Emergency preparedness was probably not on the mind of the person who said, “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” But that advice could never be better suited than when you are considering a disaster preparedness plan. Put bluntly, you and your family’s survival after an economic collapse, a political upheaval or a natural disaster is going to depend on your planning now, before you need to put into practice the survival skills and procedures you need to have in place when the S#%& Hits The Fan (SHTF in prepper lingo). But as important as it is for you to get started today, it is just as important not to make the single biggest mistake that most people do when they are attempting to disaster-proof their family and their home.
The first time that rookie preppers tackle the task of preparing for The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI), they latch on to the first bit of advice from any Web blogger, start buying survival equipment, and begin employing many diverse tactics. This is absolutely backwards to what you need to do. Whether your survival preparedness plan just needs to see you through a couple of weeks of no electricity and water after a natural event, or you are in a truly YOYO situation (You’re on Your Own) for an extended period of time, you need to adopt a specific survival strategy that includes a preparedness checklist and plan first, then employ the tactics needed to make that plan a reality, which will include purchasing the needed emergency food rations, emergency food storage containers, water stores and related survival supplies and home defense items.
When developing your disaster preparedness plan, keep things simple. Think shelter, water, food, first aid and defense. In the vast majority of short-term disaster survival situations, and even in many long-term eventualities, your current living quarters will function as your shelter. That means you need to get started immediately filling your future water needs. The average human being can go weeks, and sometimes months, without food. But the typical human can only last roughly 3 to 5 days without water, and that is if you do not overexert yourself.
And at an absolute minimum, you are going to need at least 2 gallons of consumable water per person per day on hand. This is absolutely for consumption alone, used for drinking and preparing food. The problem is that water storage is bulky, water does not have a long shelf life, it can be easily rendered non-potable, and your availability to it may change overnight. Remember, no one said life is fair, so you need to plan accordingly.
After developing an emergency preparedness plan that covers your shelter and water needs, you are already in better shape than 99% of the population. Now is the time to think about planning for the emergency food you will need in the future. And don’t forget, you or someone in your family may have specific nutrition needs. This may mean gluten-free emergency food, or storing food that caters to some other specific disease or inclination.
Also, you need to plan for the creation of emergency seed banks in case what you think may be a short-term situation turns into an extended survival process. Some preppers spend an extra $5 – $10 every time they shop for their standard groceries purchasing canned goods that go immediately to their survival food stores. Whatever plan you develop, you are going to need anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 calories per day per person in food supply, especially if your survival demands extreme physical exertion.
Fortunately, there are multiple first aid kits you can purchase which take up very little room, and provide you with everything your family will need in both the short term, and in a long-term situation. And emergency preparedness also means defending your family and your shelter. This is one area where human beings have created a plethora of options. The number of weapons man has created to harm other human beings is virtually limitless.
Your disaster survival plan should include home and personal defense items for each member of your family, and extensive training in their operation. You need to consider active defense systems (guns and knives) as well as passive defense systems (fences and walls). This is probably the single area where the typical human being needs the most training and the biggest change of mindset. If you hesitate to kill someone in a TEOTWAWKI scenario who is threatening your family, your shelter or your supplies, they may not be as hesitant.
Planning for shelter, water, food, first aid and defense for you and your family in a disaster survival situation simply covers the major points you need to consider. If you have a pet, and dogs can be a significant bonus in a survival situation, you will need to consider a pet emergency kit. Food for your pet, as well as water, also needs to be covered. You may choose to build your own food survival kit, garden and seed bank, and you will definitely have to consider what type of emergency food storage containers and supplies you are going to need.
While the best case scenario is staying in the home, apartment or shelter where you currently live, this may not be possible. If you are forced to G.O.O.D.(Get Out of Dodge), you will need a BOB (Bug-Out Bag) for each member of your family, a significant amount of transportable short-term water supply, food, medical supplies and personal defense items. No one said that emergency preparedness would be easy, but your family’s survival hangs in the balance, so take survival prepping very seriously, and get started today.
