Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Nov 30th 2010, 10:32 am
#76
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Nov 30th 2010, 10:35 am
#78
Peace onion
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Denver
Posts: 5,686
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Byyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeee
Nov 30th 2010, 10:45 am
#79
He/him
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 18,958
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
anyone familiar with Chinese army 761 buscuits? I reccon a few of them would fill you up for a month or two, last forever, and if you are not hungry, you could build a house with them.
Nov 30th 2010, 10:52 am
#80
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,605
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Are they like Dwarf Bread, then?
Nov 30th 2010, 10:56 am
#81
He/him
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 18,958
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Nov 30th 2010, 12:14 pm
#83
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,449
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
A wind up radio is something to be avoided.
Actually they come in handy, a couple of years ago, there was a big storm, trees down, no electricity; I get my stoves out of the garage and cook everyone breakfast, then its chop up all the trees time, and clear the way for cars and peds alike to roam free. Father-in-Law gets out of it by deciding to go shopping for a chain saw, I get out of it by being the communications coordnator to find out when the power is back on, if places of work are affected, doing this meant I had no time to do anything else, as it was not far off continual cranking; maybe they make worse ones now, that only take a few turns to provide lots of listening time, but force you to do proper work. Poor old BiL, did not have the foresite to get a wind up radio and had to work with an axe till the chain saw arrived.
Actually they come in handy, a couple of years ago, there was a big storm, trees down, no electricity; I get my stoves out of the garage and cook everyone breakfast, then its chop up all the trees time, and clear the way for cars and peds alike to roam free. Father-in-Law gets out of it by deciding to go shopping for a chain saw, I get out of it by being the communications coordnator to find out when the power is back on, if places of work are affected, doing this meant I had no time to do anything else, as it was not far off continual cranking; maybe they make worse ones now, that only take a few turns to provide lots of listening time, but force you to do proper work. Poor old BiL, did not have the foresite to get a wind up radio and had to work with an axe till the chain saw arrived.
Nov 30th 2010, 12:16 pm
#84
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,449
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Nov 30th 2010, 12:58 pm
#85
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
I would chase you out of my disaster thread for being so OT but it's the longest chat I've had with you all year.
PS: 'cause he's a wannabe and you've pooped your pants and posted about it, that's why.
I couldn't help myself!
Nov 30th 2010, 2:10 pm
#86
WTF?
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Homeostasis
Posts: 79,449
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
That. That PS says it all. You just enjoy torturing people.
I would chase you out of my disaster thread for being so OT but it's the longest chat I've had with you all year.
PS: 'cause he's a wannabe and you've pooped your pants and posted about it, that's why.
I couldn't help myself!
I would chase you out of my disaster thread for being so OT but it's the longest chat I've had with you all year.
PS: 'cause he's a wannabe and you've pooped your pants and posted about it, that's why.
I couldn't help myself!
Back on topic, I once had a fake Christmas tree in the trunk of my car for over a year. I think that would have come in very handy in an emergency.
Nov 30th 2010, 7:18 pm
#88
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,861
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
I've been invited to drop in as a kind of guest speaker 
so please don't heckle me too much 
We have a thread in the Aus forum if anyone wants to read some more on the Aussie side of things, and I anticipate starting a few threads over the next few months as the predictions for our cyclone season (just starting) are pretty 
My "real" job is in emergency management in Australia, where a lot of hazards are much the same as those in the US - we have fewer tornadoes, and have cyclones instead of hurricanes, but the main threats are the same, and so are a lot of the preparations. Any comments on here are purely and personally mine, by the way, for official comments read the links. Any links on here are to Aus - mainly Queensland - based info, but a lot can be adapted for elsewhere, and a lot of our preparedness work has been done with information gleaned from FEMA and other US sites and organisations.
We have an issue in some parts of Aus where people are starting to think that all preparation should be a government job, and the ordinary person should just be able to sit back and expect help to rush towards them in event of a disaster. The problem with this is that when a big event occurs, no matter how prepared the authorities are, they soon become swamped with calls for help. These then need to be prioritised, and if a large sector of the community has made its own preparations then it frees up people like us to concentrate on those in the most dire need. Later, when things are calmer, we can help the others, but from our point of view, the more people prepare themselves for disasters, the better it is for everyone.
