Wilderness Survival Skills Could Save Your Life!

You don't have to be a contestant on the "Survivor" television program to learn wilderness survival skills. This information was second nature to our ancestors many generations back, but in today's high-tech world, we have grown out of touch with nature and unaware of how to provide such basic needs as food, water and shelter.

But, with modern conveniences at our fingertips, why should we learn how to build a fire without matches, or how to obtain safe water to drink? The answer is simple. One only needs to look back to Hurricane Katrina to see how quickly natural disasters can strike and deprive people of the electricity they depend upon to get them through each day. Even less predictable than hurricanes are other natural disasters such as earthquakes that strike without warning, and tornadoes that can materialize in minutes.

Many experts say that we are seriously at risk for a worldwide disease pandemic, like the Spanish flu that decimated populations across the globe in the first quarter of the 20th century. It is highly possible that an infectious disease epidemic of the bird flu could put such a strain on community infrastructures that services such as hospitals, police, fire departments and ambulances could not be depended upon, and residents would be forced to fend for themselves. Also, in today's increasingly uncertain world, the risk of a terrorist attack destroying power stations, water reservoirs or other civic infrastructures is not out of the question.

That is why the wise individual will invest a few hours to learn such survival skills as fire making, finding water, making shelter, finding food and preparing meals with only primitive tools. Gaining this knowledge should not be viewed as a bothersome chore, but rather as a fascinating challenge to become more self-sufficient. And, should disaster strike, these skills may very well prove to be more valuable than any insurance policy.

Some of the best sources for learning wilderness survival skills are the books by Tom Brown Jr. Mr. Brown was taught tracking and hunting at an early age by an Apache elder, and he went on to establish a survival school as well as writing such classic texts as "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival" which clearly illustrates many ways to start a fire without matches, build wilderness shelters using only natural materials, identifying edible plants and hunting wild animals for food.

It only takes a few minutes and the investment of a few dollars to assemble a pocket size wilderness survival kit that contains a small knife, compass, matches, fishing hooks and line, and perhaps a lightweight, metallic "space blanket." A visit to most any sporting goods shop or camping supply store will be time well spent if you should suddenly be faced with a survival situation. But more important than survival gear is the learning of wilderness survival skills. This is because the greatest asset in case of emergency is not your technology but your mental attitude. An individual with proper skills and knowledge can survive much more comfortably without any tools than someone who has lots of survival gear but does not know how to use it properly.

And even if you are never faced with an emergency situation that requires the application of wilderness survival techniques, you still might use them to win a million dollars if you should be chosen to be a contestant on the "Survivor" TV show.

Robert Scheer is a freelance writer and consultant to the wilderness survival website and recommends the book "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival."

Article Source: Robert Scheer

National Preparedness Month - Start With Your Home and Family!

Natural disasters are a common occurrence throughout the world. Disasters are a part of everyone’s existence and we all need to be prepared for the simplest to the most devastating.

Look around at the disasters that have impacted us locally: the fires in the Milford Flats area, the Uinta Basin, Farmington Canyon and on the Utah/Nevada/ Idaho border. If we haven’t been involved in the flames and heat, we have all suffered from the smoke. We have also seen abnormally high temperatures over the past month. These have caused illnesses and even deaths to young and old alike. We have lost six miners, two rescue workers and a federal mine inspector. Last summer Southern Utah recorded dramatic losses due to massive flooding.

Houses crumbled into the river, folks could not get to their houses because they were surrounded by water and internal flood damage was phenomenal. If you look at all of the new construction of roads, offices, hospitals and even renovations of such places as the Capitol the common theme is earthquake proof.

There are three steps to being prepared. First, plan your emergency protocol to evacuate as safely as possible. Second, talk with your family and decide what is important to all of you. Keep it together in one place so that if disaster strikes you can easily collect it and leave your home. And third, protect your home and family by knowing where everyone is and how to reach them. Consider your critical needs. Some of the basics will include food, water, shelter, power for your home as well as for a vehicle and communication. Have on hand at least a 72 hour kit for each member of your family.

