Emergency preparedness planning is not fun or sexy, but it is essential.

With modern conveniences such as electricity and technology, we have become accustomed to a standard of living in which lights, water, and food are always available at our fingertips.

We have also come to expect that if we have an emergency, the paramedics, fire trucks, and police are just minutes away and ready to come to our rescue.

All of these are essential to life and survival, but can you really expect them during a major emergency or disaster? The answer is quite simply…no.

No matter where we live, we are susceptible to some type of disaster. Floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, fires, major storms, viral outbreaks, or other disasters/major emergencies are a part of our lives and something we don’t usually think about until it happens.

I have 25 years of experience in coordinating emergency/disaster response, both in the military and the local county sector. In my years of working in emergency services, I have experienced the full cycle of working with and talking to rescuers and victims from the start of the emergency through to the end, when the clean up and rebuilding begins.

When disaster strikes, emergency responders in your area are going to be overwhelmed.

Your call for help will be added to the possibly hundreds or thousands already on the list, which is precisely why you need to be prepared to take care of yourself as best you can.

I have personally worked in Emergency Operations Centers during three major floods and know that even with the use of the National Guard, local responders, and volunteers we were not able to rescue some people until several days have passed. Finding out who needs help and their priority can be very chaotic for those trying to help you.

That is yet another good reason to have a Family Communications Plan in place so that family members can contact each other and reunite following a disaster.

Experts say be prepared to take care of yourself for 72 hours.

Have enough bare essentials with a survival backpack of emergency supplies to sustain you and your family until help arrives. From my experience, that is a very realistic statement but may but underestimated. It could be even longer.

I have talked with victims afterward who said, “This property has never flooded before, I never thought this would happen.” All of their stories made me a believer that disasters can happen anytime and anywhere.

Within this website, I will bring you practical information to help with your family’s safety by providing you insight to the different types of emergencies and disasters while providing a guide to the essentials that will help you and your family be prepared to respond if such an event were to occur.

No emergency or disaster is the same. This site is not intended to guarantee your safety by following all ideas implicitly, but merely to help you think and prepare so that you are a little better able to respond and get you and your family to safety.

Here you will find a plethora of DIY emergency preparedness ideas such as emergency planning, emergency communications, and an emergency list.

An Emergency Preparedness Plan is a good place for you to start. When you are ready to start putting together a supply of things to have ready, see my article on A Quick and Easy Emergency Preparedness List.

Please take time to review the steps you can take to prepare you and your family. There won’t be time for it during a disaster.