Your survival begins with what you believe in your mind to be true. You may have already experienced an emergency situation and learned from the experience. You know the next time you are faced with the same emergency you will be better prepared because you have a knowledge base to draw upon. As a result, you now know what worked for you, and what you could have done to be better prepared.
Do you remember the bible story of David and Goliath in the book I Samuel chapter 17? David was a shepherd boy who stood up to the Philistine giant named Goliath. As a shepherd, David had spent his life fighting off predators to protect his flock. He was equipped to survive in the field. In his mind he was also prepared to take on this nine foot giant in the same way he had defeated the animal predators in the wild. He knew where his strength came from and he was totally prepared to draw upon it. His survival kit included his trust in his God, his personal experiences in the field, a slingshot and five stones. He had everything he needed to take down a fully armored giant because he was prepared.
We all have a Goliath or two in our life waiting for us to show our stuff. Depending on where you live, work or travel, your Goliath type may be a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, wild fire, power outage, terrorist threat or a car accident. You may be called upon to protect your family, your loved ones, your neighbors and friends as well as strangers. Your individual preparedness is essential for conquering and surviving the aftermath of a disaster.
The first and most important “tool” is your mind. What you believe to be true, right or wrong is your truth. It will guide you in your decision process. If you believe that you can rely on others to take care of you in an emergency, that belief will determine how prepared you are to take care of yourself. If you have the knowledge either based on personal experience, or by observing what has happened to others, you may be aware that the emergency services you rely on may not be immediately available to meet your emergency needs. Recall what happened in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Irene in 2011, and the Oklahoma, Texas wildfires in August of 2011. Perhaps you were among the millions of people affected by the devastation. How prepared were you? Did you have the essentials: shelter, water and food? Did your community come together to help one another? If this should ever happen again, how prepared are you right now?
Disasters often occur with little notice. Therefore, there is no better time than the present to research and make your plan. With pre-event planning your chances of surviving a disaster is greatly improved. Your preparedness will reduce the extent of damage to property and loss of life, not only your property and life but also that of your loved ones and your neighbors.
Join a Community Emergency Response Team in your area. Become educated and trained to respond to the pending threats in your neighborhood. As a volunteer your service is valued, and you are personally better prepared to handle a disaster situation. By working with a CERT team you learn how “to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people” quote taken from the CERT Training: Participant Manual, Page I. Go to: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/ to learn more about CERT and to locate a program in your area. Be prepared to conquer your Goliath. People are depending on you, don’t wait any longer.