Family Preparation & Survival Guide

Earthquakes are caused by continent sized tectonic plates moving and rubbing against each other hundreds of miles beneath the earth’s surface.  It is near impossible to predict an earthquake, thus when one occurs, it can cause widespread panic and fear.  The most important piece of disaster information all guides offer is to remain calm.  During and after an earthquake, there are a number of steps you should take to protect yourself.  When an earthquake hits, ensure you get under a desk or table to prevent falling objects from hitting your head.  If there is no desk or table near, standing in a door frame is the next best thing. 

When the earthquake stops, it is important to be wary of aftershocks, which can be near as powerful as the earthquake.  You will want to check yourself for injury, and get outdoors as quick as possible.  Stay away from glass windows or objects which could fall and cause you harm.

Planning for emergencies should be a top priority amongst corporations.  It is important to keep employees and assets safe should a disastrous situation arise.  Several corporations have an emergency preparation guide; a standard flipchart or notebook accessible by a manager should a disaster occur.  The guide will teach what to do for emergencies such as fires, fatal accidents, biological warfare, and terrorist attacks.  In addition to addressing specific emergencies, planning is important for employees to remain calm, after all, the unknown tends to be the greatest fear. 

When considering an emergency guide, it is possible to make your own, or to purchase a premade version.  Whichever you choose to do, it is wise to consult with a specialist before you commit.

In order to reduce the stress and panic caused by an emergency situation, it’s always good to have a plan in place.  Whether for a family, or yourself, emergency planning is a sure way to stay safer.  Here are a few ideas of preventative measures you can take to avoid harm to yourself and loved ones:

~Select a meeting place; for family and friends it is wise to have a meeting place in case separation occurs and communication is not possible.

~Have an escape route; out of your house, out of an apartment building, make sure you know the best ways to get out and that you ensure they are usable. 

~Keep supplies on hand; have an emergency survival kit, or keep supplies stashed somewhere else.

Disaster preparedness is essential, and everyone should definitely have plans in place for a cataclysmic event.  There are a number of other ways to remain informed that are also important for self-preservation and peace of mind. 

Other types of survival guides available include how to avoid odometer fraud when purchasing a vehicle, how to maintain a car, how to hunt with a bow and arrow, how to start your own herb garden, and cookbooks for pet and human food, among others.

     Food preparation methods can be from very simple to somewhat complex.  It just depends on what kind of food you are preparing and how extravegant of a meal you are trying to prepare.  In survival type situations, you need to be trying to eat the foods with the most protein, carbohydrates, & fats (Good Fats not trans fats).  The easier to prepare, the better.  Most of the foods that get put up for long time storage don’t require much preparation to be able to eat.  There are many ways to cook food without a kitchen.

    The main factor in cooking food is a source of heat for cooking.  An open fire is usually the most readily available heat source.  A camp stove that is run off of propane gas is a pretty good backup cooking method.  A fireplace can be a real good place to cook food.  Our forefathers & mothers used this heat source quite effectively.   A charcoal grill, camp grill, propane grill, & other types of grills can be another excellent way to cook food.

     Different types of fires can be constructed for different types of cooking needs.  Different types of stoves can be constructed to fulfill different types of cooking needs.  TheSouthernFamilySurvivalGuide’s emergency preparation guides illustrate different types of fires and different types stoves for cooking and food preparation methods.

     Survival essentials have different meanings for different people.  Every person has a different idea of what they need to survive with.  Of course, everyone needs food and water just to stay alive.  People also need some sort of shelter from the elements.  At certain times of the year, a person can just sleep out in the wide open.  In today’s world, if you did sleep in the wide open, you probably wouldn’t wake up the next morning.  Someone would knock you in the head and make your survival essentials their survival essentials. 

     Different people feel that there are certain material things that they can’t do without.  Truth is, they can do without them.  They may not want to but they can.  In order to get your list of survival essentials, think of only things that you need to keep you alive and well.  Everyone’s list of survival essentials will be different but the same.  Everyone’s food supply will keep them alive but everyone has different tastes.  As long as your survival food can be kept for long periods of time without the need of electricity, that will keep you alive.  You can even pressure can meat of all types so it will be edible for at least a year later.  TheSouthernFamilySurvivalGuide’s 2 Disaster Preparation Ebooks have different methods of cooking food without the need of electricity.

     You need to have water stored up or at least a good method purifying water to drink.  Food is one thing that you need but you can do without for quite a while if you have plenty of water to drink.  A good supply of food either freeze dried, dehydrated, canned, or fresh caught from fishing & hunting, is a must to keep your family alive.  You must have a backup food and water supply lined up.

     Shelter needs to be on your list of survival essentials.  A backup shelter needs to be in place in case your home or apartment is unable to be lived in.  The seasons of the year determine what kind of shelter you need.  Any kind of structure that keeps the rain off of your head and the wind off of your back will help.  Shelters can be made out of just about any kind of materials available.  The only restriction is your imagination and your imagination is also your best asset.  For other survival essentials read our disaster preparation guides at TheSouthernFamilySurvivalGuide.com.

