The purpose of this article is to follow up (in continuation to one of our first posts introducing the acronym “FOUR”).
In this blog post, we provide a brief breakdown to one of the (below) FOUR steps involved during the preparation phase of your emergency planning:
F-ormulate Your Plan
O-rganize Your Plan
U-tilize Your Plan
R-epeat Your Plan
Each step can be applied to any type of emergency plan (whether you’re in a workplace, at home, traveling, in a school setting, a public/private venue, or anywhere that’s advisable to plan ahead if you or someone you know lives/works in a disaster prone area). We hope that these basic guidelines serve as a compass-from start to finish-during the brainstorming phase.
Each step will be discussed in future articles (one blog post at a time).
But, before getting started, here are a few important things to consider:
• Why are you doing this? Who are you doing it for? Are you doing this for yourself, your family, your neighbors or community?
• Who will you include in the planning process? Your family, your friends, or your neighbors?
• Should you go “off grid”? How far would you go or can you afford to go? Should you make a plan to go somewhere else?
• Who do you share the completed survival plan with? Should you keep it a secret?
Depending on the potential crisis, if it involves keeping your family out of harm’s way, not sharing your plan with just anyone can help make all the difference in keeping your loved ones alive/safe/protected/fed.
These are just a few things to consider.
Most likely, well into the brainstorming process, you might come up with more ideas.
So, here are a few things you might find helpful when formulating a plan.
F-ormulate Your Plan (Step One)
Formulating a plan can be as simple as writing down your own practical ideas, strategies or PIY (Prepare It Yourself) or DIY hacks. Perhaps, at some point, you may have already thought about or used these ideas/hacks during a difficult time of need.
Food: How will you feed yourself or your loved ones and pets?? Research different ways to make fire. Create a prospective draft of the different types of weekly meal plans using either purchased civilian MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) or P4 Ready Made Meals or PIY homemade dehydrated protein snacks.
Water; if traveling, how much drinkable/safe/clean water will you have access to? If staying home, how much storage space is available to store enough water for the entire family?
Air: If you’ve never thought about it before, now is a good time to consider becoming more active. Small, doable baby steps can increase your cardiovascular endurance sitting down. Can you imagine that? Sitting down? It’s a real thing. Check it out: https://bit.ly/2GggqSq.
“A good cardiovascular system means being fit to survive with less oxygen (air).”
~PrepareFOUR 2019
Shelter: Where will you stay? Will you stay at a temporary shelter? If you have a pet, what will you do with your pet? Most, if not all, temporary shelters, do not allow pets at disaster relief locations. What type of BOB (Bug Out Bag) is suitable enough? Will it sustain any type of climate/ condition (hot, cold, rainy/humid, dry, extreme cold weather)? If traveling, consider the type of plan that best suits your needs. Can you set up a meet-up location in advance? Think about the type of disaster or crisis likely to happen within your area. What is the best course of action to keep you/your loved ones out of harm’s way? Remember that safety always comes first. What would be the safest thing to do? Who will know of your whereabouts? Is it safer to stay at a relative’s/friend’s home? Be prepared for the unexpected and…
“PACE” your plan based on your family’s needs (incl. pets, seniors, disabled persons, children/infants).
Another one of our USEFUL acronyms “PACE” will be discussed and broken down for you in future separate articles.
Stay tuned….
Next article: O-rganize Your Plan (Step Two)
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