Excerpt
Preface
After Katrina, I asked myself, what was the lesson here? It’s probable that basic services will be disrupted during a natural disaster and we ordinary citizens have to be ready. We have to accept the fact that on some level we’re on our own. In short, we must prepare to survive!
I believe...
- We all need to be prepared to feel safe.
- Survival planning is the most socially responsible thing we can do.
- We cannot count on governments to take care of our needs during a disaster.
- Unless everyone in a community is physically and psychologically prepared for disaster, we create opportunities for social injustice and chaos as many of the most vulnerable will be left to fend for themselves.
- We are all caring people who can work together to protect our loved ones, our neighborhoods, and the fabric of our communities from disaster.
- Communities, neighborhoods, and families that have made the effort to prepare to survive natural disasters will be more resilient.
Chapter One: Expect the Best-Prepare for the Worst
It is difficult to start a book like this without invoking fear. Fear and grief would be natural reactions to a global pandemic. By taking the time to consider the scariest possibilities and then taking the appropriate precautions, you increase your chances of maintaining a sense of balance under emergency circumstances.
Chapter Two:
Water is Essential to Life
Loss of safe drinking water is deadly... Individuals can begin to experience side effects from dehydration after 36 hours. There are many situations that may create a temporary interruption to the public water supply system: impassable highways, quarantines, and lack of equipment…. I suggest stockpiling at least one month’s worth of emergency supplies per person. In an emergency situation, each person needs at least two gallons of water a day for the basic necessities (drinking, cleaning, and cooking). If someone in your household gets ill they will need to drink even more water each day.
Chapter Eight:
Building and Strengthening Your Support System
So far we’ve focused on preparation for individuals and households. Next we reach out to extended family, friends, and neighbors. Encourage them to prepare. Disaster preparation works best when we involve as many people as possible. If well organized, neighborhoods and communities are more resilient during disasters. Share this guidebook and your preparation strategy with others.
Chapter Nine:
A Work Place Preparation
Whether the bird flu becomes a pandemic, it’s both practical and far-sighted for all businesses, (large, medium, and small), to determine their ability to maintain operations by evaluating their vulnerability to disasters and developing a plan for the business to function in the event of a disaster (e.g. “a business continuity plan”). Organizations, like people, need to prepare to survive…
Chapter Eleven:
Housebound and Stir Crazy
Being cooped up in a house for weeks may be more difficult than you think. We are profoundly social creatures and we’re accustomed to full freedom of movement... Being confined for weeks (whether alone or in the company of others) may lead to severe stress that can be made worse by not knowing what’s going on “out there.” And when stress is experienced over a sustained period of time, judgment, physical health, and the strength of the immune system are all affected. So if we can foresee the difficulty of being housebound and predict cabin fever ahead of time, the negative impact can be mitigated.
Chapter Twelve:
Protecting Your Turf and Staying Safe
Think through what you will do if everything goes haywire and people start acting erratically. Discuss this with family, friends, and neighbors. Have a neighborhood plan in place so you can support and protect each other if thieves come into your neighborhood. Be prepared to encounter different opinions about how to deal with these situations.
Chapter Thirteen:
Dependents Needs
Those with special needs are the people who will need the most support during any natural disaster. These are family members, friends, or neighbors who are dependent on others. Plan for their well-being.
Chapter Fifteen:
Caregiving and Grieving
Unexpected changes caused by any disaster can alter the course of our lives in ways that we never considered. If a loved one dies we certainly grieve; however, under the circumstances of quarantine, we also experience a sense of loss from being separated from our social and work networks. Familiar people and places are significant to our sense of identity and safety in the world. The disruption of these taken-for-granted, normal patterns of living is a loss, and with this loss comes grief.
Chapter Sixteen:
Conclusion
Now you have the information you need to prepare to survive a natural disaster, especially a bird flu pandemic. Having this knowledge doesn’t mean you won’t be impacted by a catastrophe. But if you have made it a priority to take care of yourself and the needs of your family and community, you have dramatically increased your odds of survival.
Even if you never experience a major disaster, it will feel better to live in a community that has made a commitment to work together… Applying the information in this book helps bolster instinct with pragmatic know-how.
By the end of this book, you have taken the time to think through what you would do in a situation like a pandemic; you have the tools, supplies, and support you’ll need to step up to the plate if a natural disaster occurs. During a catastrophe you’ll feel more resilient, less fearful, and more capable of generosity. Share this book with everyone in your life, near and far. Spread these ideas like a virus.
The solution can be as contagious as the problem: It’s up to you!
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