Communication is the foundation of any relationship...

...even in an emergency!

Your family needs a communications plan.  Whether it's a flat tire on the highway, a trip to the ER, a storm that knocks out power, or a devastating earthquake, knowing in advance who to call to get help or to tell you're OK is critical.  Effective communication often helps not only to provide peace of mind, but also to keep others out of danger as well.

Most government and disaster relief agencies work directly with the media to get information out to the public.  What to do, where to go, what to expect.  Use your radio, television, and internet to stay on top of events.  Remember that the electricity may be out.

When the power goes out, your home phone may still work, if you have a landline phone that does not require a power source (no cordless) and doesn't run on VOIP, such as Vonage or U-verse.

Unless they have intentionally prepared in advance, your employer's phone system will probably not work during a power outage.

When you don't have a cell phone signal, you may have internet access and texting ability on your cell phone.

Even if you don't have a signal at the moment, texting from your cell phone will retry sending a message from your phone several times.

Keep your cell phone charged at every opportunity - at work, in the car, at home.

You need a simple way to recharge your cell phone when the power is out.  I keep a car adapter and a crank radio adapter.  You can buy solar chargers as well that obviously require sunlight.

You need your contacts' phone numbers and email address with you in digital (on your phone) and written form in an emergency.  If your phone is dead, you may be able to use someone else's or have them call for you.

A benefit of speed dial is that you are more likely to use it in an emergency.  Simpler is better.  (I just hit one key on my phone to speed dial.) The downside of speed dial is that we often don't know the numbers by heart.

Some online email providers allow you to send messages as text.

Local and federal government agencies, research universities, and disaster assistance agencies monitor twitter for disaster updates, status reports, and immediate needs. 

FRS and GMRS radios may be as helpful in an emergency as they are on vacation.  But only if you know where they are and the batteries are charged up.

Your family needs an out of town/out of state contact in case of emergencies.  Phone systems or disaster relief agencies may permit long distance calls, even when local lines are jammed.  Let your family practice using this person as an "information central."

You are likely to respond to an emergency as you've practiced, unrehearsed plans go out the window.

Red Cross and other agencies use resources and technology to help families and friends find one another during and after a large scale disasters.

Recent wide-scale disasters like the 9-11 terrorist attack, hurricane Katrina, California wildfires, and the Haiti earthquake have made the public and first responders aware of the capabilities and limitations of cell phones in a disaster.

Functional Friday: Go-Bag Part IIII - The Basic Stuff

Making a list
Hopefully by now you have a list of emergencies and scenarios that may require you to head out quickly.  Take a minute and make a list of personal items that you absolutely MUST have to stay healthy and sane in any 24 to 72 hour period.  You should consider your go-bag a comfort kit.  What items will help you physically, mentally, and emotionally if you have to act fast and get out, whatever the emergency.

Assembling your kit

Clothes
Pick a basic change of clothes.  Start with one outfit -- something comfortable and warm, maybe something you could sleep in.  Toss a pair of socks and underwear with it.  Put it in the bag.  See how easy that was?  You now have a go-bag.  Now, let's make it better.  You can pack more clothes if they'll fit, but more than three simple outfits will get bulky.  Pack layers for flexibility and warmth.  Pack familiar and comfortable clothes.  Consider a hoodie.  Hat and gloves - A summer ballcap and work gloves or a stocking cap and fleece gloves? You pick.  Flip flops for showering, maybe?

Water
Add a 1 liter bottle of water.  (I prefer this to be a new unopened bottle, not a refill.  It's going to sit there for a year.)

Food
Think of the food you might want to eat if nothing else were immediately available.  Keep in mind special dietary requirements, but don't try to get healthier than you eat everyday.  Watch the fat and sodium content.  Check the "best by" and expiration dates on food.  I try to stay within the listed date for most things, so look for food that lists a year or more before it expires.  Unless you further research food packaging, leave food closed in original wrappers.  (If you are going to store this in the garage or in the car, your choices are limited due to extreme heat and cold variations.)

Here are a few starter suggestions:

Tuna, chicken, or salmon in a pouch - easy open, no draining, low in fat and high in protein, long dated
Slim Jim-type snacks or beef jerky - saltier than pouches, but less messy and more sharable
Nuts and nut butter - I have an 8 oz. jar of peanut butter and packs of almonds in my pack

Crackers, cereal and chips - Often short dated for best taste, these foods take a little research if you want to drop them in the bag and replace them a year later.  Prepackaged flour tortillas often work.
Granola Bars and Oatmeal bars - These often contain whole grains.

