Survival Preparedness In The City

One of your top priorities is water and food. If you can put away an emergency supply of each of these you would not have to worry about someone else getting food to you. How much you decide to put away is up to you. You could think three days worth out to a one year supply. It depends on what you feel might be best for you and could be limited to your finances. At the least a few days of extra food would help you out in a short term disaster situation so you could live as normally as possible.

Of course you must consider water as the top priority for you can't last long without it. You can store some in containers or buy bottled water. You might also want a way to filter or purify water if you use rain water or get it from ponds or lakes.

As a foot note: The way the economy is now it may be wise to have a supply of food on hand just in case you lost your job. Even if you are collecting un-employment, it will be lower than your regular income. If you had that food put away it would really help offset the cost of feeding your family.

Just in case there are some injuries it would be a good idea to put together at least a basic first aid kit. You could buy the separate items yourself to build one that suits your needs or buy a ready made kit. You can find many first aid and medical kits that are from basic to rather in depth in what is included.

In addition try to learn some first aid so you know what you are doing. You can check with the Red Cross for training or even your local emergency preparedness people. Get a good first aid manual or guide to have on hand to help you out.

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Just a word on whether it is better to sit out an emergency at home or make a run for it. If you don't have another location to go to such as friends or family in a safe location, or your own vacation or retreat that you have set up as a place to bug out to, what do you do? Lots of info has been written on this subject, it may be better in some cases to stay put at your own home to avoid any mass exodus out of a city.

If you have prepared well it may be better to hold out where you are unless you are in the path of something big. Hopefully you have good instincts or insight to make the right choice at the right time. You should set up a network of family and friends close by for mutual support so you are not alone.

For some good info on the benefits of staying in the city of getting to a rural location check out" The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse." The author Fernando Ferfal Aquirre also known just as "FerFal," gives first hand experience of the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina. You can find a link to his books location on Amazon below.

Have you put an emergency kit in your car? If you live where you get a lot of freezing weather and snow you should have an emergency kit that you keep in your car. What if you are stranded far from home, could you survive not freezing while waiting for help? Keep extra blankets or anything for that matter that would help you keep warm in your trunk so they would be on hand if needed. Have some extra food and water to keep your body fueled, any thing easy to keep and eat would do.

If you have some way to start a fire you could burn your spare tire for heat (away from your vehicle). It will make a lot of black smoke and stink but at least you have emergency heat. The smoke could also double as an emergency signal. Hey, it's just a thought and keep it in mind. Buy some of those pen flares you could shoot up in the air for searchers to see.

Its important you have a plan laid out for your family so each of you know what to do and what is expected in case of an emergency. You have heard the saying "fail to plan - plan to fail" which pretty much sums it up. Spend a little time to prepare your home for what may come. Plan a number of different routes you can take to get out of town if need be. Have a rallying point for family members that traveling separately.

Anything you have put away for emergencies should be left alone for that purpose only. Do not borrow something from a kit with the thought of putting it back latter because you may not do it. Dedicate those emergency items to that purpose only.

Not all of us live in earthquake zones but for those who do, you need to be prepared for the worst earthquake, especially if you live in a city. You may never experience anything more than a small tremble but there could be that time that you are in a big one. California has building codes that make structures more earthquake resistant but they are not completely earthquake proof, the damage will be less severe I guess.

You should know the rules about fastening your entertainment systems and bookshelves to the wall with some kind of string or twine by way of hooks so they do not fall over on you. Anything else in your home that has the potential of falling on someone should be fastened down or attached to the wall very good. These measures would at least take out the possibility of injury or death from falling household items.

If your house or apartment is rendered unusable do you have a tent to put up as a temporary place to get out of the weather? Better yet do you have another place to stay, maybe friends or relatives? Have a rallying point for family members if everyone was out of the house at the time of the earthquake.

Put together a backpack of items that can help you get by for at least three days in an emergency. First important items would be water and some food. Next a first aid kit would be very important and some extra clothes would be good. You can add more items as you think are needed, but these first things are a must. Everyone in your family needs one of these bags kept where it can be quickly picked up.

It would be good to put an extra bag in each vehicle in addition to each person's bag, which would always stay there. Do not borrow anything from your bags so there is no chance of forgetting to put it back. Also keep track of the food items to make sure the expiration date is not past. Just the act of the above preparations should make you more comfortable knowing you have made some preparations for something that could be devastating.