Monday, September 14, 2015

Introduction to Family Emergency Preparedness Planning

This blog is dedicated to helping families prepare for emergencies.  Knowing about the possible threats that you will face, and formulating a plan is the very beginning of preparedness.  We all need to begin with a plan.

You can read more about me via my LinkedIn page.  
I have spent a good part of my life making myself aware of threats and developing counter measures to mitigate the risks of those threats.  I have training and certifications that require me to do more than simply react.  I am responsible to plan and protect, and in fact do so as a profession.  The act of planning and protecting go hand in hand!  One facilitates the other.

In the following posts I hope to present information that will help you in your quest to mitigate the risks that you’ll face now and in the future.  The posts are each labeled so you can quickly determine what you’re looking at.

Posts that have [HAZARD] in the title are descriptions of potential hazards or threats that you may face.  These are typically discussions on what to expect, and even some suggestions on risk mitigation.  

Posts that have [PLANNING] in the title are discussions that address all aspects of plan creation, plan types, plan testing, and plan enhancement.  Remember that a plan that has not been tested is just a theory!  It is vital to remember that to be effective you need to consider more than just a “zombie apocalypse” in your scope of plans!

Posts that have [IN THE NEWS] in the title are current events and a discussion of how such events are relevant to our stated goal of protecting our families.  There are both lessons to be learned and increased awareness of threats to be gained.

And lastly, a post that has [OPINION] in the title is just that.  I’ve lived for over 60 years, and during that time I’ve come into contact with lots of information, interesting people, plenty of experiences, and as a result have formulated some definite opinions.  While I won’t share lots of these, from time-to-time you will likely get my perspective.  My purpose is to provide analysis and insights from an Emergency Management perspective.

Thank you for preparing for the emergencies that life has in store for us all.  It is such a big help to your community when you take the initiative to look out for your family and not rely on others,  Preparedness is rightfully your responsibility, no one else can, or should assume that role.

In the final analysis, at least for me, planning is what you do for the people you love.  If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t take the time to protect them, instead you’d let fate take it’s course.  

I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing it.

"Adventure is just bad planning."
- Roald Amundsen

Stay safe, be prepared!

Regards,

Mark