Dried fruit or fruit leather - Make sure it's made of fruit, not added corn syrup.
Pudding and fruit cups - These are delicious, but they can rupture and leak. Pack carefully.
Chocolate - I include cocoa almonds and a chocolate Clif bar to get my chocolate fix.
Drink mixes - My pack has Gatorade mix (the kind WITH sugar) and artificially sweetened mixes.
Snacks - Mints, gum, and your favorite candy can be a big perk in an emergency.

You can also easily find ready-to-eat entrees (Pahd Thai by candlelight, anyone?)  And there are many just add hot water items (ramen noodles and instant potatoes), but these require the obvious - hot water! MRE's are a great option for nutrition and dating, but they can be bulky, expensive, and caloric.  I've eaten quite a few, and I've not had anything I wouldn't eat again.  I'll add lots of ideas and suggestions later.  To protect against spills and odors, seal your food in a ziplock-type plastic bag.

Personal Care and Hygiene Items
Medication - I recommend you keep at least two weeks of medication in this bag.  Most pharmacy meds have a year or more dating.  I exchange mine in September each year.

Also consider any special health care needs.  My son uses a special soap - I'd hate to deal with an outbreak of his sensitive skin issues in a disaster situation.  Put hygiene items in ziplock-type bags, as well. 

Soap
Antibacterial gel or wipes
Shampoo
Razor and shaving cream
Comb
Mirror
Tooth brush, paste, floss
Nail trimmers
First aid kit
Bug repellant, sunscreen
Kleenex, toilet paper
Cotton swabs
Deodorant
Feminine hygiene
Contact solution and case

Tools
Here's where things get a little weird for some people.  Up until now, we have included the items you might need for a trip to grandma's or the Holiday Inn.  But we're about to add a few items that may seem a bit dramatic.  Remember that you are trying to stay healthy and comfortable in an unpredictable situation.  Add what you like and leave the rest out.

Extra glasses - Put last year's prescription in your bag.
Hair ties - These are useful for more than just putting your hair up.
Pen, pencil, marker and a notebook - You may need to make notes, signs, or just doodle.
Hand towel and washcloth
Light sticks - I buy 15 bracelets for $1 and keep a pack of them in every bag. 
Air mattress - The cheap plastic swimming pool kind on clearance in August for $2.
Emergency blanket - The silvery plastic one they wrap around the hero at the end of the movie.
Extra ziplock-type bags - I always pack a few extra gallon sized bags.
Rain poncho - I buy them for under $1 at Wal-mart.  (Disney sells them for $7 every time it rains.)
Pocket knife or scissors
Chapstick with sunscreen
Small flashlight or penlight and extra batteries (stored out of the flashlight)
Extra cell phone charger
Extra set of keys
Radio with extra batteries (stored out of the radio)

Preparedness and Personal Items
A copy of your plan - with phone numbers and addresses
Cash, credit cards
Family Photos
Copies of insurance cards, bank cards, and birth certificates
Vaccination records and other important documents
Map and/or directions to safe places

Remember that this is a work in progress.  It took me literally three years to assemble an basic go-bag for all six members of my family.  Hopefully these tips and suggestions will encourage you to get started and help you know which direction to proceed.

This Series' Links
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Need
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Purpose
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Bag
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Basic Stuff

Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - What's Next?

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

This week, I am attending a FEMA class about Weather and Flooding.  I expected it would be rather routine.  Many of these classes follow a similar framework - educate, plan, alert, respond, and resolve.  Boy, was I surprised.  Sure, it follows the expected framework, but not only did we learn to mark up weather maps like a TV weather anchor, but we were taught to "predict" storms location and severity about 24 hours out.  (God help us all if anyone ever has to depend on my predictions alone.)  I learned the basics of how, when, where and why severe weather (like thunderstorms and tornadoes) form.  I learned why they predicted snow but we got sleet last week (above looping graphic).  We watched video clips of beautiful and dangerous storm centers, storm chasers saving a police officer, and passenger cars floating down streets and worse.  Our instructor, a seasoned National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist, along with his local team (and hundreds of other professionals across the nation) help provide a constant flow of weather information to you and me. 

