Preparedness Drills

[k0xxx]

k0xxx, I'd be very interested to know what types of things you have in your "emergency procedures" binders--would you mind sharing the types of things you have organized?

The first thing that we did was to evaluate the different types of emergencies that may happen in our area, and the different scales of emergencies (local, regional, national). We "war gamed" the different scales, mainly because of the different responses and relief that would be involved depending on the scope of the emergency. We then divided the emergency plans into those three scales. Without going to grab one of the binders, I believe that we have things arranged something like this:

National
Multiple Terror Attacks
Nuclear Detonation/Emergency Eminent
Nuclear Detonation/Emergency Occurred
EMP Event Eminent
EMP Event Occurred
Pandemic

Regional
Multiple Terror Attacks
Nuclear Emergency Eminent
Nuclear Emergency Occurred
Earth Quake

Local
Earthquake
Wildfire
Winter Storm
Dam Break
RR HazMat

We have included monthly checklists of preps, as well as photos of Electrical and Gas shutoff points (in the case that someone other than my wife, daughter, or myself is helping).

BTW, when deciding on the minimum supplies that you would need to get through an emergency, take your location into consideration. In the case of the US, FEMA says for everyone to be prepared for 72 hours on their own. In reality, you should prepare for much longer, especially in rural areas. In the even of a large scale disaster involving one or more urban areas, the rural areas will be on their own pretty much until the larger population centers are taken care of. It just makes sense, in disaster relief, for aid to go into the areas of the greatest population first.

 

[k0xxx]

When I was in elementary school, besides the usual fire drills we also had tornado drills (in the hall on your knees & elbows, hands over your head) and even nuke drills (duck and cover) as if they would do any good whatsoever.

It wasn't considered insane at all at the time. Why is prepping for some disaster considered a bit wierd now?

This generation has grown up with the idea that stores will be open pretty much 24 hours a day, be well stocked, and that all you have to do is swipe a piece of plastic to get what they want. Also, there is a certain portion of the political spectrum that sees self reliance (and not a reliance on Government) as a threat to their political base. These types are very prevalent in the education and entertainment industries, and for years they have pushed their "only Government can save you" views.

Look at the Duck and Cover drills that you mentioned. By far the greatest number of injuries out side of ground zero, in a nuclear detonation, are from the impact trauma of flying debris. Duck and Cover was an attempt to minimize these injuries. Again, a certain segment of the political spectrum started mocking the drills as futile, since they claimed that nobody would survive anyway. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it fit into their agenda.

ETA: For anyone interested in facts behind nuclear preparedness, purchase the book "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson H. Kearny (it is also available to read online free at this url . It give honest facts as to what can be expected and what you can do to insure that you and your family survive. It also debunks a lot of the myths regarding nuclear survival. Russia currently has a crash program to complete 5000 nuclear shelters by the year 2012. Makes you think.

 

[Toulle]

Look at the Duck and Cover drills that you mentioned. By far the greatest number of injuries out side of ground zero, in a nuclear detonation, are from the impact trauma of flying debris. Duck and Cover was an attempt to minimize these injuries. Again, a certain segment of the political spectrum started mocking the drills as futile, since they claimed that nobody would survive anyway. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it fit into their agenda.

Agreed.
I meant they were futile if anywhere near GZ. Living next to an Air Force base, we were of course told that we were in a target zone.

 

[k0xxx]

I forgot to mention that we have similar versions of the emergency plans that we keep in each car. These are mainly for use if we are away from home. They include what to do immediately (depending on the type of emergency), maps with prioritized alternate routes to get home and what to do if getting home isn't possible, what to do if the car would be disabled or otherwise need to be abandoned, contact frequencies for that mobile and hand held radios that are carried in each car, etc.

These plans aren't meant to be the definitive answer for all situations, since each event can be different, but rather they are meant to be a starting point and point of reference when our state of mind may be distracted by the events. It's also calming to be able to focus your mind and energies on a specific relevant task, and not on the overall crisis.

 

[moolie]

k0xxx, I'd be very interested to know what types of things you have in your "emergency procedures" binders--would you mind sharing the types of things you have organized?

