WHY Prepare?

[ReadyMom]

Greetings!
Preparation for emergencies is preparing for ANYTHING that can affect the NORMAL ROUTINE in your DAILY LIFE. I have been promoting emergency home preparation for the past several years and have attended many national Emergency Management conferences. This is not a concern due to 'Paranoia aka a "paranoid power trip"', 'Christian Hype', 'Extremism' and a sundry of other excuses that many have often referred to. Emergency Managers and Emergency agencies are aware of the many situations that families can find them selves from something as 'simple' as a loss of jobs to an extreme situation from weather, disaster or terrorism. The scale of emergencies is wide.

The people who refer to themselves as 'Preppers' have looked at current world and weather events, evaluated the risk at hand (given our 'just in time' supply for daily goods and taken the advice of the agencies to prepared.

Preparation can be as simple as 2-weeks of supplies in hand (IN ADDITION to what is currently in your household) or you can prepare for the extended lengths of time that others have mentioned in these posts. Preparation should be what you can afford and what you feel comfortable with, knowing that what preparations you HAVE made can only help your family, when you find yourself in need.

Homeland Security, FEMA and the American Red Cross have ALL been advocating home preparedness in more recent years, with programs like the ‘Be Ready’ campaign. They have openly suggested that households prepare from 3 days to 2 weeks AT THE MINIMUM. If they suggested anything further it would turn people off even considering emergency home preparation because they would be overwhelmed at the mere thought of preparation. Unfortunately, their message has been a relatively quiet one, so many folks may have missed it. See American Red Cross/FEMA: Food and Water in an Emergency http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf (page 4) See Homeland Security (Ready.gov): Get a Kit
http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit

And if you think that in a significant disaster/emergency there WILL be goods in stores, the American Trucking Industry has advised that there will NOT be sufficient supplies WITHIN 24 HOURS! See: 'When Trucks Stop America Stops' http://www.truckline.com/Newsroom/Truck ... 0Stops.pdf .

If you are taking the time to visit American Preppers Network and are realizing that this may be a venture that you want to undertake in your own home, you can also visit sites like http://www.EmergencyHomePreparation.org, http://www.thesurvivalmom.com and other sites to develop your own balanced decision on emergency home preparation for ALL hazards that can affect your lifestyle.

Additonal Consideration: Watch this video:

[sbsion]

"..to be prepared or not to be..." that is not a good question.always be is better

[IceFire]

Excellent post, ReadyMom! EVERYONE should consider it to be their RESPONSIBILITY to make emergency preparations for themselves and their family. It's only common sense.

[itsadisaster]

Thank you ReadyMom -- you're the BEST!! And you're so correct Ice .. sadly a majority of the population don't even have a basic plan, kits, etc .. but more and more are starting to pay attention. And RM's above intro is a great place to start!!

[ReadyMom]

If you'd like MORE info on WHY you need to prepare, see this:


MORE Reasons to Prepare-It's NOT just Pandemics.
http://emergencyhomepreparation.org/vie ... e5d5bb4855

And keep this quote in mind:

“Pulling together and doing our part to mount an effective response.“
Gary Locke
Commerce Secretary
of the United States

Edited to update link

[Brother Love]

WHY Prepare?

Because Id rather be a silly goose, than a dead duck

[MrDanB]

Great post (as always) Ready Mom! I prep for sovereignty, for comfort, for knowledge, for keeping me and my family safe, and because the alternative equals waiting on others for help....

[sbsion]

WHY Prepare?

Because Id rather be a silly goose, than a dead duck

or a chicken instead of a "dumb cluck"?

[BATTLEBOY SURPLUS]

I believe that each individual should be responsible for Protecting and Providing for their OWN Family. It would be nice to rely on outside agencies and groups who are tasked with doing so and are paid for with Our TAX Dollars. One thing that has never, ever been discussed by the Media and in BLOGS is that Human Beings are born with the instinct to SURVIVE. Most also protect their Own. With this being said, I had a few thoughts about this in the 1980's when I was deciding on which Armed Service to Serve in.
- If I am tasked with helping someone else in the course of MY SERVICE- Police or Military, who will be watching and caring for my LOVED ONES?!?


- What would I do if I were ordered to HELP others in need after finding out MY OWN FAMILY was in Danger and needed me?!? Would I just Follow Orders and help others, or would I accept future repercussions and go help my Family?!?
- Since all of the "help" Agencies are staffed by Human Beings who most likely have Families or other Loved ones, can you blaim them for not helping you IF,THEY have their own personal EMERGENCY or CRISIS??!?
- What if it were IMPOSSIBLE for me to get to my Family in time, if at all?!?
- My own, personal conclusion was this- I will always have the means available for my FAMILY. With me or without me, they will have FOOD, WATER, MEDICAL and FIRST AID GEAR of some type, HEAT, LIGHT of some type and something for thieir own Protection- along with misc supplies.


Christopher Storm

[Lynda]

Excellent blog. Nice to see so many who do consider this.

[BATTLEBOY SURPLUS]

I have had these thoughts for a long time. I think everone is caught up with the "me" and ""I" and "I AM OWED"and "HELP ME, and just ME" mindset!! Those tasked with helping have there own problems. Are they being selfish if they help their own Families?

[Lynda]

Battleboy, I've always thought that unless one's own safety and security, as well as nourishment is secured, then it would be impossible to help others. Unless you take care of yourself first, you're in no condition to assist.

[BATTLEBOY SURPLUS]

I agree. It is just that so many people expect someone to come running and help them, then blame everyone else for not helping. This does not excuse those tasked with helping from actually providing some type of assistance.

[Roknrandy]

I have had these thoughts for a long time. I think everone is caught up with the "me" and ""I" and "I AM OWED"and "HELP ME, and just ME" mindset!! Those tasked with helping have there own problems. Are they being selfish if they help their own Families?

Your 100% correct BB. It's all about "me" which is really sad. People just don't pay attention to what's going on in the world anymore, they are too busy with whats directly affecting them and not seeing the larger picture.

[BATTLEBOY SURPLUS]

Would you believe that during OIF 3, 2005-2006, I came home on leave and people did not know we were in Afghanistan. I received snotty comments from Civilians about Iraq, some of them did not know about Troops deployed elsewhere.