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Disaster preparedness is something I've been thinking about lately.
My level of health is such that I have a few spare bits of energy to notice what's going on in the world now and one thing I've noticed is that a lot of people seem to have to leave their homes for a while when there's a disaster - or a possible disaster. People get evacuated.
I'm a lot healthier than I was a few years back but a lot of what keeps me healthier is established routine - being surrounded by people and equipment and medications which have been organised to support me. I can cope for a day or two without my helpers but I fall in a heap very quickly. Without my assistive equipment I rely much much more on my helpers to keep me going. Without my medications I would very quickly get severely ill and need helpers and equipment much more. Even if I have all three of these things, having my routine is still necessary - I need several hours sleep every afternoon to stay this well, I need regular food and lots and lots of water and so forth.
In other words my situation is fragile. I rely on a lot of supports to sustain my situation and if even one of these supports is disturbed a little bit - say, if a helper is suddenly ill and can't come - then my whole day is profoundly messed up and I need to rely on all the other supports to cope. If there was an evacuation, no matter how planned or supportive, it would be guaranteed to mess up my health significantly. This worried me so I have tried to make some minor preparations that could help me in the event of a disaster.
Some good resources I found along the way include:
So I've made an "in case of evacuation" kit, and I've thought about what would happen if the area here does need evacuation. In my evacuation kit I have lots of stuff specific to me, such as the printed "crib sheet" of my medical history/details and backup versions of all my scripts and over-the-counter meds I need, plus some non-perishable food that I know is good for me. I have printed contact details for all my helpers in there, a solar "emergency charger" for my phone/iPad, and a wind-up torch and radio, amongst other things. I also made an "inventory list" and attached it to the bag in the most visible way possible - the list includes instructions to grab certain thinks and toss them into the bag on my way out, for example my current week's medications, my wallet, etc.
For anybody who's interested, here's the actual inventory list:
( Inventory list is long... )
Obviously everybody's list is different depending on abilities and needs and how much time you want to spend doing this. I wasn't going to actually include mine but lots of you asked :)
I've done a few other things - discussed with some local friends what I'm doing and why, and thought about things.
Most important to me right now is that having this stuff done makes me feel safer. The stuff on the list is in a gym bag in the bottom of my wardrobe and if I ever have to evacuate I'll grab it and take it with me, but even if I never have to evacuate from here it makes me feel safer just to have it. That's good too.
r
My level of health is such that I have a few spare bits of energy to notice what's going on in the world now and one thing I've noticed is that a lot of people seem to have to leave their homes for a while when there's a disaster - or a possible disaster. People get evacuated.
I'm a lot healthier than I was a few years back but a lot of what keeps me healthier is established routine - being surrounded by people and equipment and medications which have been organised to support me. I can cope for a day or two without my helpers but I fall in a heap very quickly. Without my assistive equipment I rely much much more on my helpers to keep me going. Without my medications I would very quickly get severely ill and need helpers and equipment much more. Even if I have all three of these things, having my routine is still necessary - I need several hours sleep every afternoon to stay this well, I need regular food and lots and lots of water and so forth.
In other words my situation is fragile. I rely on a lot of supports to sustain my situation and if even one of these supports is disturbed a little bit - say, if a helper is suddenly ill and can't come - then my whole day is profoundly messed up and I need to rely on all the other supports to cope. If there was an evacuation, no matter how planned or supportive, it would be guaranteed to mess up my health significantly. This worried me so I have tried to make some minor preparations that could help me in the event of a disaster.
Some good resources I found along the way include:
- Emergency Kits, by Jim Macdonald - Aimed at healthy people with some first-responder training but I found the list, plus the associated discussions and comments on the Making Light forums, helpful for creating my own emergency kit
- CDHP Evacuation Preparedness Guide - quite complete guide aimed at people with disabilities/impairments
- Individual Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities, Their Families and Support Networks, by June Isaacson Kailes - mostly links to other sites, well categorised
So I've made an "in case of evacuation" kit, and I've thought about what would happen if the area here does need evacuation. In my evacuation kit I have lots of stuff specific to me, such as the printed "crib sheet" of my medical history/details and backup versions of all my scripts and over-the-counter meds I need, plus some non-perishable food that I know is good for me. I have printed contact details for all my helpers in there, a solar "emergency charger" for my phone/iPad, and a wind-up torch and radio, amongst other things. I also made an "inventory list" and attached it to the bag in the most visible way possible - the list includes instructions to grab certain thinks and toss them into the bag on my way out, for example my current week's medications, my wallet, etc.
For anybody who's interested, here's the actual inventory list:
( Inventory list is long... )
Obviously everybody's list is different depending on abilities and needs and how much time you want to spend doing this. I wasn't going to actually include mine but lots of you asked :)
I've done a few other things - discussed with some local friends what I'm doing and why, and thought about things.
Most important to me right now is that having this stuff done makes me feel safer. The stuff on the list is in a gym bag in the bottom of my wardrobe and if I ever have to evacuate I'll grab it and take it with me, but even if I never have to evacuate from here it makes me feel safer just to have it. That's good too.
r
