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What do you mean prepare?


So I've been on this preparing journey for a short time. The idea of 'prepping' has been a thought that comes along every so often then disappears as quickly as it came to mind. Then maybe 12 months ago the thought stuck. But what have I done since then? Not alot is the truthful answer, but I suppose that is relative to who might read this and how much they have done.

A long story cut short is that I am a Paramedic Officer who decided to complete a masters degree in crisis & disaster management. Professionally, I like the idea of preparedness, ensuring the systems and people at work are as prepared as they can be to respond to and recover from a major incident. However I have a young family, surely I should be able to prepare them in the same manner in which I prepare my work. It is not as simple as that though is it.

At work there is no cost factor, not at my level anyway, there is a professional responsibility and requirement to be ready. But I also have a responsibility as a Dad and Husband. I started small, but where do I start was my first thought. Everything i read was telling me to get 3 days of supplies, then 3 months, then buy big barrels to store water, learn to store different foods with different methods. It was overwhelming to the point that I couldn't even start.

Then I thought how can I prepare at little to no cost. What do I have that is vital to my daily living that I can plan for, respond to and recover from. My family. My house. My car. I google what I know, emergency preparedness and (insert local council). What I found was a treasure trove of information to start my journey. A template to detail key information such as emergency numbers for gas and electricty, home insurance, local radio frequency, emergency contacts, school phone numbers where to meet in an emergency and lots more. This process enabled me to think clearly about the basics of what would need to be known if the worst was to happen. Having it written down feels much safer than just keeping it in your head.

Leading on from this I was able to ensure we had car insurance documents in the glove box, not just on the phone which can go dead. Printed home insurance details again not just sitting amongst my thousands of emails. It opened up discussion at home about what we would do in situation A, B, and C. Some of this stuff might seem simple or that you do already but if I haven't done it then someone out there probably hasn't either.

Since those early times things have progressed, but that's for another time. Today it is just about what does prepare mean to you?

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