Introduction

In this chapter, we’ll discuss the need for a personal, workplace, and family emergency plan. We’ll cover the basics of creating a plan for you and your family, identifying and obtaining the basic supplies you will need in an emergency, and why being prepared is so vitally important to you, your family, your community, and the nation. We’ll also discuss workforce preparedness and the new urgency that applies to this important area in business continuity planning.

Threats

We live in a time and a nation where one can no longer take a “neutral position” regarding preparedness. As individuals, families, and workgroups, we are either an asset or a liability for our communities and nation when disaster strikes. To be an asset, we must be prepared.

You must be able to care for yourself and your family or you must depend on others to take care of you when disaster strikes. For too long, we have abandoned one of the founding principles that has made this nation great: self-reliance. “It’s not my job” or “we have people to take care of that” when discussing preparedness is a far too common response.

Being prepared is having the ability to take care of yourself and your family at home, work, or school during an emergency situation. Likewise, business and government agencies must prepare to keep operating and supplying the goods and services that our communities need so as to return to normal life quicker.

Since September 11, 2001, our nation and the world have awakened to the very real threat of terrorism. While terrorist acts against the United States were not new, the scale of the coordinated attack of September 11 finally made even the most skeptical citizen realize we are a primary target for politically or religiously motivated acts of criminal violence.

While terrorism demands constant vigilance, so do the other threats that cause a tremendous loss in lives and dollars. Natural disasters, accidents, workplace violence, and crime also require our constant attention and preparedness.

While the average citizen can do little to stop these catastrophic events, they can prepare now to lessen the impact on themselves, their families, and their work environment. The first step in this preparedness process is to accept the fact that “it can happen to me” and “it can happen here.”

Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, FEMA and other government agencies have been clear in warning all who will listen that local state and federal government resources cannot save everyone. They cannot supply all the requested food, water, medical supplies, manpower, and infrastructure repairs requested in a widespread disaster in a matter of a few hours or days. With such things as the Katrina recovery, for example, we need to include months and years in our recovery projections.

For many years, the official recommendation was that you must be able to take care of yourself and your family for a minimum of at least 72 hours. Actually, two weeks is a more realistic estimate nowadays, given that the threat of a worldwide pandemic is a growing concern.

Public health experts are warning us that a major health crisis brewing in Asia will affect the entire world. We are being told that when a pandemic hits our nation (not if), it will be a very different disaster from any we have experienced in recent history. A pandemic will not only bring interruptions in key services and supply lines, but in the way we work and live for 12 to 18 months, perhaps longer. How can a business survive if the normally reliable electrical power, phone service, customers, suppliers, and workforce are missing?

How will our lives change when the schools and shopping malls close? In a highly contagious pandemic, few of us would want to find ourselves standing in a line to receive food or other basic supplies.

Our workplaces will change dramatically. The new terms of “social distancing,” “lone worker,” “virtual office,” and “virtual workforce” will become commonplace. Not only must a workforce be prepared for power and communications outages, it must now be prepared to use new tactics, including social distancing, family preparedness, sheltering-in-place, and workforce continuity to reduce the impact of this new threat.

Preparing yourself and your family for emergencies requires more than just good intentions and a willingness to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Being prepared means much more than just having cash in your pocket and a “good” credit card ready to go. Preparedness means having a plan and the resources on hand to be totally self-sufficient during a natural disaster or other major emergency until normalcy is restored.

The Internet has made a wealth of family and workplace preparedness material available. “ready.gov,” The American Red Cross, and other “official information” sites now offer information for a variety of age and reading levels. Official government pamphlets and booklets promote family preparedness and many commercial publications discuss this important topic. Being informed is important, but being ready is absolutely imperative.

“Workforce continuity” is defined as planning to have employees or contractors support the core business functions regardless of their work location. If the workplace is unreachable due to weather, road conditions, or some other workplace emergency, the employees can work from alternate locations or even from home. If an employee can’t work for whatever reason, “workforce continuity” planning means training a backup to be ready to fill in for the missing worker. This may be other company employees or in some cases, outside contractors.

Workforce continuity also entails planning for a dramatic increase of absenteeism rates. If 40 or 50 percent of the workforce cannot or will not report for physical or virtual work, how does the enterprise survive?

It’s smart to plan for the unexpected and use the Internet and wireless access to it to continue doing business. Virtual call centers and other technology depend heavily on the Internet and communications networks. What happens if those networks and other infrastructures are unavailable or so overtaxed that they become useless for mission critical use?

After all, what is the total capacity of the Internet? Internet World Stats reports that as of late 2006 there were 1,093 billion Internet users in the world. Now let’s suppose that the majority of these users are currently working at home to support their employer’s operations or are trying to keep abreast of the latest emergency information. At what point does the Internet cease to be a useful transport mechanism due to the demand for bandwidth? Probably long before the last user signs on.

A business that depends primarily on the Internet as a solution to a large-scale disaster or manmade crisis will be disappointed. Virtual office and a mobile workforce are ideal solutions to many of today’s environmental and business scheduling problems. However, a solution that depends heavily on public infrastructure for success is doomed from the beginning. The only dependable solution is a reliable workforce willing to be there when needed to keep the business running.

