National Preparedness Month – Are You Ready?

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Most of us think about a disaster as Mother Nature unleashing her wrath via a flood, fire, or hurricane. These last two years of the pandemic have taught us that a disaster can be from nature, but a different source, a virus. How ready is your emergency planning?

Along with the gloves, disinfectant, and masks, some of us have had to think about our backup plan. What happens if a loved one becomes sick? What do they do, how do they live, what do we need to help with, and how do we do it? How is the mortgage paid, who is the veterinarian, and what clubs or volunteer organizations need to be updated on a loved one’s status?

September is National Preparedness Month.  Ready.gov has wonderful resources for Americans to use to prepare themselves for a disaster or emergency planning.  The site is filled with downloadable checklists, communication plans, and forms to help singles and families move forward with preparation in case of a sudden relocation due to a fire, flood, tornado, or similar.

Just as suddenly, your loved one, or you, could be confined to a hospital with COVID, or any other acute illness, for that matter. Regardless of whether it is emergency heart surgery, a stroke, or an incapacitating case of the flu, pneumonia, etc., you will need planning to keep your household management ongoing during your illness, recovery, or sadly, your demise.

 

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind. – Louis Pasteur

It shouldn’t take a pandemic or an emergency to get our “stuff” in order. I start all my classes with the following questions:

Can you find:

1. The balance in your HSA or FSA account?
2. The account information for one of your utility companies?
3. The last vaccination dates of your children?
4. Chip information for your pet(s)?
5. The exact location of your life insurance policy?
6. A contact name and telephone # for your direct supervisor or manager?
7. The list all your magazine subscriptions, journals, and professional organizations?

 

And then the bonus questions:

Could you give this list to your designated other?

Could he/she accomplish these things in less than 15 minutes?

If you had to leave your house suddenly for a natural or man-made disaster, would you be able to manage your household remotely?

If your doctor was to say, get your things in order, how long would it take you?

If you stumble on your own answers, perhaps it is time to put some PEP (Personal Emergency Preparedness) in your life, get organized, and get ready.