The Secret of Teaching Disaster Preparedness!

Headlines are full of hurricanes, earthquakes, bird flu, terrorism, and other dangers of the world in which we live. However, most civilians aren’t prepared to face a disaster or even a family emergency. This begs the question “Why not?” This article is intended for those who want to change this fact by teaching others, including their own families, to be better prepared, safer, and more self-reliant.

We’ve identified several “learning obstacles” that prevent individuals and families from being as emergency ready as they should be. We’ll list them here quickly then cover each in more detail and discuss ways to jump these learning hurdles.

Since we’re talking about educating families – the cornerstone of all reaction plans - let’s use the acronym F.A.M.I.L.I.E.S.:

Fear – “It’s too scary to think about.”

Attention Span – “I’m too busy to learn or do anything new.”

Media – “There’s always a weatherman in the hurricane.”

Info Levels Now – “A 72-hour kit is all I need.”

Lifestyle Ties – “I don’t want to change the way I live.”

Income – “I can’t afford to buy the gear or take the steps.”

Ego – “I’m so important that others will look after me.”

Selflessness – “I’m not worried about me, I want to help others.”

Why is it important to increase the level of civilian preparedness training over what we have through sites like ready.gov? That question can be a series of articles on its own, but the 4-part short answer is one, most free websites have only the bare minimum info; two, the fewer victims we have in a disaster the better off we’ll all be; three, all business continuity plans rest on the ability of employees to return to work; and four, the term “civilians” includes the families of first responders. The more prepared the family, the more able is the responder to report for duty.

As we cover each learning obstacle below, you’ll find a brief description of the problem followed by a few specific tips on how to deal with that particular issue. When teaching, remember that people have different learning styles. Visual learners do best by watching. They are receptive to videos, PowerPoint, or live demos. Auditory learners prefer verbal communication such as podcasts, or books on tape. Kinesthetic learners benefit from hands-on experience. Try to incorporate a little of each into your presentations.

Fear: Fear is probably the number one reason people don’t prepare. Too many people focus on the dangers they may face in disasters, rather than the benefits of self-reliance. Worse, many so-called experts dwell on nothing but the threat since they have little to no new preparedness information. Let’s look at ways to teach readiness while avoiding fear:

Take a tip from insurance salespeople. They focus on the benefits of the policy rather than the reasons you might need one. Accentuate the positives of preparedness, not worst case scenarios.

Use “mundane” threats to get people to prepare for more dire situations. For example, people living on the coast understand hurricanes and are receptive to helpful tips regarding evacuation. However, you might get a negative reaction with a “nuke in the harbor” scenario.

Teach preparedness without mentioning a threat. For example, focus on financial planning. It’s more economical to buy groceries in bulk and cook at home, and it’s also healthier. Guess what? This means you’ll have more food at home in a shelter-in-place situation. Also, encouraging families to take up camping as a hobby inadvertently helps prepare them for an evacuation.

Attention Span: With microwave ovens, ATMs, email, and so forth, we live in a world of instant gratification. We have become a society whose mantra is “Just give me the condensed intro, not the whole pamphlet.” We rarely take time to do a thorough and detailed job of anything, and the notion of adding things to the list, even something life-saving, is out of the question.

Most people don’t realize that being prepared for disaster takes only subtle modifications to your life and doesn’t require extensive study or training.
People in this category appreciate “helpful hints,” so break things down into bite-size pieces. Use simple (though detailed and thorough) checklists and bulleted lists rather than wordy text or long speeches. For one such list, see “50 Emergency Uses for Your Camera Phone” at http://www.disasterprep101.com/news.htm.

Show them how some aspects of preparedness can save time. For example, having more food in the pantry saves shopping time. Also, being current and comprehensive with your insurance policies and personal documentation will save months worth of time getting your life back on track after a disaster.

Media: News channels can be a double-edged sword. They’re great for emergency warnings, but sometimes contradict themselves. For example, weather stations will pass along evacuation warnings in advance of a hurricane, but then they’ll send a reporter out in the middle of it to give a live report. Some people see this and think hurricanes are no big deal. We’ve seen the same in minor chemical spills. Let your preparedness students know that: Things are always smaller and friendlier on TV than in real life. A picture of a snake isn’t the least bit alarming. However, turn one loose in your classroom…. (No, don’t actually do this!)

News sources live and die on ratings, viewers, and subscribers, and therefore take risks. However, these are usually controlled risks, since, for example, the weather reporters are usually in a side area and not in the direct path of the eye of the hurricane. So don’t do what they do, do what they say.