Business leaders must understand that they we now face the very real possibility of not having enough employees to keep the business “in business.”

Let’s talk for a while about what’s really important in your life, and what’s really important in your family’s life: YOU. Do you have a personal emergency plan? Does your family? Most individuals and families believe they will think about this when the time comes. Unfortunately, when a disaster strikes, there is little warning and the “planning” gets replaced by panic and uncoordinated responses to the event.

Your Personal Preparedness Plan

Let’s start with that most valuable asset: “you.” You need to have a plan, and you need to make sure your family and co-workers know what that plan is. If they are part of your plan, they surely need to know that now. And yes, just as with any plan, yours needs to be tested routinely.

We’ll discuss workplace, home, and family preparedness a bit later in this chapter. It is vitally important to remember that personal, family, workplace, and community emergency preparedness complement each other.

Most of us spend the majority of our lives between home and work. If an emergency is preceded by a warning period (a winter storm or hurricane), you will have time to plan your response. In a winter storm, for instance, you’ll probably stay at home or will be instructed to report later than usual by your employer. In the event of a fire, earthquake, or other unexpected emergency, your response must be immediate. You must act quickly to save your life and perhaps the lives of others.

The first step in your plan must be the protection of your own life. Personal safety experts will tell you to “always be aware of your surroundings.” That’s excellent advice. Look around; walk around your home and workplace. Where is trouble most likely to occur? Is flooding from a nearby creek or river possible? Are you near any major railroads or highways where transportation accidents may impact you?

Do the same “walkabout” inside, too. Are there dangers you’ve ignored in the past? Could any of these be used against you and/or your home or workplace? Be aware of unlocked exit doors, trip hazards, and blocked exits.

Wherever you work, know the environment, and if the situation requires, know how to get out quickly. Make sure you know where the emergency exits are, and if the one closest to you is blocked, where the next closest exit is located. How long does it take you to exit your facility? Do these exits have battery-operated escape lights? If not, provide your own with a small flashlight or chemical light sticks.

If you work in a multistory building, are you physically able to walk down the exit stairs? If not, make sure you can. Even if you are in good physical shape, stairs can be a challenge. If you are physically unable to walk down stairs because of medical reasons, find “escape buddies” to help you get down or check with your employer to determine the locations of any identified evacuation safe havens.

If you’re shopping, at the movies, spending the night away from home, or conducting personal business in a building you’re not familiar with, know how to get out.

Having a personal preparedness plan will make you and your loved ones safer. After all, they depend on you. A personal plan should include the following:

Don’t get caught standing outside your workplace due to an evacuation and wondering “now what”? Your personal response plan must cover not only safely getting out, but safely getting away if necessary. If you drive to work, where are your vehicle keys? Can you get into your vehicle if your keys are in your coat, hanging beside your desk? Hide a key under, around, or near your vehicle. In the case of keyless entry, keep an ignition key hidden inside the vehicle. If you’re carpooling, make sure everyone in the group knows how to get in, too.

One of the simplest ways to make sure you have basic items to help you respond in an emergency situation is to pack them now before you need them. This small “escape pack” is designed to help get you out of trouble if an emergency interrupts your normal routine. I’ll also explain what these items are since I’m not a big believer in buying (or carrying) a bunch of “stuff” just for the sake of doing so. You can also purchase commercially available kits that provide some of the same items. However, if you assemble this kit yourself, you’ll be more familiar with the contents and how to use them.

This is not a “survival kit” in the general context. It will supply your immediate needs in case you find yourself “on the street” unexpectedly due to an emergency in your workplace. All of these items can easily be packed in a small nylon pouch generally sold as “camera case.”

The Escape Pack

Workforce Preparedness

While the subject of workforce preparedness can fill an entire book, I want to devote some time to discuss its importance and offer some suggestions to help begin the planning process.

The most valuable asset any enterprise or organization has, regardless of its size, is its workforce. These are men and women who make a company run day-to-day and create ideas and products to serve its customers and communities. Until recently, the majority of business continuity efforts revolved around processes and systems that the company depends on to keep operating. Little attention has been paid to the most critical support process, those employees and their families who make the enterprise successful.

Throughout this section I use the descriptions of workplace, organization, agency, business, employer, and enterprise. These are generic terms of that place you call “work.” I realize there are thousands of public and private sector operations and agencies that, while not motivated by profit, do have products, services, and delivery obligations.

The threat dynamics have changed dramatically in the twenty-first century and every aspect of our normal lives is now considered a possible target for terrorism. Senior managers must realize that interruptions to the normal flow of business may include community evacuations, workplace violence, lengthy supply chain interruptions, mass casualty situations, and direct attacks by individuals or groups using unconventional weapons. Do not assume your workplace is safe from these new threats, or old ones such as fire, natural disasters, or criminal activity.

