Don't Panic!

The most important thing to remember right now is to not panic. It can be quite frightening when you suddenly realize that you aren't prepared or prepared enough.

While it is important to be prepared now, you must keep in mind that you still have real world obligations: bills, work, family, etc. Make sure you don't overspend or go into debt trying to get prepared.

With that said, let's look at some things to consider when going about your preparations. Unless you are caught directly in an attack or conditions are dangerous or unbearable, the best thing you can do is to stay at home. You should be prepared to stay at home for at least one week, possibly as long as 30 days. Consider the following:

Things to think about:

• How to cook
• What to cook/eat
• How to obtain clean drinking water; You can store some water, but eventually, if the disaster is long enough, you'll run out and need to obtain and treat more.
• Duct tape and plastic sheeting for sealing up your house. In the event of a localized chemical or biological attack, you can seal up one room in your house to try to keep out these agents. You need to be aware of CO2 build up, though, In general, these items are always good to have on hand for a variety of things like patching a damaged roof or window (not from a terrorist attack, but any other disaster).
• Communications: a good battery powered radio is about the only thing that will suffice for this. Don't forget the spare batteries.
• Light: if the utilities go out, you'll need some source of light. While a big Mag light is hard to beat for brightness, LED flashlights are preferable as they are bright enough for most tasks and consume batteries at a lesser rate. Candles should be avoided as they can be dangerous and they consume oxygen. Keep a supply of spare batteries for your flashlights.
• Dust masks: you should carry around with you a dust or surgical mask to use in case there's any particular matter in the air that you'd rather not breathe. A dust/surgical mask won't protect you against everything, but it's better than nothing. Get the smallest filter size you can find.
• Some form of protection; this could be a gun or some other manner of repelling bad people just in case anyone tries to take advantage of a bad situation.
• Cash money; there's a possibility that you won't have access to banks for a while, so have some cash on hand.
• First-aid and prescription medicines; Know first-aid and make sure that you have any needed medications refilled.
• Warmth; If the utilities go out, you'll need to keep warm...even in the desert (sometimes especially in the desert) the nights can get quite cold.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has put out a document that is a very realistic look at the possible events that might occur and what you can do about it. Click here for the document.

Related Links:

Are You Prepared PDF