Simple emergency kits can be an amazing help, not just for your own household but for those around you as well. And while it may seem daft to have a box with a spare torch, screwdriver etc when you have all those around the house in other places, in an emergency you don't have time to think "now where did I leave the torch last week....." - you need to be able to instinctively reach for that box and KNOW that everything is in there.
Same as having an evacuation kit - especially if you are in a bushfire area. If you have to leave NOW you need to be able to grab one box and know it has certain things in it, you don't have time to run round the house collecting stuff.
An emergency plan and an evacuation plan are also a great idea - though you need to practise them as well as just write them! And make sure every member of the household knows what their role is. Kids can get very scared at the thought of preparing for a disaster, so you need to try and make it more like an adventure for them, and if they feel they have a part to play, even if its only getting the dog and his lead and bowl, then they will react better when the time comes.
Some links for kids - I'm sure FEMA has stuff too, but some of these are quite fun.
Get Ready Kidnas! - games based around emergencies
Red Alert - disaster experiences of young people
Red Cross resources for children
We also have a new national emergency alert system in Australia, largely developed as a response to the Victorian Bushfire Disaster. Each State operates their own part of it, and so far its been used for a variety of stuff including tsunami alerts, flash floods, missing children, and bushfires.
That should keep you going for a while anyway.........any questions/criticisms on a postcard to the Weather Witch, South of the Equator
so please don't heckle me too much We have a thread in the Aus forum if anyone wants to read some more on the Aussie side of things, and I anticipate starting a few threads over the next few months as the predictions for our cyclone season (just starting) are pretty My "real" job is in emergency management in Australia, where a lot of hazards are much the same as those in the US - we have fewer tornadoes, and have cyclones instead of hurricanes, but the main threats are the same, and so are a lot of the preparations. Any comments on here are purely and personally mine, by the way, for official comments read the links. Any links on here are to Aus - mainly Queensland - based info, but a lot can be adapted for elsewhere, and a lot of our preparedness work has been done with information gleaned from FEMA and other US sites and organisations.
We have an issue in some parts of Aus where people are starting to think that all preparation should be a government job, and the ordinary person should just be able to sit back and expect help to rush towards them in event of a disaster. The problem with this is that when a big event occurs, no matter how prepared the authorities are, they soon become swamped with calls for help. These then need to be prioritised, and if a large sector of the community has made its own preparations then it frees up people like us to concentrate on those in the most dire need. Later, when things are calmer, we can help the others, but from our point of view, the more people prepare themselves for disasters, the better it is for everyone.
Simple emergency kits can be an amazing help, not just for your own household but for those around you as well. And while it may seem daft to have a box with a spare torch, screwdriver etc when you have all those around the house in other places, in an emergency you don't have time to think "now where did I leave the torch last week....." - you need to be able to instinctively reach for that box and KNOW that everything is in there.
Same as having an evacuation kit - especially if you are in a bushfire area. If you have to leave NOW you need to be able to grab one box and know it has certain things in it, you don't have time to run round the house collecting stuff.
An emergency plan and an evacuation plan are also a great idea - though you need to practise them as well as just write them! And make sure every member of the household knows what their role is. Kids can get very scared at the thought of preparing for a disaster, so you need to try and make it more like an adventure for them, and if they feel they have a part to play, even if its only getting the dog and his lead and bowl, then they will react better when the time comes.
Some links for kids - I'm sure FEMA has stuff too, but some of these are quite fun.
Get Ready Kidnas! - games based around emergencies
Red Alert - disaster experiences of young people
Red Cross resources for children
We also have a new national emergency alert system in Australia, largely developed as a response to the Victorian Bushfire Disaster. Each State operates their own part of it, and so far its been used for a variety of stuff including tsunami alerts, flash floods, missing children, and bushfires.
That should keep you going for a while anyway.........any questions/criticisms on a postcard to the Weather Witch, South of the Equator
Dec 1st 2010, 12:13 am
#89
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,477
Re: Emergency Preparedness: Is You or Is You Ain't?
Learned this one from DH who learned it in the RCAF and who once had to use it on the autobahn in Germany after a car accident.
Keep a supply of maximum strength sanitary napkins in your car trunk/emergency kit. They make excellent bandages cover wounds and slow the flow of blood.
Keep a supply of maximum strength sanitary napkins in your car trunk/emergency kit. They make excellent bandages cover wounds and slow the flow of blood.