An organization that only prepares for the occasional power failure, fire, hurricane, winter storm, or work stoppage is no longer exercising due diligence in the protection of the assets of that enterprise. Every organization, large or small, must have a business defense plan (business continuity plan) that includes protection and preparedness of the core operational functions, employees, and their families. In a community-wide emergency or disaster, companies and public agencies need their employees to return to work as quickly as possible to limit losses. A company or government agency may provide critical services that will be vitally necessary for the recovery of your community from the event. That company or agency must be prepared to continue operations. If an employee must choose between family and workplace, family will win every time. Senior executives, managers, and agency directors can no longer tell their employees that “we expect you to be here when we need you, under any circumstances” and be assured of a successful recovery.

Any organization that seeks to prepare their key processes for unexpected interruptions must maintain a prepared workforce to support those critical functions.

You may have heard the relatively new term workforce continuity. It’s defined as having an uninterruptible and trained workforce that can continue the critical operations of the organization under any circumstances. Generally, this means planning to use virtual workers when weather or other conditions make travel to the primary work location hazardous. Cross-training employees to fill in for job functions that are not ordinarily their responsibility is another workforce continuity tactic. Having contract employees on retainer is yet another.

A well-developed business continuity plan that prepares the key businesses processes, employees, and employee families is no longer just smart planning. It is now critical to the survival of our economy (along with due diligence).

The most valuable asset your business, agency, organization, or home has is you. You, your family, co-workers, and stakeholders keep the enterprise running, and successful. What happens at home and in your personal life outside the workplace has a direct impact on how well you do your job. In an emergency situation, most people think of home and family first. Is everyone safe? If you are at home, will you report to work in a time of crisis? Will you leave your family to help your employer continue operations?

It’s vitally important that every enterprise, regardless of whether it’s a major corporation, small business, or government agency have plans to guarantee the safety of its employees. In fact, law in many instances requires it. However, don’t assume that just because you participate in a “fire drill” that you are safe. Does your workplace have a safety committee? Are building evacuation plans documented? If an event happens in your community or workplace that places you in danger, how are you notified? Does your employer expect personnel to report to work under any conditions? If so, what are they doing to guarantee that?

The workplace that prepares employees and families by sharing preparedness information, plans, training, and support will have a workforce that is ready and willing to get things back to normal quicker than the unprepared. Replacing the fear and uncertainty in an emergency keeps the workforce, stakeholders, and families focused on recovery, not only in the enterprise but in the family unit and community as well.

Steps for Successful Workforce Preparedness

I’ve heard—and you probably have, too—the story about occupants in a multitenant building looking out of the windows to see a parking lot full of other building occupants. This usually means that the emergency alarm didn’t sound or someone forgot to pass the word. Tragically, it can and does happen in real emergency situations generally related to workplace violence or bomb incidents.

An alerting system that can be used to quickly inform the entire population of a building, or an entire community for that matter, saves lives. This tends to be bells, horns, or sirens. However a building “enunciation” or public address system offers more control of the alerting process and evacuation. Electronic message boards, digital paging, and instant messaging to all LAN users are additional and highly effective ways of alerting and sharing emergency information quickly.

Get Out, Get Away, and Get in Touch

Federal, state, and local laws require that a workplace have an emergency evacuation plan (depending on the number of employees and the building structure) that must include an alerting system and annual exercises. Just getting everyone out, however, is not enough. For everyone’s sake, you must prove it. That’s not a new federal regulation, it’s common sense. After all, would you want to be left behind and not be missed until it’s too late?

In any emergency, remember the 3Gs rule of personal protection, which help remind you to get out, get away, and get in touch. Get out of danger—in this example, your workplace during an emergency. Get away—don’t stand on the sidewalk in front of a building that may collapse or explode. And finally, get in touch with your supervisor, co-workers and family to let them know that you are accounted for.

First responders arriving on the scene at a fire, explosion, or building collapse will ask “is everyone out?” If you’re the senior manager or building owner, you’ll save time and precious resources by answering “everyone is accounted out” or be able to direct rescue teams to specific locations where missing workers were last seen.

If you cannot account for everyone, firefighters or search and rescue teams may have to search the building, and that puts lives at stake: those left behind and those searching.

In a large facility, your workplace evacuation plan should include “shelter locations.” These assembly points inside the building—usually in fire escapes or other safe havens—offer shelter to injured or physically challenged employees. Such locations should be well marked and include some form of communication to a central emergency control point. Your local fire department can assist your efforts in identification and planning. Preparing a workplace evacuation plan includes the following.

The meeting points mentioned in the preceding list should be located as far from the building as practical. Just being out of the building does not mean the workforce is out of danger. Most buildings today are constructed with beautiful glass exteriors. An explosion can send glass shards and other debris flying hundreds of yards.

One general concern expressed to me by executives of several corporations is that “fire drills” reduce production time and that’s why they are rarely done more than once a year—which, by the way, is not enough. I recently helped a large company redesign their evacuation plan based on the preceding information. Each evacuation coordinator was assigned not only rosters but an inexpensive two-way radio and a bright yellow bag to carry them in to the meeting point. That company now routinely evacuates 800 employees from a multistory building, conducts a roll call, reports results, and returns all employees to the building in 15 minutes during evacuation drills. The executives of that company are proud of this accomplishment and their employees are safer.