In the case of an earthquake, the suggestion by FEMA is to have enough prepared to help you and your loved ones survive for up to three months. Remember to check on your neighbors after an emergency, especially those who are elderly or disabled.

If you want to learn more about disaster preparedness you can contact the American Red Cross. They have all sorts of information as well as sample emergency kits. You can contact them at http://www.redcross.org. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed a 165 page disaster manual that is a wonderful resource. You can find it at http://www.fema.gov. These are great resources for you, but at times you may want a human being to assist you in preparing your personal emergency plan.

The team at Health Watch is glad to assist its patients with emergency planning. When you are ready to make a plan, we will be there, ready to help.

Mary Kroeger, RN
Health Watch
Simply Seniors News http://www.SimplySeniorsNews.com

Article Source: Mary Kroeger

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

Garden Seeds For Survival!

Garden Seeds For Survival - Why?

During tough times in the past our nation has always found ways to survive , and even conquer. Whether or not we will face anything near as bad as the times of war or the great depression, there are things we can do to keep our spirits high and are expenditures low. If you have ever tended to your own garden than you know what a great accomplishment it is to know that you have created wonderful, fresh and healthy food. If you have yet to do so, don't worry, it's simple and it's fun for the whole family. But it could be vital, if not now, than possibly in the very near future.

We are all waiting and wishing for better times. We should all be praying for our new president to turn our current situation into a positive. But nothing is certain. Many would have bet the farm that our country would never have to see a financial crisis like this one. But its not just the financial crisis that we should worry about. There have been changes going on here , and all across the world for quite some time now. And all these changes should encourage us to look at self preservation. And our number asset as human beings is our ability to grow our own food.

Honestly, we don't have to wait until the brink of disaster before we go out and stock up on Garden Seeds for Survival.Do that and you will pay a lot more, for lesser quality no doubt. We all know that if anything were to happen, and everyone knew that buying survival garden seeds was a priority, that it would be just another opportunity for someone to take advantage of a bad situation and raise prices like gasoline.

Another , very obvious reason to buy garden seeds for survival now is the fact that we should learn how to grow fresh vegetables and produce now. Learn how to be proficient , while you can stand to make some mistakes. It is always best to be prepared for bad times, rather than learning on the fly.

Garden Seeds For Survival

Learn Now

Garden seeds for survival. It sounds like it could be a last ditch effort to save our selves from the depths of despair. Anytime we are faced with the survival, we realize how easy our lives are in this country. Even when things aren't going are way, its not like we are a 3rd world country. But garden seeds for survival are actually a complete package, or large quantity of healthy , non-hybrid gardening seeds. They can be bare necessity seeds like radishes or seeds that can grow through almost any condition. And that is a part of why certain seeds are considered "survival" seeds.

Why do we want 'survival' seeds for gardening? Survival seeds for gardening are non-hybrid gardening seeds. This means that after you grow vegetables and produce with the survival seeds, you will be able to use the seeds that these plants produce. They will be far more easy to replant and they can be far more beneficial in this respect. Its well known that companies have been creating the 'terminator' seeds that will not reproduce. They are actually modified so that you will HAVE to continue to buy brand new seeds , year after year. Just another sign of the times. We really should not overlook these signs either. They are all around us.

Garden Seeds For Survival Last

Another great benefit of the survival seed is its shelf life. These seeds are hand picked and dried out to a precise level of allowable moisture, which maintains a very long shelf life. This process has been perfected for many years. It is actually the garden seed for survival's greatest benefit. Basically, it makes it OK to stock up on this invaluable resource. These survival seeds could ultimately become more valuable than money. I pray that it never comes to that. But I cannot deny the state of the world in which I live. And it only leads me to believe that anything is possible. And being prepared will be my biggest asset.

For more information on quality garden seeds for survival, you can go to the "Garden Seeds For Survival" website. Just click below.

Look at a great selection of survival seeds here - Garden Seeds For Survival

Article Source: Jeffrey Jettison

Survival Preparedness - Survival Skills and Emergency Kits!

