Are you really prepared?

Some of you may know I write on many first aid, disaster, and preparedness topics for other blogs that real people actually read. Here is a recent post from one of those blogs.

What's in your emergency kit? Do you even have one? Did you buy a first aid kit at the big box store and forget about it? If your first aid kit is like most it is half empty, has broken dried out and dated items, is missing half the content and you hope to never have to actually use it. But what if you do?

Millions of people every year find themselves in disasters, floods from rivers that wipe out entire towns, hurricanes, earthquakes, camping accidents, or acts of terror.

Being prepared means more than just having a half empty first aid kit in the trunk of the car.

Preparedness also means having 72 hours worth of food, water, medicine and money on hand and duplicated in several places. Have more than one car? Each one needs a kit as well as the home.

I've seen homes where there is a coat rack with a ready-to-go back pack for each family member hanging on the wall. In a moments notice the family could be out the door and ready to get to higher ground, shelters, or away from pending disaster.

How about winter disasters? I had a friend with 6 kids get knocked off the road in a blizzard by a semi truck and stuck in the ditch for 4 days! Could you survive that? He was an avid outdoorsmen and had gear in his van to help them make it until rescued but just barely.

After the accident he got himself better prepared.

So what else do you need? You need a plan.

Where will your family meet if they are separated and cannot go back home such as during a large fire? What are your families safe words to use to let children know you've given someone permission to go after them when you can't? Do your family members know how to use a first aid kit, do CPR, or stop bleeding or treat a burn?

There are lots of places you can get started.

Take a Red Cross class, you'll be surprised that they can be fun as well as educational. Or take a course from the community college, local EMS services, or other options in your area.

Go beyond basic first aid and pul together an emergency pack for each person who depends on you, in your home and each vehicle. Employers should be prepared to provide for 72 hours for every employee, in some states it's the law.

Practice.

Remember when you were a kid and had fire drills at school? They did that so that in a panic you would be better prepared to act automatically. Many large companies have emergency drills again in some places it's the law. Most experts agree that many more lives could have been saved in the 9/11 attacks if people had a plan and did not waste time wondering what to do.

Check out the US government Readiness site for more info. Go to companies like Emergency Medical Products www.buyEMP.com and School Kids Healthcare www.SKHC.com where they stock everything you need for a good emergency kit. Start simple and build on it over time. Make sure all family members know what to do.

And most importantly, start working on it right now.