Practical Preparedness

               Remember MacGyver?  He was the guy in the television series of the same name that could fix anything with a Swiss Army knife and a gum wrapper.  He could whittle a helicopter and fly it out of an enemy prison compound and make it seem believable.  I rarely missed an episode simply because he inspired us to make do with what we had and rely on our skills to overcome any adversity.  For some reason it was about then I bought a Swiss Army knife.  MacGyver didn’t always have the coolest gadgets, but he used what he had on hand and fashioned a solution.
               Some time back there was an article in a statewide newspaper about three hikers that spent an unplanned night in the woods.  Taking a wrong turn, they eventually realized they were lost.  One member of the group was quoted as saying, “…I just thought: What do I need?  I need shelter, I need food, I need water.”  The article goes on to say he built a shelter of branches, pine needles and two towels.  They had some trail mix and drank water from a stream.
               After they were rescued the next day, the local Sheriff’s Department commented, “Even if you’re not planning to spend the night, pack like you are. Essentials include food, water, a compass, a knife and a form of communication.”  I might add that some method to start a fire would be mighty handy as well.  A fire, besides offering warmth, is good company at night.  Their attitude, their refusal to panic, and their skills allowed them to survive the night.  In other words, they “MacGyvered” their way through a survival situation.
               There are a couple of handy gadgets to have on such an outing.  One is a GPS receiver, which I mentioned in a previous column.  A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver would probably have helped them get back on the right trail, or possibly find another way out of the woods.  The other device is something known as a SPOT locator.  A SPOT locator is battery powered and fits easily in the palm of your hand.  Using a marriage of GPS and satellite phone technology, it provides one-way communication to pin-point your location, signal for help, or notify friends and family that your status is “OK.”  The price starts at $99, plus an annual service fee. Mountain climbers, pilots, kayakers, mushers, and all sorts of outdoorsmen are using them to give their families peace of mind and to summon help if needed.  One big advantage is they work where cell phones won’t.
               Now that summer is here, many of us will be heading into the great outdoors, so it’s a good time to check your backpack, gear-up and be prepared - even if you don’t plan to spend the night.  As always, your comments and questions are welcome at disasterprep.dave@gmail.com (Certain quotes and information were used by permission from the Statesman Journal and reporter Emily Gillespie.  link to the original article: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/statesmanjournal/access/2684388611.html?FMT=ABS&date=Jun+12%2C+2012 )

Stress Management

       Often following a tragic event, I note where those responsible for post-event management have brought in, not only food, shelter and medical care, but counselors to deal with confusion, survivors guilt or other mental distress.  The most often heard phrase is, “remain calm.”  Remaining calm is NOT a natural response when your world has been shaken, your home burned or loved ones injured.  Many times people feel the need to blame someone or something.  This blame-placing urge usually results from a need to gain control of the situation by putting it into a familiar or understandable context.  The usual targets for fixing blame are authority figures or government officials who should have done more to lessen the effects of the disaster.
       Sometime back I had some friends who headed for a motel the minute their power when out.  When I asked about using their camping gear to get by until the electricity was restored they acted like that had never occurred to them.  It can be very unsettling when we find out how ill-prepared we are to handle a crisis.

It is important to be able to recognize and detect the signs of stress and/or shock during an emergency. Here are several warning signs that you may experience during emergency situations.

Physical signs: fatigue, upset stomach, shakiness, dizziness, heart palpitations, clamminess, disorientation, difficulty thinking, memory loss or loss of appetite.
Emotional signs: anxiety, grief, depression, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, thinking you or your loved ones will be harmed, nightmares or extreme fear.

When you are prepared, you are less likely to feel helpless and less likely to experience stress related disorders. You will remember what you discussed as a family and apply what you learned from those discussions and drills to help you overcome your situation.

Other things you can do now to help make a disaster less nerve-racking is to pack items in your emergency kits that you use in everyday life. For your children, pack coloring books, crayons, stories, gum, candy, stuffed animals and other useful items. For adults, pack a good book, a brush, razors, soap, playing cards, hard candy, paper and pen, medication, toilet paper and sundry items. These items can provide relief for stress during the times you have to wait for your life to return to normal.
    Other stress-relieving items are desserts.  Gelatin desserts, just-add-water, pudding, cake,muffin, and cookie mixes, candy bars, popcorn, dehydrated fruits and fruit drinks. These items may seem frivolous, but they can really make a difference in helping you cope in an emergency.
Developing a positive attitude and learning coping and stress relieving methods will help you, not only in times of disaster, but throughout your life. So prepare now--it will be well worth the effort!  As always send your questions or comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.
       

C.O.O.P.

Everybody likes to poke fun at the government, especially the post office. I have worked for the Postal Service for over 30 years and have heard all the horror stories, complaints and “suggestions.” And yes, I admit, we do make mistakes, but we also do lots of things right. One of the things that we do well is keeping the mail moving when nothing else seems to be.