Most of us would agree that at any moment we could find ourselves in a disaster or other emergency situation. Even if this fact is only lurking in the back of the mind just below consciousness, the statement is no less true. Anyone can suddenly be thrust into an emergency situation or have a disaster land squarely upon them quite unexpectedly. How well one survives or IF one survives may be a matter of luck. Far better to invest some time and effort in survival preparedness.

Survival preparedness for the purpose of this article is not a call to be constantly fearful of impending doom and disaster skulking around every corner, or to hoard great caches of dried beans, MREs, bullets, and gold then hunker down with your stash in some remote area.

More realistically, survival preparedness is the act of obtaining knowledge of and practicing basic survival skills, gathering survival gear, food and water together into emergency survival kits. These kits can then be placed at easily accessible points in the home, car, office, etc., or on your person.

Think ahead to anticipate what sort of situation might arise and what survival skills, gear, and supplies would be useful to successfully see you through to the end of it. Some excellent items on the list of basic survival skills to learn (and practice!) would be:


how to build a fire with or without matches
how to build a simple emergency shelter
how to obtain food and water
how to use a map and compass
how to signal for help
how to use the survival gear you have chosen

The size of the emergency kits and the items they contain will be determined by the scenario for which they are intended to be used; lost in the wilderness, stranded in your vehicle on a lonely back road, recovering from the aftermath of a tornado or other disaster.

Always include fire starting items, items to build an emergency shelter, survival tools, a medical kit, signaling device, emergency lighting, containers of water, and rations. There are many helpful web sites that describe complete lists of items to include in emergency survival kits of all sizes.

In any emergency situation strive to remain calm. Use your mind. It's one of your best survival tools.

Initiative belongs to the individual. Make the time and effort for prudent preparations toward your own survival and that of others. Do not risk suffering the consequences of taking no action at all.

Survival after all is being alive at the end of an ordeal.

Chuck McIntyre is active in helping others learn basic survival skills. He offers reviews and recommendations of survival gear and emergency kits at MySurvivalPro.com

Article Source: Chuck McIntyre

What Will it Take to Make Us Better Prepared For Life's Disasters?

In this world of live TV broadcasting, it's likely few have missed witnessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

An overwhelming sense of helplessness permeates the lives of thousands of victims in New Orleans and other affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You need cold steel in your heart and ice water in your veins to not be mournful of their plight.

The pattern of Katrina prior to its cataclysmic route was coined by some to be "nothing to worry about" as it whirled 95 miles per hour gusts through portions of Miami eventually causing about 100 millions dollars of estimated damage. And, this was before it locked its sight on New Orleans.

Why do people pretend certain things won't happen to them? Like dying prematurely ... or becoming disabled ... or running out of food and water.

Even when a crisis situation is up close and in our face we tend to quickly dismiss it. For example, the car accident scene we just passed as paramedics were placing severely injured passengers into the ambulance. You could see pools of blood on the street and twisted metal with broken glass strewn everywhere.

Then, once beyond the accident scene we began accelerating to speeds excessively over the posted limits. Out of sight... out of mind.

Why won't we take these real life experiences seriously enough to prepare for the worst?

On Aug. 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida. It wiped out Homestead, Florida City and parts of Miami before continuing northwest across the Gulf of Mexico to strike the Louisiana coastline.

The storm was responsible for 40 deaths and $30-billion in property damage. At the time, it was the costliest disaster in U.S history.

We have only just begun to calculate the cost of Hurricane Katrina. More than likely, it will be beyond our capacity to imagine.

During August and September 2004, Florida was lambasted by Hurricanes Charley, Dennis, Ivan and Jeanne. The damage was astounding and perhaps foretold of things to come - like Katrina.

So, why don't we better prepare for these dramas of Mother Nature? Why do we ignore the fact that what happened before will most assuredly happen again?

On September 11, 1992 (less than one month after Andrew) Hurricane Iniki leveled every telephone pole and hundreds of trees on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii. Fortunately no one was killed and yet the preparation for this disaster was postponed because it was originally forecast to be less severe.

Planning for any disaster is filled with complications. Various departments of local, state and federal governments often clash due to opposing viewpoints or budget constraints.