After all I learned, here's what you and I need to know and need to do:

• Check the local weather report once a day, perhaps every morning.  The forecasts are pretty accurate 24 hours out.  Get a sense of what's going to be going on, know whether to check later, too.
• Get a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) weather radio and leave it on at home and at work.  Weather can change quickly, a NOAA radio will help you stay safe.
• The NWS website is accessible to every one of us.  Just point and click!  You can look at the detailed, robust, and identical information that every US television or radio station uses (including the Weather Channel).  They all use the exact same data.
• Learn about your local weather threats, how to avoid them, and take warnings seriously.  Tornadoes are a destructive force, but did you know that more people are killed from lightning strikes?  However, the most people die from extreme heat and cold exposure each year.  They provide the data, you and I must choose to react appropriately.

Take two and call me in the morning!

I've been down and out with a headache for much longer than typical.  I tried all the usual treatments and remedies - pain reliever, antihistamine, decongestant, Vicoden, hot tea, hot bath, good night's sleep, stretching, massage, etc.  It won't go away.  Just this evening, things seem to be looking up.  But the situation made me think of life without all the medicinal amenities I'm accustomed to.  I don't want to be caught without those modern miracles.

I've recently been considering a bit of medication stockpiling. Nothing crazy or wasteful, just assurance that my family will have what they need when they need it.  There are numerous reasons I've considered that this expanded medicine cabinet could be helpful or even necessary. 

• Household disaster - Would I rather run to the store (with kids in tow, of course) at 11:00 pm when I'm running a fever or one of my kids?  Neither, of course!  I'd much rather have an arsenal of basic, common medications in my medicine cabinet at home.
• Limited mobility - Here in the US, the weather doesn't always cooperate with our plans.  From tornadoes on New Year's Eve to massive snowfall over much of the nation, many of us have experienced weather related disasters already this year.  Do you have what you need if you are unable to safely leave your home for a few days?
• Transportation and distribution delays - Many natural and man-made disasters can delay the transportation infrastructure that assures that the products you need are on the store shelves when you are ready to purchase.  But the truth is retailers and pharmacies stock only a few days worth of many drugs.  On a small scale (They are out of your favorite brand of pain reliever until tomorrow.) or on a large scale (All shipments to your region are delayed for a week by the big storm.) transportation delays can certainly frustrate us at the store.
• Manufacturing delay - FDA regulation compliance and availability of raw materials often reduce and delay production of prescription products, over the counter (OTC) medications, and other medical products.  If prolonged, these delays could leave you without necessary medications and products for weeks or months.
• Contamination scare - I'm not suggesting you gamble with your life, but most contaminated products are discovered quickly and are recalled by lot numbers.  Having purchased your favorite products months before may allow you to safely and confidently use them.  (Follow recommended procedures for product usage or disposal during a product recall.)

Here's what I've begun to do.  I've simply purchased one extra package of each medication (or products) that we use routinely at my house.  (Or that I'd need in a pinch - anti-diarrheal, cough medicine, large bandages and tape.)  I check the date before buying. Many medications are good for well over a year.  I ask my self, "Will I likely use this before it expires?  Is this enough to treat, say, two family members for a week or so?"  I already keep an extra month of all my family's prescription medications.  I store all these products safely away from the kids' reach, in the cool and dry closet in my bedroom, stowed in a clear plastic bin.  I check them every six months (March and September) to rotate products that will expire.  (If you're not going to use it... Some community organizations will accept unopened OTC products before they expire to help disadvantaged families.)  I expand this collection one package and one trip to the store at a time.

Like every other suggest on this blog, I urge you to consider three points when applying this in your home. 
1) Do something. 
2) Make it your own.  Address your concerns and fears.  Keep what you need on hand. 
3) Start small and build it up.  I've redesigned many projects once they were begun.  Unless you are certain of your end result, let your needs and ideas guide the project to it's useful completion.

Functional Friday: Go-Bag Part III - The Bag

Like any project you see on Everyday Providence, a go-bag will never get done unless you start it.  Preparedness is a process.  Start something.  You can improve it later!

Now, go get a bag.  (One per person, please.)  A plastic or paper bag will not work.  It needs to close completely with a tie or zipper and should be at least big enough to hold a change of clothes, some snacks, and personal items.  I use backpacks.  Duffel bags work fine.  A piece of luggage will suffice.  That tote bag that you got from the National Association of Something at last year's conference and trade show will work too.  Don't pick something that's too big or cumbersome to carry for a short walk.  When I start a new preparedness project I prefer to use things I have around the house - less investment, less commitment, more room to tweak later.  You may prefer, however, to run to the store and buy a shiny new go-bag.  Go for it!

When you've got a bag, you're ready for next week's Functional Friday post. We'll fill it with the things you need.

This Series' Links
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Need
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Purpose
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Bag
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Basic Stuff

Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - What's Next?