In the event of an actual emergency, a final evacuation responsibility that you have to your family is to let them know your condition and plans as soon as possible.

If your workplace does not have an updated building evacuation plan, inquire about starting one. Ask your supervisor, safety committee, or safety director. This would also be a good time to get involved by offering to help make it happen or to make an existing program better with your participation.

Some workplaces have well-documented evacuation plans, and area evacuation coordinators ensure that all employees in their respective areas understand the plan, have “escape buddies” to help them if necessary, and “sweep” their assigned areas in an emergency making sure everyone has left the area. This is excellent safety planning, but these plans must be practiced routinely. Unfortunately, far too many organizations pay too little attention to this vital preparedness planning. If you work in an organization that has not updated its evacuation planning or if you don’t fully understand the plans, get involved and make your workplace and yourself safer.

Are first-aid kits distributed for emergency use in your workplace? If so, where are they and are they properly supplied? If they are not adequate, point this out to your safety director or supervisor. Know how to use the supplies in a first-aid kit. If you’re unsure, enroll in a basic first-aid course. Such skills make you, your family, and co-workers safer in any circumstance. Your employer will probably be more than happy to arrange onsite classes through the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

Family Preparedness Plan

We create and work plans every day of our lives. We plan our days, what to wear, who to meet, where to go and how to get there, and what to eat. These are for the routine, good things in life. Why then don’t we plan for the bad things that can surprise us and threaten our safety?

One of the most chilling memories of the 2005 hurricane season was the CNN coverage of the hundreds of cars running out of gas on streets and highways as Hurricane Wilma approached. These “average Americans” were stranded, hungry and scared. I could not help thinking that a bit of planning would have avoided most of this suffering. These families probably didn’t have a family ready kit, a full gas tank, or extra cash on hand. They had not considered the possibility that another hurricane might strike so soon after Katrina. They aren’t alone in their denial; most Americans believe that bad things happen to other people.

Every book on family preparedness includes a list describing items that should be kept ready for use in an emergency situation. I’ve included a list (the Family Ready Kit) later in this chapter, but the kit doesn’t work by itself. It’s more important for family members to know what to do than to count on a box or bag of “stuff.” Family preparedness is a state of mind—it’s planning, practicing, and working together as a team to thrive, not just survive, in emergency situations.

The most important point in family preparedness is family communication. Talk about what your family plans to do in the event of a major storm, natural disaster, or terrorist incident. Talking through what you expect, what might happen, and what “we as a family” will do removes a tremendous amount of stress and fear from any situation. Children especially need to know that the family has a plan for emergencies and that they are an important part of the plan.

A good way to begin your preparedness planning is to create a family fire plan.

Spend some time explaining that emergencies can happen anytime, and that if we’re all home together, we’ll be really lucky. In reality, that’s not likely to happen and family members will probably be separated for a number of hours (or even longer) until they can be reunited. Mom and Dad may be at work, or the kids may be at school when a major disaster happens. Discuss, now, how best to get together following a major emergency.

Each family member should have assigned tasks and a procedure to follow in the event of an emergency situation. This emergency planning begins with how to get out of the house in case of a fire or other emergency, and establishing a meeting point afterward for all family members.

The 3Gs rule applies to the home as well as the workplace. If you need to leave due to an emergency in your home, “Get Out, Get Away, and Get in touch.”

A key component in your family preparedness plan is to have several meeting points for various emergencies. These are locations the family identifies and where they agree to meet if separated due to a disaster or other emergency.

Preparedness Pantry

Every home should maintain a supply of nonperishable food and water for the entire family. When asked “how do I buy and store two weeks worth of food?” My response is that you simply have to fill your pantry. Most of us never do that. Instead, we depend on stopping by the supermarket or carry-out on the way home to pick up dinner. Now is the time to change that behavior and it can be done easily (and affordably) over a period of several weeks.

I’ve mentioned being prepared for at least 72 hours and more realistically two weeks, earlier in this chapter. Over the next several trips to the supermarket, purchase extra cans or packages of the foods you most often use. Supplement these with additional canned meats, vegetables, and fruits. Plan and stock your “preparedness pantry” to provide a two-week supply of meals. Be realistic: In an emergency situation, you won’t be entertaining, and in most cases “meals” will be simple and quick. Purchase additional items that store well and can be used in a wide variety of meal planning—rice, dried beans and pasta are ideal choices.

Simply add a few more items each time you grocery shop and plan to have your “preparedness pantry” completed in three trips. Shop with a list and buy shelf-stable items. Once your supply is purchased, date every item and rotate your supply by incorporating them into your normal menus. Always plan ahead by purchasing replacement items first before using anything from your “preparedness pantry.”

Once your pantry is stocked, rotate that stock by using the food purchased first and then re-supplying. I mark each can and package with its purchase date using a permanent marker. It’s easy to use the first purchased items and then replace on the next trip to the supermarket. If you don’t keep your preparedness pantry supplied with “rotated stock” you may find three-year-old tomato sauce that will add nothing but disappointment to your dinner plans.