Interesting isn't it? When panic is upon us ... when the disaster has struck ... more often than not we rise to the occasion. And yet, we frequently fail to prepare for future disasters that could threaten the lives of our own family.

If we were as smart as we are compassionate, we would help ourselves and our families by storing provisions to be used, if necessary, for our survival. More information can be found at: http://www.survival-center.com/

Compassion seems to come easier than wisdom. Is this because it's easier to write a check than to spend time making a plan for our own survival?

But do our checks really go to help those we care about?

Even the Red Cross admits there are times funds end up being distributed to parties other than those designated by the contributors.

Here's a suggestion for the current victim relief effort. Go to: http://www.jw-media.org and follow the commentary about Katrina. I'm confident monetary contributions sent to these folks will actually help our needy friends in the bayou.

By the way, I am not affiliated with either of the two recommended organizations ... and I have a great deal of respect for the work of the Red Cross and its recent effort to honor the requested allocation of the donors.

Author Don Adams is a veteran financial consultant who has helped hundreds of families solve problems related to financial and estate planning. More information may be found at: http://personalefinance.com

Article Source: Don Adams

Preparing For a Widespread Disaster!

There are at least seven global or widespread disasters that seem likely to occur at sometime in the future. A large asteroid hitting the earth is one of those seven. It is generally accepted by scientists that asteroids have struck the earth in the past causing widespread damage. It is believed that asteroids will continue to collide with the earth every now and then. Maybe every sixty million years a big one comes along that is large enough to have a global effect on survival of earth's living things. The chances of such an event happening in a particular person's lifetime are tiny. But that tiny chance is there.

It is unpleasant to consider such terrible things. But the best attitude, it seems to me, is to ignore, to a very large extent, the unpleasant feelings that the topic causes. That allows a person to consider what might be done to increase the chances of surviving a disaster. No way can a person be fully prepared. And since we cannot know just what is going to take place, it may be an exercise in futility. But you never know, simple basic preparations could bring you through some calamity.

And why not take the attitude that your efforts and interest in such preparation is something to feel good about. Those efforts can be fun and interesting. The topic certainly grabs my attention better than a Hollywood movie. By doing what I can to become prepared, I am doing something that could dramatically make my life much more pleasant should I be involved in a catastrophe. Disaster preparedness is an interesting and enjoyable hobby that could pay off big-time. Knowing that all the benefits of modern life are not necessarily a given, is a reason for enjoying them more.

The seven possible widespread or global disasters:

1). Very large volcanic eruptions. Hugh volumes of gas and dust could spread around the globe. There is some evidence that these have occurred before. Doesn't that mean that it could happen again?

2). An epidemic. There was the flu epidemic of 1918 that killed 30 million people worldwide. There was the plague that killed about one fourth of Europe's population in the Dark Ages. Viruses and germs are known to mutate and change. They may become resistant to vaccines and medications, become more deadly, and become more contagious. Viruses and other pathogens could mutate into virulent forms that could spread rapidly around the world by people using air travel.

3). Crop failures due to plant diseases, climate change, or ozone depletion.

4). Climate changes including global warming and the effects that might come with it such as extreme heat, drought, and severe storms.

5). Nuclear war.

6). Terrorist act which could bring about widespread effects. If, for instance, a nuclear device was detonated in Washington, D.C. and another wiped out Wall Street, the effects could be unpredictable and could include economic depression, anarchy, shortages of consumer goods, and war.

7). Something unexpected. A disaster could be caused by a completely unknown event. It is unreasonable to think we are smart enough to be aware of all threats that could bring catastrophe.

There are many other plausible scenarios for widespread catastrophes. These include such things as a large solar flare that shoots out radiation and charged particles toward the earth; an object such as a black hole passing close to the earth; and a technology accident such as a genetically modified organism being released into the environment.

In recent years vast quantities of methane gas have been discovered on the sea floor where the water is very deep and in places where the water is very cold. It is believed that global warming or earthquakes could cause the methane to be released perhaps suddenly and in massive quantities. Methane is explosive and could displace oxygen causing suffocation.

Below are some things you can do to be better prepared for emergencies.