     Survival foods are plain and simple foods that are easy to prepare and high in nutrients, proteins, & carbohydrates and sometimes fats.  Survival foods are also foods that are able to be stored without freezing or keeping cool in a refrigerator.  Most survival foods do not have to be cooked.  If they have to be cooked, you can usually cook them a variety of ways.  They usually just need water added.  Survival foods, for the most part, are usually freeze dried.  Survival foods are not always the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).  If you think about it, any food that you eat is survival food. 

    It takes a lot of space to store survival foods if you are storing up for a family.  You need to store up survival food to last at least 2 months.  Two months sounds like a long time but it could take that long after a major disaster to get to you to help you.  The free information on the internet wants you to believe that 3 days is suffecient.  How long did the Hurricane Katrina “SURVIVORS” have until their HELP arrived?  It was a heck of a lot longer than 3 days.  Lets all learn from that event to stock up on Survival Foods & Water.

    Surviving natural disasters can be easy or hard.  It just depends on what you want to do & how you want to do it.  You can be calm through a natural disaster or you can be frantically running around praying for your life.  I prefer to take the easiest route through an ordeal of that nature.

    A person can prepare for every disaster imaginable and every terrorist attack concievable and can still wind up the wrong guest at a funeral.  Surviving natural disasters takes more than a few days of emergency supplies in a backpack and even more than a basement full of supplies of all kinds.  Without being able to keep calm (as much as possible) and put your knowledge of what to do & how to do it in an emergency situation to use, your chances of survival are slim to none. 

     Getting the confidence and assuredness to tackle & survive any natural disaster comes through knowledge and practice.  Knowledge is what fuels you confidence and practicing using your knowledge is what fuels your assuredness and confidence & assuredness both fuel each other.  follow the link at the first of this article to get all the information you need for your knowledge. 

    The rest is up to you, my friend.  It is hard to know what information to go by or which place to choose for information.  Our website gives you links to the the best places to get the FREE emergency preparation information.  Keep in mind this when you are reading all the free information you can find.  Did the SURVIVORS of Hurrican Katrina only have a 3 or 7 day wait until HELP arrived?  The FREE information wants you to believe all you need is a 3 or 7 day supply of emergency rations.

    Our Emergency Preparation Combo gives you enough information to survive ANY natural disaster or terrorist attack until you had all utilities on and all stores open again.  You can learn enough to live without stores & utilities all together.  Our emergency preparation information is priced at such a bargin for one reason, so you can save your hard earned money for what you really need to buy instead, emergency preparation supplies.   

     When someone says survival food, most people start thinking of foods like: military meals ready to eat, stored canned goods, & any other food that can be stored for long periods of time.  Not so.  You can ask most people how they would prepare their survival food and your most popular answer will be “Cook it on an open fire.”.    The possibilities are endless.  How to prepare survival food is one of the easy parts.

    When a person is trying to stay alive after a disaster, any meal or food they prepare has become survival food.  If you think about it, any food that you eat at any time, is survival food.  Food of all types can be cooked in many various ways.  You don’t have to have a stove to cook.  If a person knows several different ways to cook without a stove being one of them, your chances of survival after a disaster just went up.  The more things you know how to do in another way without the use of utilities, your chances of survival will keep going up.  The more things you know how to make without buying from stores, your chances of survival keep going up.  It is never too late to learn and prepare.  It is too late when you need to use what you would’ve learned.

Disasters can strike quickly and without warning. What would you do if basic services - water, gas, electricity or telephones were cut off? Families can cope with disaster by preparing in advance and working together as a team. Knowing what to do is your best defense and your responsibility. Follow these steps for disaster preparedness.Find out what could happen. Learn about your community’s warning signals: what they sound like and what you should do when you hear them. Ask about animal care after a disaster.

Find out how to help elderly or disabled persons, if needed. Find out about the disaster plans at your workplace, your children’s school or day care center, and other places where your family spends time.

Create a disaster plan. Meet with your family and discuss why you need to prepare for disasters. Explain the dangers of fire, severe weather, and earthquakes to children. Plan to share responsibilities and work together as a team. Pick places to meet. Ask an out-of-state friend to be your “family contact.” Disaster planning is paramount!

Cover all your ground. Post emergency telephone numbers by your telephone. Teach children how and when to call 911 or your local Emergency Medical Services number for emergency help. Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity. Check if you have adequate insurance coverage. Replace stored water and food every six months.

Keep emergency supplies in your home. Assemble emergency supplies to meet your needs for at least three days. Store these supplies in sturdy, easy-to-carry containers such as backpacks, duffel bags, or covered trash containers.

Familiarize yourself with the utilities. Locate the main electric fuse box, water service main, and natural gas main. Learn how and when to turn these utilities off. Keep necessary tools near gas and water shut-off valves.

If disaster strikes, put your plan into action. Remain calm and patient and give first aid and get help for seriously injured people. Listen to your battery-powered radio and evacuate if instructed to do so.