I should at this point explain the term “shelf stable.” Shelf-stable foods are prepared to be stored without refrigeration or any other special conditions for extended periods of time. Dried fruit and meat was the first “shelf-stable” food civilized man discovered. In fact, this food preservation method was used long before kitchens or shelves were invented.

While shelf-stable food purchased at the supermarket will easily last 12 to 18 months, I recommend a six-month storage/use/replacement routine. By incorporating your “emergency pantry” into your normal menus, you’ll always have that two-week supply ready for use in an emergency.

Marking each container with the purchase date will help identify the “emergency pantry” items. Use these long-term storage items in normal weekly menus occasionally. You can purchase a replacement before it’s actually used if you plan your menus a week beforehand. If you don’t have a replacement before use, simply tear the label off and purchase a replacement on your next shopping trip.

An exception to this is MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and dehydrated long-term storage foods that have a shelf life of six years and longer (depending on storage conditions). It’s a good idea, however, to incorporate some of these occasionally into your regular meal planning, too, so family members know what these meals look and taste like. MREs (regardless of what you may hear) are tasty and nutritious.

“Soft pack canning” or MREs became the military standard in the 1960s. This process involves cooking the food in multilayer plastic envelopes that are impervious to the chemical action of the food or environment. This soft container maintains an airtight and almost indestructible “cocoon” for the fully cooked and “ready to eat food.” This stuff stores for years and maintains flavor and nutritional benefits. Do not buy “military surplus” MREs; buy them fresh from local or online dealers.

MREs are a great choice for any organization or business that may need to feed employees and or family members in an emergency situation. They are packaged in complete meal servings. Each meal is unit packed in a plastic envelope that includes the entree, side items, drink, dessert, and accessories pack with salt, pepper, eating utensils, and napkin. All that is needed is a method for warming the food which, in a pinch, can be eaten at room temperature. One envelope contains a complete and balanced nutritious meal. This is especially important when mass feeding a large group without a large dining or food preparation facility.

Canned foods will easily store for 12 to 18 months. Some of the new microwave entrees are use-dated for generally a year. Look closely on your grocery store shelves (not freezer section) and you may be surprised at what you’ll find that can be used in your emergency pantry. Along with canned vegetables and meats, you’ll discover fully cooked meals ready to be warmed in the microwave, which include chicken, turkey, and beef entrees. You’ll also find cooked pasta and rice dishes just waiting to be warmed and eaten.

Canning to preserve food and their flavors has been used for over two hundred years and is still the leading food preservation technology. Home canning remains popular especially when home gardens are producing more than we can use or give away.

Home freezing and frozen foods (TV dinners) became popular in the 1950s. Today, refrigeration and freezing are the most popular forms of food preservation. By the way, if you have a freezer full of frozen food and no power, don’t panic—and don’t open the freezer door. A full freezer will keep frozen food “frozen” for around 48 hours if you avoid the urge to open the door.

Freeze-dried foods are very popular with backpackers. These foods are fully cooked and then flash frozen at temperatures around –125 degrees Fahrenheit. Water from the food is condensed and removed, leaving a dried food product, which is then packaged in an airtight (generally plastic/foil) package. All you need to do is add the water back, and heat the product when you’re ready to eat.

Freeze-dried foods are very light and compact, and will store for many years. Complete freeze-dried meals are available in any outdoor supply or camping store. One small drawback is that they are a bit more expensive than hard or soft pack canned food items, you must have an ample supply of water to add to the contents, and they are not as easy to incorporate in a normal family menu for pantry stores rotation.

Irradiated food processing is still fairly new and in very limited distribution in the U.S. at the time of this writing. Irradiation offers some major food safety and preservation benefits. This technology uses a radioactive source to “sterilize” the food without cooking it. So, in theory, meat could be stored in a container without refrigeration for weeks and still be safe and favorable. Fruits and vegetables can be stored for months without loosing color, flavor, or food value. No radioactivity is transferred to the food, so your salad will not mutate into some giant walking green thing that chases you around the kitchen. The Food and Drug Administration reports that food irradiation is allowed in nearly 40 countries and is endorsed by the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and many other organizations. However, the percentage of food being irradiated is still very low due to the expense and lack of acceptance of this new process. Stay tuned, this process will be commonplace in a few years.

As you can see, we are blessed with an array of well-proven food preservation methods. You must keep a supply on hand and thus avoid the danger of going out to look for something to eat.

Water

Water is the most important item in your “preparedness pantry.” Store one gallon of water for each family member for each day you plan to be self-sufficient. Generally plan on using a half-gallon of water per day for drinking, and a half-gallon per day for sanitation for each family member. Date each container and rotate your stock every six months. Most commercial water containers are dated, saving you from having to do it yourself. Most commercially bottled water is use-dated for at least a year or two.

I recommend several one-, two-, or five-gallon containers of water for cooking and sanitation, and smaller 8- or 12-ounce bottles for drinking and refilling.