Store food and water: About a gallon of water a day per person is a reasonable goal. How many days worth is anybody's guess - you have to use your own judgment about what is practical for you. Know where to get water if your standby supply runs out. Water of unknown purity should be boiled at least 3 minutes to kill any pathogens. If boiling is not possible add 16 drops or 1/4 teaspoon of household bleach per gallon and let stand at least 30 minutes. Smell the water. If it does not have a slight bleach odor, repeat the process. Use bleach that contains nothing else other than water and 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite. Bleach is most effective for killing bacteria but is not effective against parasitic organisms.

Choose long storage food such as canned goods, dry food such as nuts, seeds, beans, and grain products in plastic or glass containers. Most dried beans will need to be soaked and cooked before eating. Examples of dried beans that can be eaten after soaking and without cooking include split peas, mung beans, lentils and black-eyed peas. Wheat and corn can also be soaked and eaten without cooking. Peanut butter and vegetable oil are good choices because they are calorie rich, long keeping and require no preparation. Canned meat provides protein and requires no cooking. A multi vitamin will help with adequate vitamin requirements.

Keeping warm: The colder the climate where you live, the more important this is if the electrical power fails or you are forced to leave your home. Have enough heavy clothing and blankets in your home to keep you warm. Have ready to go to put in your car such as in a garbage bag: at least two changes of clothing that will keep you warm, a sleeping bag or a couple of blankets, gloves, knit hat, and sturdy shoes.

First aid kit: The most important items may be soap for washing a wound, an antiseptic ointment, and bandaging.

Tools and supplies for short-term emergencies: Flashlight and batteries, candles, matches, can opener, soap, battery-powered radio and batteries, face mask for filtering the air you breath,

Tools and supplies for long term emergencies: all of the items above for short-term emergencies plus the food items listed above plus: long lasting led flashlight, wind-up flashlight, wind-up radio, unscented 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite bleach for purifying water, sturdy knife and sharpener, salt, grain grinder, food storage containers, shovel, blankets, rifle and ammunition.

Tools and supplies for your car: gallon of drinking water, blanket, extra clothes (sweatshirt, long underwear, boots, socks, gloves, hat), compass, rain gear, battery-powered radio and batteries, long storage and light-weight food, maps, siphon (20 feet plastic tubing, 1/2 inch diameter), gas can, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, portable light. Long-term and extras: bleach for purifying water, shorts or swimsuit, tube tent (or 10 by 10 tarp, cord), ground moisture barrier, closed cell foam sleeping pad, sleeping bag, insect repellant, sunglasses, sunscreen, soap, knife, backpack, duct tape, cord (i.e., seine twine, parachute cord, masons' twine).

Have a short-term plan: Discuss with your family how everyone will get home if their usual transportation is not available. If the phone systems are operating, one person could remain at home to take and relay messages. Have a place in mind in case you need to relocate to a different geographic area. Plan how to get there and what you will take along. If you believe you are not enough prepared, decide how to become so.

Stay informed: Have at least a battery operated am/fm radio with extra batteries. A wind-up radio not requiring batteries could be used if the power is off for an extended period. Emergency alert radios might receive broadcasts in a long-term power failure where the backup generators for am/fm radio stations have run out of fuel.

If situations develop so that longer-term solutions are needed, you will need other strategies. You may have to hunt for and gather food from the wild. Very long-term collapse of the present supply chain would require that you become self-sufficient in mending and making your own clothing. You might have to construct a shelter using basic tools and basic materials. The scope of this article does not allow for discussions of what you would need to know to survive extended collapse of society into how it was a couple of hundred years ago.

If you would like to learn more about disaster preparedness, use the following url(address) to another copy of this article. At the end of the article are urls to other articles giving more information.

Alan Detwiler started the web site Leisureideas. Visitors to the site are encouraged to use imagination and whatever happens to be available to discover new ways to enjoy themselves.

Alan writes books on how to pursue playfulness and a sense of wonder. His books are available in digital format and can be purchased and downloaded on the eBookMall web site. Go to http://www.ebookmall.com Then do a search for Detwiler.

Article Source: Alan Detwiler