excerpts from Tip o'da Week on the EPICENTER Website
from On the Move, Summer (June) Quarter 1998, Volume 11, Number 2
Go back to "The Utah Technology Transfer Center On the Move Summer 1998 Newsletter"
If you knew that it would rain today, and that you would have to walk a block or two in the rain,
would you bring an umbrella or overshoes? If you knew that it would be very cold outside,
would you dress accordingly before going out? Of course you would. In every one of the above
situations you would be prepared.
Have you made a will, and is it current? Have you given any thought to your own funeral? For
most of us, we haven't. Is it because we just don't want to think of that?
There is a 100% chance that sooner or later we will all need a will. But these things are not nice
to think about, so we put them off. Even the one thing that is a complete certainty is not
adequately planned. No wonder so many of us don't have a family (or personal) emergency
survival plan. Emergencies are also not nice to think about. Who wants to think about all the
things that could go wrong?
Your lawyer, stockbroker, banker, and everyone else seems to be on your case to get your will
updated. They want you to make sure your medical insurance is paid up, and a whole host of
other things done, just in case. Your mother used to say, "make sure you always wear clean
underwear because you never know..." So, lets fool 'em all. Lets plan to survive.
Honest, it's not bad luck to think about an emergency before it happens. Planning what to do in
case of emergency does not mean that one will happen. However, you have to have an
emergency in mind to make you plan for it. There will probably be one anyway, so plan ahead.
Hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, severe winter storms (prolonged blizzards), tornadoes,
extended severe heat waves, floods, landslides and avalanches, volcanic eruptions, forest fires (or
wildfires), a factory fire involving dangerous substances, a wreck involving a chemical or toxic
material spill on a nearby roadway (or railway or seaport) are possibilities for some of you who
are reading this. (The list is nowhere near exhaustive). How about a "normal" house fire?
Depending on where you live, you are likely at risk from several hazards.
What will you do when (not if) an emergency occurs?
Have you planned for your survival, and your family's survival?
Have you practiced the plan?
Does your plan cover the contingencies?
Does your plan cover emergencies that occur when you are at home as well as away from home?
Does it cover all the basics?
Are the supplies you need on hand?
Are they fresh enough?
Are there kits in your car, your spouse's car, you kids' car(s). Do they know how to use them?
What shelter provisions have you made?
Do you have any money?
I am not going to try to tell you how to plan, in fact no one can do a full course on emergency
planning on a page of a website [or an article in a newsletter], and your circumstances are
different from mine. Contact your local emergency office for pointers on what to consider in such
plans. Contact your state government or FEMA. Try their website for information on emergency
planning and on their FEMA home study courses. In British Columbia (Canada), the Provincial
Emergency Program (PEP) has a website that has good information on planning including
Emergency Prep checklists, and the Emergency Preparedness Canada people are a good source of
information as well. No matter where you live, there is a local office of one emergency agency or
another who can help. Believe me, they would all rather have you fully prepared than be faced
with having to look after you after the event.
Do something. Get started, now! Today, not tomorrow or next week, but now! It really isn't all
that unpleasant to think about. Just think of it as a game. Beat the odds.
Thanks to the Emergency Preparedness Information Center (EPICENTER) for the information presented in this article. You can reach them at (206) 937-5658 or on the internet at http://www.theEpicenter.com/