What’s the difference between distilled water, spring water, and drinking water? Generally, the price. Distilled water is of course distilled or boiled into steam, the steam is condensed back into liquid form and bottled. This process removes all of the minerals and impurities and in fact sterilizes the water. Spring water should come from a spring (no guarantees here) and is probably filtered.

Drinking water is just “tap water” from a municipal water supply that may or may not be filtered and then bottled. Most is filtered, but check the label. Do as you please, but I simply buy the cheapest “store brand” drinking water for less than 60 cents a gallon.

If you have a natural water source near your home (spring, stream, or lake), consider purchasing a water purification filter. These filters generally consist of a small hand pump and a high-efficiency carbon or ceramic element that will purify the most questionable water supply. Several new water purification products are on the market. These include filtering straws and even battery-operated ultra-violet systems. For now, these tend to be expensive and produce limited volume. Having access to a water source and the proper purification equipment will reduce the amount of stored water you may need.

Storing a supply of food and drinking water is not just for personal or family emergency planning. The workplace must be able to support employees who may be stranded or “sheltered” in the workplace. Every business continuity plan must address the likelihood of supporting employees who may be required to stay put in order to keep critical operations running if conditions warrant.

Cooking

Simple one-pot “camping” meals are best in an emergency situation. After all, you’ll be concentrating on other important issues. Be extremely careful in how you prepare your meals, especially when operating gas or other open-flame stoves that should be used outdoors. Never use charcoal grills or other outdoor cooking “appliances” inside your home. Use them outside where they belong. The risk of fire (which is great) is overshadowed by the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

For one pot meal suggestions, look no further than your “crock pot” recipe book. Search out recipes that use foods stored in your “preparedness pantry” and simply adjust cooking time from s-l-o-w to shorter times with higher heat.

Other good recipe resources are camping cookbooks and the official Boy Scout Field Book. The Boy Scouts of America Field Book is one of the best available manuals, not only for cooking but for general self-sufficiency as well.

Try the recipes that look interesting to you and your family. Tailor the ingredients to meet your specific tastes and portion requirements. The ones voted most enjoyable should be written on recipe cards and kept in your pantry.

I’m a lazy cook who loves to prepare and eat but hates to clean up. So after years of practice, I’m pretty good at whipping up some decent meals with little or no clean-up. Heating (see note that follows) foil packed meats, vegetables, and MREs in their packages in a single pot of boiling water allows you to use the water for hot drinks, rice, pasta, kitchen clean-up, and/or personal care. Cooking rice or pasta in “boiling bags” allows you to avoid more clean-up and requires less water, which may be in short supply. Of course, in an emergency, fuel may also be in short supply.

Most people have an outdoor gas grill, camping, or backpacking stove that will handle the cooking requirements just fine, just use them outside.

As with any new recipe or cooking technique, it’s best to try these first yourself before serving them to others. And, of course, before a disaster; otherwise, you will very likely lose your cooking privileges!

Testing Your Home Preparedness Plan

Just like a business continuity plan, a family preparedness plan is not complete until it is routinely tested and updated. At work, you and your co-workers must be familiar with your employer’s business continuity or emergency plan and understand your role in that plan. Semi-annual plan reviews and exercises are the best method of keeping the plan current and the recovery teams competent in their ability to successfully execute the plan.

This is true for your family preparedness plan, too. Family members (regardless of their age or physical abilities) must actively participate and thoroughly understand the purpose of the plan and the importance of their respective roles in making the plan work successfully.

In the business environment, our continuity or preparedness plans are concerned with the safety of the employees and the welfare of the enterprise. At home, our focus is on our loved ones and the survivability of our home and family.

I strongly suggest you use the same tactics for plan testing or exercising at home that you use (or should be using) at work. Tabletop emergency exercises at work can become a great rainy day “board game” at home. Plan “what if” and “how can our family handle an emergency” discussions, and include everyone’s input. Hold a “walkthrough” of your plan to see if parts of it are unrealistic. Of course, scheduled exercises or even a few unannounced drills are the best method of keeping your family preparedness plan the best it can be, and as a result, your family will be safer.

One of the most enjoyable ways to test your preparedness plans is to have a “camp-in.” Select a weekend evening and announce that you’ll all meet in the living room or den and camp out for the night. Off go the lights and the entire family uses only the supplies on hand to “survive the disaster.” Pretend there is no phone or power other than what you can supply with your own resources. Meals should be prepared using your “preparedness pantry” and alternate cooking methods.

We can promise three things if you follow our advice in this chapter. Your family will be better prepared for emergencies, you’ll all have some fun, and you and your family will discover that doing something a bit unusual as a team brings you closer together and builds a stronger family bond.

Family Ready Kit

Designating a central point where special supplies and basic equipment will be stored saves valuable time in responding to an emergency. While there are a few “family emergency kits” now being marketed online and in some stores, I suggest you make your own. You probably already have many of the things you’ll need, and by building the kit yourself and involving the entire family, everyone becomes familiar with the contents and the location of the kit.

