I Confess– I’m Not Ready

Did you know that only 32% of Americans have a family emergency communications plan? And approximately 40% of people have done nothing to prepare for any emergencies? (Source: Emergency Preparedness Institute White Paper, January 2009) The American Red Cross says only 12% of Americans are really ready for an emergency.

I am inspired to write from the recent devastation we've witnessed in Haiti. That may seem like something that "could never happen to us." But what about Fort Hood's recent shootings?  What about earthquakes, tornadoes, ice storms, and even random power outages? Many of these could happen almost anytime.

Part of our definition of being organized is being "Ready for Anything." Generally I talk about this in terms of planning ahead and knowing what you're going to fix for dinner, or having a fire extinguisher or a little extra cash. But we also need to think about being ready for more serious matters. We all think it's not going to happen to us.

So I am 'fessing up… I am not ready for a disaster. I don't have my bottles of water and all of the cans of food. Even though I have been through two hurricanes and an ice storm before, I am like so many others who have not made it a priority. I am going to correct that over the next several weeks and I hope that you'll join me.

First, take this quick quiz, "What's Your RQ (Readiness Quotient)?" I scored badly, I am embarrassed to say. It will be very motivating for you to see your score.  🙂

It's not just about canned food… Here are some different kinds of preparation that you should consider:

• Food/water/basics: What will you eat and drink and sleep? How will you stay clean?
• Weather: How will you stay warm and dry and safe?
• Communication: Do you know how to hear the emergency broadcast information in your area? How will your family find each other? In the recent Ft. Hood incident, there were lots of families who were separated from each other for many hours, unable to get on or off base. It definitely made me think!
• Information: How will you access important identification documents and other information if you need to evacuate quickly? Is your computer data backed up remotely?
• Health: How will your family stay healthy if there is an outbreak of some kind? Do you have your prescription medications ready in case they are harder to obtain?
• Pets: How will you care for your pet in an emergency, and how will your pet be able to come along with you if you need to evacuate?
• Special needs: Do you have infants, elderly relatives or family members with disabilities?
• Business continuity: How will you run payroll? Is your data backed up offsite? Do you have a plan for communicating with key employees, suppliers, and customers?

The best resource for these issues is Ready.gov, which has great checklists and articles to help you with all of these questions. And remember, you don't have to do it all at once– I am planning on printing the checklist for the kit of basics and buying/gathering one or two items a week until I am finished.

For documents, there is a good product out there called the Vital Records PortaVault. It's recommended by the Red Cross, and it's a great way to centralize your identification papers and have them ready to go. My friend Dorothy offers the Delphi VIM- Vital Information Manager, which is a paperless way to store your important health and identification information online, so that it's secure and accessible from anywhere. I have a special savings code for this, by the way– it's normally $96 per year, but if you use the code G0025-0011 (those are zeroes) you can get it for $60 instead. You can put LOTS of information on there for all kinds of emergencies.

Will you join me in doing small things over time to get prepared? I will let you know how I am doing, and you do the same. We want to be the SMART PEOPLE who have the peanut butter and hand sanitizer and toilet paper, right?  🙂

PS: See also this great article by Jamie Lee Curtis, the national spokesperson for the American Red Cross's "Do More Than Cross Your Fingers" campaign– it's what inspired me to write this.

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