Tag: Emergency Planning

It’s Not a Movie, Folks

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Since I was a preteen I’ve enjoyed playing role-playing games. These games are where you take on the role of a fictional character and control that character’s actions in a fictional environment. It really is group storytelling where everyone (hopefully) participates to make an interesting  group event. There is also one person who directs the story and plays the parts of everyone not directly controlled by one of the other players.

Some days go better than others and there are occasions where the players just kind of bog down with and stop doing anything interesting. Everyone just kind of takes a pause and the game enters a lull. When I’m playing as the ‘director’ (Dungeon Master, Guide, etc.) and things hit that lull, I remind the other players, “It’s not a movie, folks”. They are responsible for taking the actions that drive the narrative forward.

This is About You

Let me now say it to you: This is not a movie. You are responsible to take action for your own planning and preparedness.

No one is as familiar with your needs and resources as you are. While others can come in and provide guidance, you must be the driving force for yourself and your family or group.

  • Who else knows better your dietary restrictions?
  • Who else knows better your risk tolerance?
  • Who knows the skills you have at your disposal?
  • Who knows your attachment to certain items or locations?
  • Who knows the resources at your disposal and what trade-offs you’re willing to make?
  • Truly no one else is as dedicated to your health and well being than you should be.

This is where most ‘preparedness’ or even ‘survival’ guides lose their way. They can only speak in generalities, but each person’s situation is unique and it needs a plan that is just as unique.

Taking Your First Step

While that general approach is a good place to start, to be something truly effective, you need to blaze your own trail.

Even before that, however, the first step must be to make the decision that planning and preparedness are necessary. If you can take an unbiased look at the world around us right now you’ll probably see that humanity is at the highest, most prosperous state that it has ever been in. You’ll also see that in many ways, we are on the edge and a fall from this height is dangerous. The thoughts of, ‘we’re doing better than ever in history’ and ‘we’re in danger of collapse’ can be held at the same time without one diminishing the other.

Since you have gotten to this site and made it this far through this post, I’m going to assume that you have made the decision to at least start thinking about taking positive steps toward your own personal preparedness.

Taking the Next Steps

With that being the case, please check back here. Better yet, subscribe to the posts and get a notification when the posts are updated. My effort will be focused on having two posts per week. The Monday post will pertain mostly to Personal Readiness – the operational side of things where preparedness tactics are discussed. The Thursday post will be more focused on Emergency Planning – the strategic, long-range side.

In the meantime, your homework is to begin (or if you have already begun, then use a more critical eye) to evaluate your situation. Identify those things which you rely on the most (your job, your car, your garden, whatever). That’s it. Just identify those things. With the next Thursday post we’ll begin with the planning.

Remember, it’s not a movie. No one is going to play this out for you. Your results will depend on your actions.

Alternate Routes

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This is an odd subject not often discussed in the context of preparedness, but it definitely should be an emergency planning tool that carries over into personal preparedness.

So what do I mean alternate routes?

Route Autopilot

Most of us generally go about our lives – especially when moving from one oft-visited location to another – on autopilot.

We pull out of the driveway, turn right, go down three blocks, turn left and so on and on until we get to our work then reverse the pattern to get home. We do the same to get to the grocery store, our favorite theater, the train station, etc. Once we are accustomed to a route, we use it over and over. We’re on autopilot.

An employee, years ago, was part of the digital generation and despite living in a relatively small town, he was dependent on his GPS to get to anywhere in town or out. There was a restaurant he passed every day on his way to and from work. I asked him to meet me there for lunch one day and he asked for the address so he could put it in his GPS. There were three traffic lights between his house and work; the entire trip took less than five minutes and the restaurant was at one of those red lights, and he was still unable to find his way to a place he had passed at least 200 times in a year. He wasn’t just on autopilot, he was on someone else’s autopilot.

One day the data cable running to town – yes, THE cable, there was only one – was cut. Immediately the Internet dropped and since we were in a valley with no line of site out of the valley and the cell towers relied on the fiber line to get to outside world, all cellular data dropped as well.

In seconds we went from a moderately thriving small 21st century town to the 19th century. Gas stations couldn’t sell gas, banks couldn’t make deposits, ATMs couldn’t give cash. My employee couldn’t find his way home. I literally drove to his apartment with him following so he could get home.

His was an extreme example, but I’m sure he was not the only person in the country in a similar situation. As we become more dependent on technology to help us perform mundane tasks, we get rusty at those tasks or never even learn them.

So despite his case being extreme, there are many of us who need to take a refresher in how to navigate, plan routes, and make adjustments without the aid of technology.

Route Planning

Taking a moment to plan a deliberate route from your house to the grocery or work, or where ever, is the first step in renewing this skill.

Did you first discover your autopilot route years ago? Have streets changed, new streets been built, old streets altered? Could there be a more efficient route? Does the route you take avoid the most traffic / take less time / go fewer miles than a new alternative? If you don’t know these answers immediately, take a few minutes to research. You might be surprised. You can even use your technology to help you make good decisions – this is what technology should be used for, assisting in making decisions, not outsourcing the decision-making process.

Once you have your new route, or have validated your old route, broaden your view.

Researching the Alternates

Now that you’re thinking about it, what happens if your primary route is no longer feasible? What if there is a water main break? How about if a construction crew closes down your route? Where do you turn?

It is always good to have a backup route.

For those of us in and around large cities, being able to navigate to important locations using major highways is a given. If you like avoiding the inevitable traffic jam, being familiar with your alternate routes is just as essential.

My commute to work used to take an hour to an hour and a half, each way. There was one bridge that was a major choke point and there were wrecks on that bridge at least once a month and major wrecks causing serious delays a few times a year. I knew two routes to get around that bridge that tacked on about 30 minutes to my commute. If traffic was backed up to a particular exit on the freeway, I exited and took an alternate route. If I heard about the accident or delay before getting on the freeway, I had another alternate.

Know When to Use Alternatives

That brings us to the next question: When do you use the alternate route?

As above, you set parameters for yourself and pay attention to warning signs.

I listened to the radio traffic reports to know if I needed to take my pre-freeway alternate. I continued to listen to the traffic reports on the freeway and made my final go / no-go decision when I approached my exit-based alternate.

You can do the same. Listen to reports, watch for signs of congestion, or signs on delay such as the flashing lights of construction or emergency response vehicles.

Now Go Big

Once you have a little practice at planning and using alternate routes, expand it be part of your emergency planning.

Do you have a fishing retreat? Do you have friend or family member’s house that is far away? How many ways do you know of getting there?

Does your route pass through areas that may be subject to civil unrest? Does it pass through natural choke points that can easily be controlled or disrupted? Can you find an alternate route that would bypass such areas? That would be your secondary. Can you find another that is even less convenient, but that is virtually certain to get you to your destination? That is your tertiary.

Add even more if you can – and then practice the route(s). Communicate the routes to those you’re likely to travel with such as your immediate family or close friends.

These alternate routes can serve their intended purposes, but like with many things in personal readiness and emergency planning, once you start building or renewing these skills, your mind starts exploring options and solutions. You’re rewiring how you think. You’ll start seeing a world of choices and options to explore well beyond the trip to the grocery store.