The first thing that we did was to evaluate the different types of emergencies that may happen in our area, and the different scales of emergencies (local, regional, national). We "war gamed" the different scales, mainly because of the different responses and relief that would be involved depending on the scope of the emergency. We then divided the emergency plans into those three scales. Without going to grab one of the binders, I believe that we have things arranged something like this:

National
Multiple Terror Attacks
Nuclear Detonation/Emergency Eminent
Nuclear Detonation/Emergency Occurred
EMP Event Eminent
EMP Event Occurred
Pandemic

Regional
Multiple Terror Attacks
Nuclear Emergency Eminent
Nuclear Emergency Occurred
Earth Quake

Local
Earthquake
Wildfire
Winter Storm
Dam Break
RR HazMat

We have included monthly checklists of preps, as well as photos of Electrical and Gas shutoff points (in the case that someone other than my wife, daughter, or myself is helping).

BTW, when deciding on the minimum supplies that you would need to get through an emergency, take your location into consideration. In the case of the US, FEMA says for everyone to be prepared for 72 hours on their own. In reality, you should prepare for much longer, especially in rural areas. In the even of a large scale disaster involving one or more urban areas, the rural areas will be on their own pretty much until the larger population centers are taken care of. It just makes sense, in disaster relief, for aid to go into the areas of the greatest population first.

Thanks Mark! Lots of food for thought there, will have to do more research and work on our plans. Most likely for us to have to deal with are wildfires, blizzards, pandemic, drought, with a mild chance of tornado. We feel pretty well prepared for a week (need more water to go further) but have food, first aid, and light for months and cooking fuel for at least a month (maybe two). Our weak point is definitely home heating.

The RR HazMat is one that my hubs was always concerned about when we lived at our old house, which was 1/4 mile from RR tracks and a level crossing, we're much further away now. The nuclear issues are far less likely here, although I'm sure that Montana or Idaho has a nuke power station that could affect us if there was an accident (we have none in western Canada). We are well upstream of the local city water reservoir dams plus we are on high land that has never flooded (good drainage during thunderstorm flash-flooding, unlike much of the city), pretty much no chance of landslide/avalanche as we're nowhere near mountains, and also not much chance of earthquakes here so far away from any faults (although we used to live in Vancouver and learned all about what to do while we were both in school).

 

[AnnaRaven]

I'm re-posting something that I posted a while back in Savingdogs' thread about fire preparedness, in case it is helpful here:

The 72-hour kit at school is something that perhaps others don't do (and may not be feasible for younger kids) but in case they get stuck at school due to blizzard or similar, our 2 teenagers each have 3 neoprene dollar store pencil cases in a drawstring gym strip bag in their lockers at their schools containing:

72-Hour Emergency Kit: Flashlight/batteries, Hand-warmers, Gloves, Toque, Socks, Matches, Candle, First Aid kit, Tylenol, Emergency blanket, Sewing kit, Duct Tape, Notebook/pen, Deck of cards, City map, $20 in coins, Emergency contact list

6 Water bottles and a 72-Hour Emergency Food Kit: 6 Granola Bars, 3 Trail Mix, 6 Fruit Leather, 3 cans Pork & Beans, 3 Fruit Cups, small Stainless Steel Bowl, Spoon, Emergency contact list

72-Hour Personal Hygiene Kit: Toothbrush, Bar of Soap, Washcloth Tablets, Sanitary Pads, individually wrapped Wet Wipes, Hand Sanitizer, Q-tips, Tissues, Emergency contact list

Each kid has an Emergency Contact list in each of the 3 kits as well as in their wallets with phone numbers for all family members including our out of town contact so they can check in either by cell phone or school land line. The bag 'o stuff fits easily into their school backpacks should they need to take it anywhere, and they also always have a change of clothing (gym strip) in their gym lockers plus whatever coat/jacket/outdoor layers they wore to school that day so we feel they are pretty prepared to go it alone for a while.

Hubs has a Workplace 72-hour kit in a zippered nylon bag containing similar items (slightly different food choices plus a hand-crank radio, work gloves and basic tools) in his desk drawer at work.

eta: I should perhaps note that the reason the kids have $20 in coins, is because we don't have bills in Canada for $1 or $2 amounts anymore, so they each have a change purse of "loonies" ($1 coins) and "toonies" ($2 coins). Oh, and a "toque" (say "tuke") is a knitted hat in Canuck

Being from Minnesnowta, I have plenty of Canuck friends, and didn't need the translation. But others probably did, so good of you to provide it.

Thanks for the list of stuff in your kit. Nice to see what others do.