Younger family members in particular feel more confident if mom and dad aren’t around by knowing that the family ready kit has basic emergency supplies to help them until other family members arrive.

If the family can stay at home and shelter-in-place, the ready kit is “ready” to help the family stay safe and more comfortable. If the emergency requires evacuation to a safer location, the kit is easily carried with the family. Following are some suggested items; adjust as appropriate for your family. Keep your ready kit in a closed container and be sure everyone in the family understands its purpose and storage location.

While not part of the regular “family ready kit,” don’t forget pet food and pet medications. Your pets are an important part of the family, too.

No Lights? No Problem!

Lighting is a source of safety and comfort. Most of the conveniences in our homes and the tools in our workplaces are powered with electricity. When the power goes off, we suddenly find ourselves in an unfamiliar and sometimes scary environment. All the stuff we rely on to make us comfortable, help us do our jobs, and make us safe, stops working.

Let’s get this out of the way right now, candles are for birthday cakes, not emergency lighting. In an emergency situation, you’ll have a tremendous number of things on your mind, stress will be affecting your ability to think clearly, and the fire department will probably be busy, so let’s not complicate things by adding to whatever disaster you may be dealing with by burning your house down.

The major difference between candles and other sources of flame-dependent lighting is that candles provide little light, usually are not supplied with fire-resistant containers, and have an open flame. Coleman lanterns and the old reliable kerosene type lamps grandma used at least contain the flame in a fireproof enclosure. This enclosure (glass globe or chimney) generally prevents something from accidentally coming into contact with the flame and starting a fire. Generally, anything with a flame requires great caution when used, and can cause a fire or explosion if employed where natural gas pipes may be leaking.

Start with the safest form of auxiliary lighting, chemical light sticks, and then after making sure there is no danger of explosion (broken gas lines, leaking or damaged containers of gasoline or other volatile liquids) work into flashlights and battery-operated lamps. Pressurized gas camping lanterns are for outdoor use. Kerosene and other oil lamps, even the high-efficiency models, require extreme caution if used indoors. In an emergency, avoid any device that uses a flame for lighting—especially candles.

In the well-prepared workplace, emergency lighting and power must be provided so critical operations can continue and provide a safe and comfortable working environment. At home, these same reasons apply.

Power outages can be caused by storms, natural disasters, accidents, human error, equipment failure, and intentional acts. Blackouts and brownouts caused by a lack of generating capacity in some areas of the country are becoming a summer routine. Corporations and individuals are searching for ways to avoid the dangers, stress, and financial loss associated with power failures.

Emergency Power

The subject of emergency power could itself fill an entire book. We’ll spend a bit of time on portable electric generators because they are an emergency supply item that remains in high demand. As with any mechanical equipment, you must exercise good safety habits and understand the equipment, as well as potential risks from improper operation.

Whether your needs for a generator are of the “homeowners” variety with a capacity of one to five thousand watts, or a backup power plant with several million watts of capacity, some common decisions must be made before you go shopping. They are (1) What size do I need and what can I afford? (2) Will this be a portable or installed generator? (3) What fuel type do I plan to use?, and (4) How can I get the emergency power to the devices I plan to operate?

All portable and backup generators have an engine, which requires fuel. This fuel can be gasoline, propane, natural gas, or diesel fuel. The vast majority of smaller generators are gasoline powered, but propane and diesel are becoming more popular. The alternative “non-gasoline” fuels are safer to store, handle, and in the case of propane and natural gas, are cleaner burning.

The electrical output of most portable generators runs anywhere from 300 to 15,000 watts for generators sold through home improvement and hardware stores. Prices range from around $500 to a couple of thousand.

A relatively new entry in the portable generator market is the “inverter generator.” These units combine the functionality of a portable generator and the “clean power” output of a UPS best. These hybrids generate AC voltage, which is then converted to DC, and then reconverted back into AC voltage by an onboard voltage inverter. The inverter generator is an excellent choice when using power-sensitive electronics such as servers, switches, routers, and communications equipment.

Regardless of the size or type of generator you purchase, always read the instruction manual and follow the manufacturer’s operation recommendations. This includes grounding the generator before starting. This is probably one of the most overlooked safety steps by homeowners. Also protect the generator from flood water, rain, or other environmental hazards. Read the instruction manual.

Large commercial generators that can power an entire office complex or industrial operation, operate on the same basic principle as their smaller cousins (an engine turns an alternator to make electricity), but of course cost much more and require special engineering, installation, and maintenance. These larger generator installations generally use diesel fuel. Permanently installed generators for homes and small-to-medium businesses tend to use natural gas for simplicity of fuel delivery/storage issues. Prices including installation start around $4,000 for a home version up to many hundreds of thousands of dollars for a backup power plant with multiple generators and related equipment for commercial applications.

How much emergency power do you need? The simplest method is to use one of the many power sizing charts available online or at retail outlets. A portable generator in the range of 3,500 to 5,000 watts is a good fit for most homeowners to keep things running.