When Hurricane Katrina simply wiped some post offices off their

foundations and filled others with water and debris, the Postal Service was one of the very first agencies to respond quickly and kept the mail moving in areas while other government services were paralyzed for days, and in some cases, weeks.

Each year every postmaster is required to complete a Continuation Of Operations Plan (C.O.O.P.). This plan lists the personnel who are capable of providing leadership in an emergency, alternate post office in the area if your local office is somehow rendered unusable, and a plan to keep the mail flowing as much as possible. For those of us on the

South Coast of Oregon, keeping the mail moving to and from the region will depend on the bridges remaining in service and the roads being open, which in the event of an earthquake may or may not be realistic. The experts tell us a major quake will isolate us for several weeks due to closed roads and bridges. That will affect the trucks which transport our mail as well. Limited mail service could possibly be handled by airplane or helicopter until the roads are again made passable. While I’m on the topic, your grocer’s trucks won’t be able to get through either. Experience in other areas has taught us that grocery store shelves empty out within hours of a major event. I’m not here to scare you, but you really do need to be putting aside some groceries.

For those who receive medication by mail, this is another matter to consider. Connecting with your doctor to arrange an extra supply of needed prescriptions would be something you may want to discuss on your next visit.

Back to C.O.O.P., if you own a business, do you have a plan to continue operations without power? If an event happens during mid-workday and your employees can’t get home, is your workplace set up to provide for their needs until they can get home? I realize this is taking the conversation to a higher level, but if you’re serious about being ready, these are questions you need to ask yourself. This would be a good topic of discussion for your next staff meeting. Asking, and finding answers for, the hard questions now will lessen some of the hard decisions you may have to make when the time comes.

As always, contact me with questions or comments at

disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.

The Apps and Downs of Disaster Preparedness

               Back in 1996, I read Bill Gates’s book, The Road Ahead.  For those of us who can remember back that far, computers were fairly commonplace and the internet was just coming into its own.  Cell phones were just that, phones.  No texting, no cameras, no online capability.  Just phones.  Mr. Gates made a prediction that one day we would all carry around computers that would easily fit into our shirt pockets.  I remember wondering how that keyboard was going to fit.  
               Today, so far, I’ve used my phone to send and receive emails, text messages and checked the weather, the news and my appointments for the evening.  Oh yes, and I have actually made several telephone calls. Bill Gates’s prophecy has come true.  It even fits neatly in my shirt pocket, keyboard and all.
               One of the features about smart phones that everyone seems to like is the capability to run various applications (Apps for short).  Kids load games on their phones and we grown-ups, well we load games also, but we have grown-up Apps.
               No matter your area of interest, there’s an App for that.  Some are even helpful with disaster preparedness.  I have an App that notifies me immediately of an earthquake anywhere on the planet.  Location, intensity and whether or not a tsunami is a factor.  It’s called Earthquake Alert and is free (as are all the apps mentioned in this column).
               Another is called “iTriage.”  This App is designed by emergency room doctors and is very extensive.  You enter symptoms, the part of the body affected and you get a list of possible ailments.  It also has locations of medical facilities in the area and directions to them.  In fact, it will use your phone’s built-in GPS to direct you to your facility of choice.  First aid and trauma care are also features of this App.
               Then there’s the Military Survival Guide. Designed after the U.S. Army Field Manual FM-21-76.  Survival in various climates, conditions and circumstances are covered in detail.  How to build shelter, fire, make simple weapons and find food.  Which plants to eat, which to avoid.  Weather prognostication by observing clouds, complete with color photos of different kinds of cloud formations.
               I use my Weather Channel App every day.  Keeping abreast of the weather is all part of the “Be Informed” motto of disaster preparedness.  Another App tracks tide information, handy for those of us living on the coast.
               One I learned of a few months back, thanks to our local OSU Extension Office, was designed by the North Dakota State University Extension Service, called “Winter Survival Kit.”  It’s designed for those who travel in blizzard conditions.  If you should become stranded, it will calculate how many hours you can run your car’s heater before you’re out of gas.  There is a list of emergency equipment you should carry in your car and a place to enter your insurance information, auto club and phone numbers of persons to contact in case of emergency.
               All-in-all, just more examples of how we can use technology to our advantage.  As always, send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.

Ready Kids

None of us would consider going on any kind of road trip without a spare tire.  Few women would entertain leaving the house without their purse.  Just in case.  If you are low on Band-Aids at your house, you stock up, just in case.  Yet often the same people can’t see the need to prepare for a disaster, just in case.  Go figure.  

A really great resource is our own Coos County Emergency Management website.  Click on  the “Fun For Kids” link.  It will take you to FEMA’s preparedness page designed for kids.  There are games, exercises puzzles and even a scavenger hunt to get the kids involved in being prepared.  Every child needs their own kit and this will help include them in the conversation.  Kids like to be a part of what’s going on with preparations.  To them it’s like getting ready to go camping.  In fact when you do go camping, take their kit along as a sort of shake-down cruise to see whether or not you’ve missed anything.  Each child should have their own backpack with extra clothes, flashlight, games, and other items they would need in the event of a disaster.  Use your judgement in supplying age-appropriate items such as a pocket knife, hatchet or fire-starting implements.  And remember to keep it positive!  Do your best to keep out the fear-factor. Keep in mind you don’t have a spare tire because you’re afraid, you have it “just in case.”

       Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me whether or not I watch “Disaster Preppers.”  (I don’t happen to have the National Geographic channel in my satellite TV package. Yet.) I am aware of it and have watched a few episodes on YouTube.  The thing that strikes me is not only are they obsessive, but they are all afraid of a particular disastrous event.  Some choose coronal mass ejections (solar storms), some are afraid of economic collapse, and some have picked nuclear holocaust as their disaster of choice. It seems that they have “picked one” and planned entirely around that event.  Some of the information is excellent, but keeping it balanced is definitely not in their plan.  Just my humble opinion.  
       Another link on the Coos County Emergency Management site is the “Are You Ready” booklet.  This booklet is free, and designed to let you print your own copy.  I mentioned this resource a few weeks back, but it contains a disaster supplies calendar including a shopping list and a “to-do” list for each week.  It will give you a starting point and keep you on track for being prepared in six months.

As always contact me with your questions or comments atdisasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Severe Weather Planning

As the seasons change and we seem to be working our way out of the rainy season, I find myself breathing easier.  And though adverse conditions are always a possibility, the hazards seem to lessen this time of year. (Of course the fact that I’m writing this after one of the most beautiful Spring days we’ve had so far has nothing to do with my optimism!) But it’s also the time of year when the rest of the country has worries about tornadoes, hurricanes and hailstones the size of golf balls and bigger.

For us it may be time to take a look at our emergency kit.  If you stocked up on jerky a few months ago, or if cheese crackers are a part of your get home bag (like mine) then you may want to rotate your supplies.  Check for freshness or vermin or just make sure that the dates are current on your canned goods.  If not then it’s time to move those items to the front of the shelf and re-stock with fresh.  I use a vacuum food sealer to store some items (not just food) to keep them dry and dust-free.  I have found that sometimes the seals come undone, so be sure to double-check those items and re-seal the ones that need it.  
Check your emergency water supply.  Those 2 ½ gallon jugs with the built-in spigot are really handy for short-term use, camping and sliding in the refrigerator, but they tend to leak if you leave them in the closet for lengthy periods of time.  Personal sized water bottles are handy to have, but they too, need to be exchanged for fresh ones after a few months.
I rarely recommend gadgets and gizmos to purchase, but after you’ve saved up for your water filter, I suggest buying a NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) weather radio.  NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information 24-7.   NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards – including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 telephone outages).  Make sure it’s one that is battery powered.  There are also several that are solar, hand-cranked, and battery powered.  One for every budget. Shop around and find one that appeals to you.  
As always send your emails with comments or questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com

To Gun or Not To Gun

        I knew once I began the discussion on disaster preparedness, sooner or later the topic of guns would come up.  I have purposely avoided the subject because of strong feelings on both sides of the issue but the question has come up, so let’s take a look.
        The widely accepted opinion is that during times of disaster the police are overwhelmed.  Watching looters during race riots or Hurricane Katrina tells us that a certain element of society will run amok if it is obvious they can loot, pillage and burn with impunity.  An old axiom is, “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away!”  Considering this, many disaster preppers consider gun ownership as a vital part of their preparations.      
Let me say right up front I’m a gun owner.  I am a past member of the NRA and consider myself a recreational shooter.  As a former police officer, the firearm was simply a tool of the trade.  My family grew accustomed to seeing my duty belt (with loaded .357) hanging from the gun rack in our bedroom.  But then, not all families are accustomed to having firearms in the home.  Not only are they nervous around anything gun related, they are vehemently opposed to anything to do with a firearm.
        Gun ownership in the United States is at an all-time high.  More people are buying firearms now than at any time in our history.  At the same time, violent crimes including murder, rape and armed robbery are at a 30 year low!  Coincidence?   Author Robert Heinlein once wrote, “An armed society is a polite society."
        Attempting to determine how many people own firearms resulted in vague answers.  Nationwide, it is estimated the percentage of households owning firearms is somewhere between 39% and 50%.  I believe that the percentage in Southwestern Oregon is markedly higher.  Just a feeling I have.  Of course there are population pockets throughout the U.S. where gun ownership is believed to approach 100%.  A more exact statistic is in regard to concealed handgun licenses.  Coos County currently has on the books over 3800 permits.  With a county population of 63,000, 6% of our citizens are licensed to carry a concealed handgun.  Statewide there are nearly 147,000 concealed handgun licenses issued.
        How you choose to protect your family is your business.  The police will likely be unavailable during any significant emergency.  If your choice is to purchase a firearm, then that’s a decision you shouldn’t make lightly.  Do your research.  Get some training, get some more training, and practice safety!
        As always, send your questions or comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.