What Everyone Needs to Prepare for Disaster
I recently put together a post on my SpecialNeedsPeople site that focused on "Prepping" if you would. Prepping for the unthinkable disasters that happen all over the world almost daily.
It began as a "How To" for primarily people with disabilities but as I continued to build it up I began to notice that before my eyes this post began to morph into a quick "How To" for all of us. I found it interesting that there really wasn't a significant difference between what healthy, non-impaired people needed to do and what I had begun to put together for people with disabilities.
In this post I did a little coaching as to how to approach disaster prepping for and learning proper life-saving procedures. This post quickly became a guide to the readers in that while I attempted to list various life-saving items I realized that I could just as easily show you what and where you could find these things.
I found that talking about, for example, what one would need in their Bug-Out-Bag and additional items that over the years we have decided to add the Bag which is now becoming more of a Bug-Out-Suitcase. That is not my intention. Yes, everything I put in the list of items recommended by the experts for our escape supplies is important. My suitcase has large wheels and a sturdy handle for long jaunts on foot but we all carry our necessity bag ourselves.
I feel it is necessary to remind everyone however, that the Bug-Out-Bag should be minimized so that anyone can grab theirs and get out of Dodge in an emergency.
ONLY if you have the time to get your Bug-Out-Suitcase and only if you have the ability to safely take it with you should you even bother with it. My son's power chair can practically pull out tree stumps. We just attach it to the back of his chair and he's off.
This is not a good option for manual wheelchairs or even the small scooters because of the lack of enough power and range to make your getaway safely with the extra items. Our Bug-Out-Bags are minimized to get the job done with as few items as possible while still being useful. They are small enough to throw over your shoulder and run. Same goes of the scooters and manual chairs.
If you are a person with a disability, particularly if you get around via scooter or manual wheelchair, I would suggest that you enlist a large muscle-bound person to help you with your expanded bag. As you will see in the article, you need the compact bag but there is 1 single item that everyone will want to add to your personal Bug-Out-Bag that can make the difference between survival and death for all people. That is a PLB (personal locator beacon) or PLT, a GPS model that will work almost anywhere since it uses a satellite. Check it out.
I hope you NEVER have to rely on a PLB/PLT or even a Bug-Out-Bag. If you are going to put one together, take the time to do it right. In the article, I have tried to shorten your time to completion by putting a fairly extensive list with photos and links so that this doesn't take you months to do.
If you have any suggestions as to changes, deletions, or better procedures PLEASE Comment on the site or this page. I promise to follow up on every one possible.
Here's to preparing well and saving lives!
Regards,
David
aka. Hygrade
Recent Comments
12
David,
Many people do not realize that these things are necessary today
we never know when a national disaster is going to strike.
Thank you for sharing,
Susan
Thank You for your comment. You are exactly right when you say "We never know when a national disaster is going to strike". That is why it is so important for everyone to get themselves "Prepared". No one can afford to wait until the last moment because God only knows when that will be.
Honored to be the first one to comment on this post. And I say Amen! No matter where we are and what particular circumstances we need to have at the minimum, the basics in survival. Great post.
Joe/JosonInc
Thank you for taking the time to read the post! I am so blessed to have a chance to reach out to the people who are not prepared. All of this planning is so extremely important. It is even important for those who are already prepared because new items to help protect us come along and we can also prevent missing something important that can save lives.
Big David
You are so absolutely right. I have started out here putting together a very brief set of sources, resources, and how-to's that were initially designed to help people with disabilities to become more knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with a variety of disasters and therefore better able to survive when the need arises.
I have noticed that most of those people with disabilities just don't know how to deal with problems like this. I couldn't find anyone who actually focused on THEIR needs and capabilities. Then when they look up sources they quickly become discouraged by the magnitude of information, most of which is designed with normal healthy people. I won't be asking them to bury a bunker in the woods or how to store supplies for a hundred years or how to make a giant catapult out of giant trees. My goal is to focus on what these people with disabilities can really do to be prepared to survive whether it is just them or their whole family.
I am hoping to draw out some questions directly from them so I can be better focused on THEIR SPECIFIC NEEDS.
Of course I will eventually spread out my focus to help everyone.
We don't have a Disaster Calendar or Schedule so we are all required to look around and use our collective imaginations to map out the shortest and most effective path to survival whenever that happens.
Thanks Again,
David
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Your post made me feel uncomfortable. I thank you very much indeed because it showed me an aspect of reality which I'm probably not prepared to deal with and I just choose to ignore.
I'm aware of my own skills and strengths, which I guess don't include the ability to lead in an emergency situation.
Food for thought.
Thanks for sharing, David.
Thank you my friend. I guess it is almost the 15th for you. Are we still going to take a look at teaming up? Right now I am having big problems with Google+. They sent me a 3 emails saying I had spam in my account. I have some type of code in each but not a clue as to what they are talking about. Catch you tomorrow if you are still wanting to do this.
Regards,
David
sent a PM. Regards