Press Release
U.S.News & World Report
50 Ways to Improve Your Life In 2005
Dec. 27, 2004-Jan. 3, 2005
#23
Make an Emergency Plan
Like most Californians, Robin Ibrahim, her husband, and their three young daughters were asleep when a massive earthquake wracked the Northridge area in the wee hours of Jan. 17, 1994. Ibrahim, a University of California- Los Angeles extension manager, was moderately prepared for the disaster, but after the quake she decided she needed to step up her efforts: "It's not just myself anymore; it's my family I have to worry about."
Exhausted by terror alerts of all hues? Bracing for the next flood/hurricane/tornado/earthquake? Still recovering from the blackout of'03? Rather than going through life in a miasma of anxiety, you can take a few simple steps to prepare for the worst-and put your mind at ease once and for all.
That doesn't mean outfitting your home like a for ward base in Iraq 's Sunni Triangle. "We don't need to protect ourselves from every weapon or disaster," says Henry Fischer, director of the Center for Disaster Research and Education at Pennsylvania 's Millersville University. "But heck, we can have the basic supplies to keep us alive and safe for 72 hours" -the amount of time emergency planners estimate it would take to get basic services running again after a disaster.
The American Red Cross lines it up this way: Make a plan, build a kit, and get trained. Your plan should include two places for your family to meet in an emergency, one just outside your home and another outside your neighborhood, and the phone number of an out-of state friend who can serve as a contact. Try to conduct practice runs and remind children of the plan once or twice a year. Your kit should provide 1 gallon of water per person per day and a three-day supply of nonperishable food that requires no refrigeration or cooking, and little or no water. Don't forget the manual can opener and eating utensils. But be realistic when shopping for the foodstuffs, says firefighter Jarvis Willis, a Los Angeles-based
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) instructor: "This is not a survival camping trip."
You'll also want extra clothing appropriate for your climate; cash in $ls and $5s (ATMS may be inaccessible during a disaster); a battery powered radio and flashlight (with extra batteries); a first-aid kit; and plastic sheeting and duct tape to "shelter in place." Keep copies of important family records (insurance, bank account data) in a waterproof, portable container, and refresh supplies of prescription medication.
Finally, it's a good idea to make sure at least one adult in the household has some first-aid and emergency training. Ibrahim took that route: She enrolled in the Los Angeles Fire Department's seven-week CERT program. "I feel so much better than I did after the earthquake," she says. "I can have some control." -Samantha Levine
