What Is Emergency Management and Why You Should Care

It seems many people believe that living in a first world country means that the government will always be prepared and able to handle any emergency situation. Just look at the Puerto Rico hurricane news. While authoritative agencies do their best in these stressful situations, most citizens haven’t contemplated what is emergency management and have no plan ready in case the grid goes down for a period of days, weeks, and/or months. This article hopefully can be a launch pad for getting prepared for a SHTF type scenario. Read on to learn more.

What Is Emergency Management?

Knowing what to do and how to deal with significant problems and catastrophes is emergency management.

The process:

Prepare for an inevitable emergency

As well as…

Conduct training and drills to ensure that you are prepared for an inevitable emergency will ensure that you can handle whatever comes your way.

I believe that emergency management is much more than merely understanding your emergency plans… It also involves individual preparation.

How to Make Sure You’re Prepared for a disaster

Understanding the emergency management definition is the first step in becoming prepared to deal with an emergency.
Your next step when faced with a crisis is mitigation.
1. Now, this will allow you to move forward with action to minimize later consequences.
Then, you will next need to prepare yourself:
1. Buy the necessary equipment
2. Undergo training before a disaster strikes
Finally, this will lead you to be able to respond to a crisis. Then you can engage in recovery to build back what you lost.

Manage the Necessary Equipment

Now you understand what emergency management is and know the steps to becoming prepared. It’s time to talk about what equipment you’ll need to build an emergency kit.

Building your Emergency Kit

Preparing an emergency kit prepared before a disaster strikes ensures that you are ready. Details will be debated with slightly different items recommended for disaster kits. But there are a few things that I believe need to be in every emergency supply kit.

Creating and regularly updating your disaster kit will keep you and your loved ones safe in the event of an emergency.

You will need to include a variety of items in your disaster kit. I recommend:

Three or more days of food and water for each person

One gallon of water for each person per day
Foods that are okay when stored, such as pasta and canned soup
A manual can opener
Necessary utensils
- Cooking Equipment
- Utensils

Health and Personal Supplies

Medical Supplies

Electronics

Documents and Other Items

Family emergency plan
Immunization records and insurance cards
Local maps
Additional sets of keys
Cash

Tips for Your Emergency Kit

Along with the safety of your family, make sure that you have all the necessary supplies for your pet(s). It’s important to have food and water set aside for them. Also, any medications they need. Additionally, make sure to have their favorite toy or stuffed animal and a crate or leash for containment.

Because food, batteries, and medical supplies will eventually expire, check your kit on a regular basis:

Make sure that everything included is fresh and works when you need it to.
Clearly label items in your bag.
Check for expirations.

Now you won’t have to worry about the safety and function of your emergency kit.

Act Quickly

Remember: If you have to ask yourself “is this an emergency?” then you likely already should be acting to protect yourself and your family.

Time is of the essence. Here is a list of possible procedures you should do in the event of an emergency:

First, establish communication with your family.
Next, secure your area, whether that is your home or another location.
Outline your secure area so that the members of your family are clear where they need to stay.
1. This is essential to help keep loved ones safe.

After you are secure and have attended to any immediate needs of your family, then it’s time to search for others who need help.

Government workers are probably showing up by this point. These civil servants are coming to aid you and the people around you. By reaching out to them, you will be able to understand the extent of the disaster.

You can also find out what measures you need to take to keep your family safe. Gathering this information should help you remain calm. Now you can reaccess and react appropriately.

Emergency Management & Why This All Matters

When faced with an emergency or a disaster you will want to be aware of any threats to your health and well being. Doing so may help limit the danger that you and your family are in. This can also increase the likelihood that you will survive the emergency without major harm.

Conclusion

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of what is emergency management and are starting to prepare for a grid down situation. I personally have a philosophy that I would rather have something and never need it, then need something and not have it. And a disaster plan, along with proper supplies are must haves in case of an emergency. Good luck with your journey. And be sure to ask questions down in the comment section if something is confusing.

Stay Safe,