If you require a generator above 10,000 watts, will it be permanently installed or transportable? This certainly has a bearing on fuel type and the connection to your “load” (stuff to be powered). One of the most overlooked issues for generators (large or small) is how to get the electricity to the devices you want to power. In other words, where do you plug it in?

You have only two choices. First, and by far the best option, is an automatic or manual transfer switch. This device disconnects commercial power and easily (and safely) connects your “load” (home, office, or manufacturing facility) to the generator. Automatic switches sense when commercial power has stopped, starts the generator, and then switches the load to the generator. A manual switch requires human intervention to start the generator and then flip the switch to begin using the power. As you might expect, the automatic switches are expensive but worth the investment if power failure is not an option. All permanently installed generators require a transfer switch. Some small manual transfer switches are designed for residential use, allowing a single connection between the generator and the breaker panel. These cost a few hundred dollars and allow you to choose the area of the home to power while safely disconnecting from the commercial power supply.

The second option (and most used) is to utilize individual power cables or drop cords connected between the generator and your equipment or appliances. For smaller generators and home use for powering only a few items, the drop-cord solution is fine.

Staying in Touch

I cannot overstate the importance of communications and how critical staying in touch will be for you and your family in a disaster or other crisis situation. (Under normal conditions, that’s easy now since everyone has a cellular phone and “on-hip” Internet access and e-mail.) However, when the lights go out along with the infrastructure we depend on to make our normal communications effortless, we must have a “plan B.”

Remember when there was no Internet? Close your eyes for a moment and pretend we’ve been transported back to a time when there is no e-mail and no browsing the World Wide Web for information and current updates on breaking news. There is no cellular service, no voice mail, fax, and no easy and reliable telephone service for that matter. It’s a bit hard to imagine, isn’t it? Really, it wasn’t that long ago (about 50 years) that basic telephone service was considered a rare commodity. Even 15 years ago, the Internet was something that most people believed involved fishing.

Fifteen years ago, cellular phones were the size of bricks, service was limited to metropolitan areas, and the phones were used by the very few and the well-to-do.

Think back to those times and try to imagine how you would stay in touch with your family, customers, and the office. Your little investment in a daydream may pay big dividends in your future, for as soon as tomorrow, next week, or next month, we may be left without some, or most, of our modern communications infrastructure.

As a society, we are so dependant on our communications infrastructure that it makes a tempting (and sometimes very soft) target for those who would do our way-of-life harm. Turn off communications and you can no longer visit an ATM machine to withdraw cash. Businesses can’t receive or fill orders; our transportation, finance, utilities, and even law enforcement depend on reliable and uninterruptible communications links to conduct normal operations.

Our communications infrastructure is designed for routine network capacity and normal traffic patterns. An event that destroys infrastructure and disrupts these “normal patterns” can overload surviving infrastructure and cause failures in communications networks. A “fast busy signal” is the first sign of trouble. How can you stay in touch when our normal communications services and systems fail or are taken away?

The first and most important radio you can own is a “SAME” all hazards alert radio. SAME is an acronym for “Specific Area Message Encoding.” It naturally is a U.S. government term, but we can overlook that because the technology and system are so important. These radios, which can be purchased at any home electronics store or from numerous sources online, alert you to impending dangerous weather or other life-threatening incidents in your community. These include tornadoes, hurricanes, hazardous materials incidents, terrorism, and other civil emergencies.

The SAME alert radio has an audio alert tone, an alphanumeric display, and a speaker so you can receive audio information from your local NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) office. Yes, this alerting service is provided by the National Weather Service but this is not just your old reliable weather forecast. NOAA has partnered with local, state, and national emergency management agencies and the Office of Homeland Security to provide emergency information for any emergency situation.

After purchasing, you simply program the SAME receiver with your community’s unique alert code. Every city, county, and community has a unique code. When an emergency alert or warning is issued for your community, an alert tone sounds and the receiver’s audio is turned on to inform you of what action is necessary. The alerts provided are official information, not someone’s opinion based on second- or thirdhand reports.

Now, I’m sure you may be thinking that with CNN and the Internet, why bother? Unless you sleep with one eye on CNN or have someone at home or work monitoring local emergency response agencies around the clock, you need this radio. While CNN and other media reports are usually accurate, they are not “official” sources of information. The SAME all hazards radio is.

Several ideas and programs are in the works for an improved national alerting network, but for now the SAME radio is a dependable solution for quickly alerting the population of dangers at any time of the day or night. I urge you to purchase one for your home and workplace. Does your school have one of these? If not, make sure they do very soon. Cost varies from $30 to around $80. Most radios include a battery so the radio continues to work even if the power is off. By the way, once you purchase the radio, there is no monthly charge for this vital service.

Summary

In this chapter, we’ve covered a great deal of information related to your preparedness at work and at home for unexpected emergencies and disasters. If there is one single rule to remember, it is that all of us must be prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally for the next catastrophic event that may disrupt not only our lives, but also the lives of our family, friends, and coworkers. Having a plan, basic supplies, and the knowledge that we can and will get through it together will make us all stronger as individuals and as a nation.