Info Levels Now: Most “emergency” sites on the internet with “readiness information” have nothing but variations of the 72-hour kit checklist. The other end of the spectrum finds all the “survivalist” info concerning edible plants and living off the land. These two extremes can mislead the public in two distinct ways. One, the simplistic info might tell people that a 72-hour kit is all they’ll need and the government will come protect them. Two, the other extreme relates to fear since it tends to tell people that “things will be so bad that you’ll need these survival skills.” The extremes should be avoided. Shoot for the more realistic middle ground.
“72-hour” kits are the absolute minimum. Recommending only a 72-hour kit is like telling a family on a vacation road-trip to get only enough gas to get to the next exit where there might be another station. If you teach outdoor survival skills, remind people that these skills aren’t the very next option after their 72-hour kit runs out. They’re there for the most severe cases in isolated incidents.

Bridge the gap between these extremes by providing instruction on how families can use simple measures to stay safe and secure for up to four weeks, either during an evacuation or extended shelter-in-place. A good example is the four weeks of food and water stored in the pantry. Four weeks is a more realistic figure and fills the void between simple kits and survival skills. For more thoughts, see “The Disaster Dozen: The Top Twelve Myths of Disaster Preparedness” at http://www.disasterprep101.com/news.htm.

Lifestyle Ties: Essentially, this is another form of fear. It’s the fear of changing one’s lifestyle to incorporate readiness, and it’s the fear of losing one’s current lifestyle in the wake of a disaster. Two points come into play here.
One of the main goals of true readiness training is the preservation of our lifestyle as we know it, and not just mere physical survival. Therefore when discussing disasters, cover their aftermath and what it will take for families to return to normal. Don’t cut the subject short.

Realistic preparedness doesn’t involve major changes, but incorporates subtle modifications to the things we already have and do. For example, the simple habit of topping off your vehicle’s gas tank three times a week is easy to develop and ensures you have as much fuel as possible in an emergency. Simple task, powerful results, no appreciable change in your lifestyle.

Income: Many people see ads for high-priced “disaster” goods and gear and assume that protecting their family will be a major financial investment. This isn’t necessarily the case. If done correctly, protective measures can actually save a family money, or at least zero itself out on your household budget.
In our discussion of the 4-week pantry we pointed out how storing this much food could actually save time and money.

You don’t need to buy expensive gear. In fact, we recommend finding things you need at thrift stores or yard sales, and in other cases, making your own gear. For example, our “mess kits” were made with leftover plastic dishes from microwave dinners. Part of any comprehensive family preparedness training should include a section on frugality, or how a family might save money by reducing expenses and through better household budgeting.

Ego: Ego can also be called self-esteem, and this can either go high or low. In the case of high self-esteem, some people may think, “I’m so important that others will take care of me.” Low self-esteem carries its own peculiarities as well. These folks might think, “No one will help me,” or “Nothing exciting ever happens here, so why prepare?” Though not directly ego-related, many people hold that same belief that “Nothing will happen here. Things happen to other people.”

Since we want to avoid generating fear, don’t fight the “I’ll be taken care of” attitude with stories of how bad things could get. Instead, use this high self-esteem by pointing out that one reason people don’t prepare is because their friends don’t. Therefore, tell this group the truth that they can help get others to prepare by being prepared themselves, and setting an example.

People with low self-esteem should be shown that self-reliance really is possible for them. These folks have low confidence levels. Once they see examples of how easy it is to be far more prepared and protected than they are, they’ll appreciate their new confidence and may continue their education on their own.

Selflessness: Many people are so concerned about others that they neglect themselves. This is one of the reasons we see incidents of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) in people that were never in the actual emergency. This type of distant stress is caused when these folks see bad things happen to other people but they can’t do anything about it.

A good reminder for this group is that you’re more able to help others if you yourself are well prepared. And guess what? “Others” includes pets!
In the stocked pantry example, you’ve helped others by already having your supplies, which makes for shorter lines and more stock on the shelves when the unprepared make that last-minute scramble for supplies at the grocery store.

You also help others by setting the example that preparedness is socially acceptable, much in the same way that we wear our seatbelts so our children will.
The most important point of all is that your main goal is to teach both the importance and techniques of disaster preparedness in order to make our world safer. So, we have one last acronym for you; the word T.E.A.C.H.

Treat each family member as unique.

Emphasize the benefits and not the threat.

Allow for different learning styles and speeds.

Confidence building is goal number one.

Help others to help themselves, and to then help others in turn.

About the author: Paul Purcell is a security analyst and preparedness consultant and is the author of “Disaster Prep 101” (http://www.disasterprep101.com)

Copyright 2006 Paul Purcell. Permission is granted to reprint this article provided all portions stay intact.

Article Source: Paul Purcell

After The Disaster - Handle Kids With Care!

When your family has been through a natural disaster you, as the adult, need to comfort them along with dealing with the aftermath recovery details. Watch for behavior problems such as wetting the bed, separation anxiety, or needing their favorite blanket. Older kids could start to behave more aggressively or become withdrawn.

How adults deal with disasters has a lot to do with how a child reacts. If they detect uncertainty, grief, frustration, or anger they will imitate it. Even the adults are coping with these fresh and raw emotions the most assistance you can give a child is to be calm, honest, and caring. Let them know that you are scared too, that it is alright to be scared, and that everyone will get through it.

