carrier or cage, a leash, food, immunization records are just some of the items to include on your checklist.

Do you have a baby? Don’t forget to include the diapers, formula, food, and changes of clothing. You will need to gather personal hygiene items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, deodorant, lotion, Kleenex, toilet paper and other items. How about those personal mementos that can never be replaced? Photographs! Should you have digitized your photos make a CD and keep it updated so you can quickly pack the CD, or even download them to a small flash drive.

Are there special needs in your family? Does someone need to use a wheelchair? Special medications would need to be packed and some even need to be keep cold. Keeping an ice pack in the freezer to place in an ice chest should you have to evacuate or loose power is a very good ides. Once you’ve put together a good checklist, have a dry run with it. Assign family members to work on individual items and designate a collection area. The garage is a good place seems you’ll probably be packing the family car with the items. Work out the kinks and take suggestions from each family member to improve the list. Don’t ignore a child’s input, sometimes they come up with very important things you may have overlooked.

Now that you have a good plan, set up a time to test it each year. If you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, tornadoes, or Hurricanes, practice a few weeks before the start of the season so working through the checklist is familiar to everyone in the family. Being prepared makes unmanageable events manageable!