WEEKEND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

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Last time I spoke about getting prepared for an emergency, I talked about making sure you have a good supply of food and water. 

Today, I wanted to talk about first aid.  You never know what what could happen during an emergency and so it's very important you have first aid supplies.

This week on the news, we heard about more tornadoes touching down, storms coming and Japan recently had another earthquake. 

In each of those cases, people were injured.  They needed first aid. 

Hopefully, you and I will never find us in a disaster like those.  However, it's always better to be prepared and not need it then to find yourself needing something and not having it.

The more you have in your first aid kit, the better prepared you are.  You can purchase a kit already made.

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When you get ready made kits, you most likely will have most of what you need.  Just not a lot of any one thing. 

That is why I would rather make my own kits. 

I'm slowly building up a supply of items that may be needed.  But, until then, I do have a few ready made kits on hand.

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Even smaller kits are better then nothing.  Plus, when you put your own kit together you can then use the ready made kits for your cars.  Everyone should have one in their cars in case of an accident.

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Here are items recommended by the Red Cross. 

I think these are great items to start buying.  Once you get these items, you can get other things.  Think about what you would need if someone you know received a deep cut, a burn or a broken bone. 

You may not be able to call 911 to get help.  You may not be able to drive to the hospital because the roads are damaged.  It may be up to you to save someone in your family or a neighbor.

Everyone should take a CPR class.  You can always go to your local Red Cross for classes.  Learn what to do in an emergency.  Your knowledge could be the only thing standing between life and death of those you love.

Also, make sure you have a supply of your prescriptions in your kit.  Ask your doctor to write you a prescription for a month or longer.  Be sure you rotate them and check the date on all your items in your kit for expiration dates. 

But, if you should find yourself in an emergency and your supplies are expired.  Go ahead and use them if it's all you can do.  Most likely they will be fine and even if they lose some of the potency it's better then nothing.

This of course is only if you can't get medical treatment else where and it could be days or longer. 

Don't forget supplies for your pets too.  You never know if they may get injured.  Pets panic and get scared.  It's best to put them a crate if you can.  Even if your pets are like mine and hate being a crate.  It's better then having them run off or under something that could end up being dangerous.

No one likes to think about being in a disaster. Yet, it's always a possibility that it could happen to any of us. 

The more you plan and prepare now, the better you will be should anything happen.  Be safe, not sorry.

I'm going to post on emergency preparedness every weekend and share what I learn as I go from being 100% unprepared to as prepared as I can be. 

I say as prepared as can be because no one can ever be 100% prepared.   No matter how much you think you are prepared, you never know what Mother Nature has in store for us. 

Chances are, if you are prepared as much as you can be, you will most likely be OK should a disaster strike.

ARE YOU PREPARED?

Are you prepared for any type of an emergency that may happen near you?  Say, an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, terrorist attack or any other type of disaster?

I thought we were pretty well set here at my house.  We have an earthquake kit.  It has flash lights, batteries, candles, some water and food and things like that.

But, the more I read about things going on in this world, the more I see I'm not ready at all.

We always have a case or two of water that we drink.  But, we never had an actual supply of water that we saved in case we needed it.

We also never stock piled food, first aid supplies, tooth paste, toilet paper or other every day items.

It just seemed like we had some and since we have never had a major emergency here (thank goodness) we would always have to get ready later.

Well, it seems like weekly we are hearing of some type of storm, flood, earthquake or other natural disaster hitting some where.  Plus, there are always the threats of a big terrorist attack.  I also live near by a nuclear power plant, that not long ago, had some of us worried due to problems going on there.

I also watch that show on National Geographic called Doomsday Preppers.  Have you heard of it or seen it?

These people on the show are preparing for doomsday or end of the world, as we know it, times.

They have years worth food and water stock piled.  They have guns and ammo that could outfit a small army. 

To me, they seem to be going a bit over board.  OK more then a bit.  More like a lot over board.  But, who am I to say how much is enough.

We all know that any day we could have something happen that would knock out our food and water supplies.  We see gas prices going up and up and if it keeps on, soon the truckers won't be able to afford the gas and then supplies could run short or get so high we can't afford the.

A natural disaster could keep trucks, trains or planes from getting through and that would cause supplies to be very short and finally dry up completely. 

FEMA says we should all have at least 3 days worth of food and water.  Most experts say you should have much more then that.

I started today to stock up on some things.  You can see it's not much.  But just with what I got today, we have enough food and water to last us those 3 days.  We have breakfast, lunch and dinner and still would have left overs.

It's just me and my sister here.  But, I want to have enough supplies for the rest of my family too because I know they are not prepared at all and as of right now have no plans on getting there either.  So, we will have enough for them and they can come stay here if need be.

I've also joined a group that teaches you how to get prepared, what you need, how to survive without food, water, electricity, gas and even shelter.

So, as I go on this journey, I want to share with you tips and ideas of what I learn.

The first tip is what I did today.  On your next outing to the store, pick up some water and packaged food that has a long shelf life.  Start with a three day supply.  If you do that every time you go to the store, you will have a nice stock pile in no time.

You need at least one gallon of water per person a day.  Don't buy food that you have never had before or don't really like.  Get stuff you know you enjoy because if anything happens you will be very thankful you did.  Who wants to be stressed out and then find out the food you bought tastes so bad no one in your family will eat it.

Make sure you know what to cook with your supplies too.  If you buy 50 lbs of dried carrots, what are you going to do with them? 

Buy what you can, when you can and soon you will be ahead of 70% of the people around you. 

It seems like more and more people are seeing the world change with more natural disasters, the economy being so bad, gas prices going sky high and so on.

Because of this, more and more people are starting to get prepared. 

I say it's better to prepared and not need the supplies then to wish you were prepared should you need to be. 

Heck, if nothing else, you have a stock pile of supplies that you can use that most likely cost you a lot less then what they will cost in the future.

So tell me, are you prepared?