Family Preparedness
Family preparedness is much the same as individual preparedness, only on a larger scale. Use the
individual preparedness guidelines for each of your family members. Getting organized is one of the
hardest parts of preparing. This is where writing up a plan for your family is critical. Sit down and
evaluate your overall situation and begin planning.
1. How you’re going to heat your home, in a grid down scenario, even if it’s only short term.
How will you keep your family cool in the summer.
2. If normal means for preparing meals are no longer available, do you have alternative
cooking capabilities? Do you have fuel stored for camp stoves? Do you have a way to heat
large amounts of water for maintenance and sanitation?
3. Lighting is also critical. Have plenty of inexpensive flashlights for every member of your
family. Head lamps are a good idea for hands free operation. For working, Coleman type
propane lanterns are very bright. Have plenty of spare mantles and 1 pound propane cylinders.
4. Know where your medical supplies are and how to use them if you need to treat minor
injuries. Are you trained to treat major injuries? What is your plan if they occur?
5. Have a security plan to protect your house and property. Involve the entire family,
depending on their maturity and skill levels. Have FRS radios to communicate for when people
move away from the house, for guard duty, gardening, checking on neighbors, etc.
Children – a huge category of extra planning
If an event happens during the normal work/school week and your have children in school, you must
have a plan to retrieve your children, or have a pre-arranged meeting place where you can link up
with your family members. In the event you can’t make it home or to a rally point, your children
must be able to make it home on their own, if they are not too young. Middle school and high school
children will become part of your contingency plan. They will be able to leave school and make it to
an elementary school to scoop up brothers and sisters. If uncles and aunts, or even grandparents are
in the same area as you are, they can be a part of the retrieval plan. Make sure the elementary
schools have names of family members that your children can be released to or they probably will
not let them go for liability reasons.
Will the younger children stay with these relatives? Will they be taken to your home? Plan in
advance, and make sure everyone knows the plan.
If the younger children can get home on their own, and a responsible adult is not there, are there
neighbors your children can stay with until you make it home? If so, have the neighbor leave a note
on your door so you know your child is safe when you arrive home.
If you or your wife are out of town, or running errands a long distance from your home, then there is
a good chance you won’t make it back any time soon. Plan for this! Make sure the older children are
prepared to take responsibility for their siblings, in the event they have to wait for your return.
Training is critical for contingency planning. Can your older children prepare meals under a power
outage situation? Perhaps plan several meals that do not require cooking, involving the children in
this planning. Can they safely use camp stoves to heat water” If you have a wood burning stove or
fireplace, can they start a fire to stay warm? Do they know how to care for your animals? If not,
train them in all of this.
Finally, if the older children are qualified to handle firearms, and have been well trained, it is a good
idea to have a serious talk with them about accessing those firearms, to be able to defend themselves
and their siblings in the event you are not able to get home for a short while, or not at all.
Dependent Adults
Special planning is required if you have other adults in your home requiring adult supervision or
care. Be sure to plan for their needs, someone to check in on them in case of emergency, and a safe
place for them to be.
Keep in mind, in a civil unrest/civil war scenario there will be serious disruption of supply chains.
Fuel, groceries, medical supplies from pharmacies, etc. Roving bands of rioters, looters and
marauders will become commonplace. Selco talks about this in his training course. Remember, good
people will turn bad, and bad people will turn worse. Stockpile what you need now.
Let’s talk about politics and ideology within the family unit, especially with older children who have
been brainwashed by the school systems. The Communists have worked diligently to control the
minds of your children and grandchildren. They have been programmed to believe that the family
concept is obsolete, and that obedience to the socialist system is what matters. The government
should provide everything for them.
When the historians discuss brother against brother during the first Civil War, along with father
against son, this is what they were talking about. A civil war has no front. It’s a 360 degree
battlefield. Understand this now. Your future survival depends on it. You must do your own
intelligence gathering and determine now who will pose a threat to you and the survival of your
family. Focus on internal threats first, then external threats. Have casual conversations with your
closest neighbors to determine who you will be able to trust and who you will be willing to assist
during hard times. Be careful what you say in front of your children and grandchildren’s friends.
They are little recording devices. They will remember who has food and water, weapons and ammo,
medical supplies and any thing else they will need when the time comes to begin looting to insure
their own survival.
Please spend some time war gaming your own situation so you can be as prepared for the uncertain
future as possible.