Understanding what is causing the new behavior is key to helping the child cope with disasters. After any type of disaster such as a tornado, flood, or forest fire in the community children are most afraid of being left alone, that someone close to them is going to be killed, they will somehow to separated from you, or the same type of disaster will happen again.

Talk to your child with calmness, not only in your voice, but also with your body language. This is as situation where your child feels things based on how you act, probably more than by what you say. Reassure them with compassion and understanding. When you provide them information about what just happened do so as calmly and factually as you can. Get back to a regular schedule such as work, play, meals and bedtime, as soon as possible. Praise and recognize good and responsible behavior.

Preparing ahead of disasters helps everyone understand that it can happen to them. Each member of the household should know what to do and where to go when a disaster happens. A family disaster plan helps you to pull together the resources you will need in case of a disaster and safeguards your personal belongings, and do not forget to include a few of your child's special items. also.

Teach your children how to get help. The first line of defense is calling 911. Put the number near the phone so younger children can remember it. Talk to neighbors to ensure that your children can go there anytime of the night or day if something happens in the home and the 911 phone call can not be made there. Go through a family disaster drill, sounding off one of your home's fire alarms, to ensure everyone know what to do and where to meet if the house needs to be vacated. Make sure everyone knows what the emergency siren sounds like and what they should do if they're home, at school, in daycare, and even in the nursing home.

Natural disasters happen anytime, any where. With a little planning your family can be proactive when you find yourself part of a disaster. Plan ahead to be as prepared as you can and realize that your children are more afraid then they let on to be. Find out their concerns and meet them head-on with compassion and truthfulness about safety in the future.

Toni Grundstrom is a freelance writer. What types of natural disaster(s) is your family susceptible for becoming part of? Click Here for additional information about planning ahead for a disaster.

This article may be distributed freely on your website as long as this entire article, including links and this resource box, are unchanged.

Article Source: Toni Grundstrom

More Storms of Life Happening For More People!

When you receive the Seal, God writes His Name in your forehead. When you carry His Name like this you belong to Him. And when you belong to Him you care about the rest of His creation too.

The Seal on your forehead is a little garden plot, a little slice of life of the earth. It is where you bear fruit. Either that or you are completely desolate and ravaged by stormy weather. You do not want that to happen to you. But it is happening on the rest of the earth.

Oxfam is a non-profit based in the UK working to end poverty and injustice. They have an uphill battle now with what they have found to be happening. They have made some measurements and found that natural disasters are on the rise.

And natural disasters are not just increasing a little. They are exploding! Weather events are becoming more frequent and at the same time more unpredictable and extreme.

In the early 1980s there were around 120 natural disasters per year in the world. Right now Oxfam says there are 500 happening every year. And who else has taken notice of this?

In the last 10 years the number of people affected by natural disasters has been 254 million per year. In the 10 years before that the numbers had been only 174 million people per year affected. That is a 70 percent increase.

In 1980 there were 60 major floods and wind-storms. In the year 2006 there were 240 floods and wind-storms and floods particularly are on the rise. And there has been no increase in volcanic eruptions to cause any changes in the atmosphere.

Sometimes these disasters are called acts of God. In this case they are probably not being caused by God. In this case they are probably being caused by humans. They are evidence of the effects of global warming happening now.

God does have a hand in it. He is making things a little more severe right now so people will wake up and take notice. This is what He did with hurricane Katrina and the others that followed.

Americans have been typically slow to notice and take any responsibility. But when you are sealed your Seal becomes a little garden. It is a little spiritual ecosystem where things grow up unto new life.

And you do not want to let anything threaten the balance of that garden. You avoid the storms and floods that beat against your house. That is one reason you built your ecopetrous house on the Rock.

Those storms and floods are happening right now in the world. There are many more today than just a few short years ago. And when any of these storms happens to you, they will certainly also affect your little garden.

You can take action today. You can start to conserve energy and resources. You can recycle. And you can support causes for protecting the environment. Think these disasters are not being caused by man?

Let me just tell you that you have two choices: man and God. If the effects of man on the ecosystem are not causing global warming and these weather disasters than they must be caused by God.

And if they are caused by God, then He is punishing you. But I am here to tell you that God is not punishing you. I know because you are reading this. You are seeking God, not shunning Him.

You are seeking God because He has sought you. He has led you here so you can learn more about the impact you are having on the earth. Just like you will learn to care for the earth when you receive the Seal.

Jason invites you to find out more about the Prophecy of Jesus by visiting Jason Witt.org

Article Source: Jason Witt

Welcome!

Welcome to my site for all your supplies and gear required for you and your loved ones to enhance your chances of survival in the event of any possible future disasters. I take this possibility of unforeseen disasters as seriously as anyone else out there! It is my sincere hope that you will do likewise, and at the minimum, at least have a disaster plan in place and the supplies needed to increase you and your loved ones chances of survival!