Today we’re making the leap from planning to preparedness. Buckle in. I’ll try to make this as pain-free as possible.
Start Where You Area
One of the easiest ways to prepare is to start where you are – literally – and determine where to go from there. This method is great for those who are trying to prepare their family and may be facing some reluctance.
Even without knowing what situation you will face – and we will discuss how to plan for specific situations elsewhere – you can begin some basic planning.
Talk to whoever you live with and just decide on a meeting place if something happens. If you don’t live with anyone, talk to friends or family members or neighbors about how to contact one another if an emergency situation arises. Make a suggestion – something like, “Hey, if we have a fire or something and have to get out of the house, let’s meet out by the mailbox.”
We were taught this behavior from childhood when we had fire drills at school. We all had an assigned space to go to so the teachers could get a head count. In most workplaces this behavior has carried over. There is nothing wrong with carrying this through to a behavior in the house.
Step Forward
Now you can progressively increase the distance away from the house. You might even be able to fit it in with the conversation about your house meeting spot.
“Hey, if we have a fire or something and have to leave the house, let’s meet up by the mailbox. If it is a big situation, and we can’t get to the house, let’s meet at Mikey D’s around the corner. While we’re at it, if it is something like a gas leak where we can’t even get that close, let’s meet the gazebo in the town square. I don’t think we’ll ever need to do it, but at least we’ll be able to find one another if we do.”
Of course cell phones and other forms of communication may be up and working but this very primitive method of establishing a gathering point should not be neglected just in case our modern conveniences are not working. It will be at a time like this, more than ever, that we’ll need the comfort of knowing where our loved ones are.
A S.A.F.E. Place
Make the meet point be a SAFE place.
This is an acronym for Specific, Accessible, Far enough, and Effective.
Make it Specific. Notice we’re getting together at Mc Donald’s not just ‘around the corner’. “Around the corner” is too general and we might not find one another.
Make it Accessible. If you choose a building, or even a restaurant, make it one that is open 24/7/365. You don’t want to say to meet up on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. The lines are long at the best of times and it could take hours to get there – plus you have to pay to get in and there are times during the year or at night when it is closed and simply not accessible. Much better to meet on the street outside the Empire State Building.
Make the place Far Enough away from the suspected source of danger. If you have a mailbox on the side of your house rather than on the road, you probably don’t want to meet at the mail box. You’ll probably want to get together where your driveway meets the road or across the parking lot at the Dumpster if you live in apartments. If you think there may be a gas leak in your neighborhood you don’t want to try to gather at the neighbor’s house…it probably won’t be far enough away. But only you can decided specifically where to meet. Just make sure it fits with your suspected need.
Finally, make it Evident. Some people may disagree with this and even I disagree with it in certain circumstances. In general though, if you are just faced with a normal inconvenience, make it in an evident place. Make it so that you can see one another, even from a distance. You don’t want to meet up crouched behind some bushes or in the Dumpster, you want to be able to see that your loved one is safe from a distance and you want them to be able to see you approaching. This greatly increases morale and enhances the likelihood that you’ll actually find one another.
As an aside – if we go in to a End of the World as We Know it / Without Rule of Law situation, I would invert that “evident” element and make sure that you cannot be seen unless someone is specifically looking for you…so the specific element of the SAFE acronym will become even more important.
Also, make sure that the area makes sense for your needs. The Empire State Building, corner of E 33rd and 5th would be an excellent place to gather – just not for me. I live over 2,000 miles away. It would be totally impractical for me to set this as a meet point. Unless you live on Manhattan Island, the south side specifically, it would probably be impractical for you too.
Move Forward
So this is it! You’re on your way to implementing a plan…and if you have reluctant participants you have started the process in a very non-confrontational manner. Now you can start building upon this foundation.
So, now that we know where to meet, what should we bring to the meeting?
Of that stuff, what do we need to know how to use if we don’t already know how to use it?
Where do we go once we’ve met up?
What will we need for that?
See, all these questions build upon one another and again, it is done in a non-confrontational manner in order to ease others along as painlessly as possible.
All these other questions, and even how to open frank discussions with others about preparedness, will be covered in future discussions.
Until then, I’ll let you get back to your day. Thanks for joining me.