Do You Have a Catastrophe Plan?

You are at work and your building shakes off the foundation, but you make it to the parking lot shaken...blessed to be alive.  Keys and cell in your hand.  Your car is driveable. It’s the middle of the day.  Your kids are at school.  What do you do next? 

It’s 3:00 AM, flooding is turning into a rushing river.  You’ve been told to evacuate.  What do you do next?

Fire strikes.  Do you or your family members know the fire escape plan?  Do you even have one?

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When catastrophe hits, it seems that there is more reactive energy versus proactive energy. 

Catastrophes are not new.  The human race is knowledgeable that earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, and tsunamis exist.  Terrorism falls under the classification of a catastrophic event.

On the morning of March 11, TV sets displayed the caption:   

Breaking News:  8.9 Earthquake in Japan

The video above the caption captured a wall of water sweeping over miles of land carrying along yachts, buildings, trucks, and cars.

The rescue workers on 9/11 didn’t have a clue that the burning towers they were entering would collapse on top of them.

We watched how there was a scramble to get down to flooded New Orleans immediately after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

It is perplexing that a nuclear plant has a power outage without two to five back-ups to cooling the reactors. How serious is that not to have? Now that we know that a burning building can collapse what else needs to be in place for rescue?

There has been enough human experience that governments and emergency response teams should have a written, well-drilled plan should any of the above-named catastrophes occur.  Across the globe.  There’s nothing wrong with a “What If...” Retreat ever so often.

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As crazy as this may sound, I never leave my desk without my phone and my keys.  If anything else, I know I’ll be able to get to my car, potentially get to the family and into the house, and make a phone call (with the hopes that the cell towers are still transmitting). Where I got that great idea?  Going out to the car to sit and chill until it was clear to come back into the building during company fire drills. 

• What is your plan of action for you and your family? 
• What runaway kit do you have on hand in case of disaster? 
• Do you have a supply of water, batteries, flashlights, a radio, non-perishable food, cash, blankets, books of matches, changes of clothes, toiletries, can-opener, copy of legal and bank documents and other things stashed somewhere in one location where everybody in the household knows to grab in case of evacuation need? 
• Do you have a generator in case of a region-wide blackout? 
• Do you have emergency plans of action for the elderly members of your family? 
• Do you have a stock of ice bags in a freezer?
• Do you know what to do and how to protect yourself in case of a nuclear disaster?
• What to take (regular medications), what clothing to wear, where to go to minimize exposure?

What you don’t have the time to do in the wake of a disastrous event is to get online to see what to do or try to call 911.

There is no clear-cut ABC 123 cookie cutter perfect plan to have in place for that clear-cut ABC 123 cookie cutter perfect scenario.  There is no need to be paranoid, but there sure is no need to be ignorant and a deer in headlights if something should happen.

• Check out Make a Plan by Ready America (Disaster Assistance.gov). 
• Arm yourself with knowledge about various disaster types (http://www.disasterassistance.gov/disasterinformation/disaster-types.shtm) 
• Learn about possible immediate needs (http://www.disasterassistance.gov/disasterinformation/immediate-needs.shtm). 
• Learn a little about radiation emergencies at the Center for Disease Control (http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/)

Just like in school when there is a fire drill and a tornado drill, a family should have a quarterly discussion and various scenario disaster drill. 

As said before, it is not necessary to be obsessed and paranoid, but when there is a plan, when there has been some type of preparation and plan in place, the panic level won’t be so high allowing vital time of energy to do the best in the given situation.

One can cross a bridge when they get to it, but it wouldn’t hurt to know a better way or two of crossing it.

© 2011 Nicol
© 2011 www.ladyintelligence.com

Originally posted on March 11, 2011 - Reposted on 11/1/2012 in response to Hurricane Sandy