DAY-TO-DAY PREP #2, THE PERSONAGES

Written by Nick Card

More common day-to-day emergencies are worth preparing for even if they are not large scale disasters.

Today is a normal Thursday!  We hop out of bed, eat breakfast, drive to work, push through until time to head home, get a few tasks done before hitting the hay.  Then something bad happens.  We turn too quickly and feel a sharp pain in our lower back.  We lack the energy to finish what needs to get done.  Our mom calls and is two hours away with a flat tire and needs help.  Our dad needs a life-saving prescription but can’t afford it.

Again, most of us would consider these emergencies, but we often fail to prepare for them.  Good news!  Prep can help us overcome day-to-day emergencies too.

PREP STRATEGY 101: DAY-TO-DAY PERSONAGE

In the first post of this series we discussed emergency prep strategy.  We looked at prioritizing emergencies by likelihood (step #1), including those that are devastating, but less likely (step #2), and then group events by the type of response (step #3).  We saw that there are four responses that cover most, if not all, emergency situations.

1. Day-to-Day Preparedness
2. Cyber Preparedness
3. Shelter-in-Place
4. Evacuation

Today we will continue discussing day-to-day preparedness.  As part of this series, we will discuss disaster emergencies more in later posts.

In review, day-to-day emergencies include two common scenarios.  Last time we looked at day-to-day venues (the house and car), today we look at day-to-day personages (the body, ours, and family).  Each scenario has a unique way we can prepare for it.

DAY-TO-DAY PERSONAGE #1: THE BODY

First, we look at our most important day-to-day prep personage and most overlooked asset, the body.

It is amazing how often our body affects our day.  We may wake up with sore muscles, pain, lack energy, or feel ill.  If we are unable to do what we need to do, our body becomes the emergency.

Separately, we may face an emergency.  If so, we may need our body to work at a given fitness level while under stress.  For example, we may need to carry weight, and carry it quickly or for a great distance.  During an evacuation we need to pack belongings, load the car, get pets, etc.  All of these use fitness.  Further, if we must protect our family from an attacker our fitness may decide if we survive, or they do.

We want our bodies to handle emergencies and not become the emergency.  For those who have a health concern, confirm with a doctor we’re ready for exercise first.

THE BODY IS RUNNING SMOOTHLY –> RELATED EMERGENCY:

Here is a list of body uses and potential emergencies:

• Practical strength –> too weak, limited useful strength
• Useful cardio –> too tired, weak, poor stamina, difficulty breathing
• Muscle balance* –> pain, difficulty walking or carrying weight
• Flexible –> limited range of motion, hurts to move, hard to carry weight
• Active stability –> limited mobility, poor stability when moving

*Working one muscle group, but not its opposite can hurt our strength, posture, and movement.

Now let’s see what supplies and actions we can consider for the body.

SUPPLIES FOR THE BODY

There are few supplies we need for day-to-day body prep.  We need a positive mindset, motivation, and fitness knowledge.  Also, some items may help us push our bodies harder and smarter.  For example, a fitness tracker (to track steps, distance, etc.) or heart rate monitor (to track higher heart rates).

Here are a few helpful supplies:

• Heart rate monitor (e.g., Polar, Fitbit)
• Fitness tracker (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.)
• Food log (e.g., MyFitnessPal)
• Health insurance
• First aid kit
• Gym membership
• Nutrition resource
• Exercise resource

ACTIONS TO TAKE FOR THE BODY

Prevention:

Prevention helps keep our body from becoming the emergency or limiting what we can do during an emergency.

• Healthy Eating
  • Plenty of fruits and vegetables
  • Eat in moderation (eat until we are “satisfied” rather than “full”)
  • A well-balanced diet
  • Make healthy food accessible (e.g., cut veggies and keep at front of fridge)
• Discipline
  • Use portion control (when in doubt, measure it out)
  • Get enough good sleep
  • Limit fats & sugars
  • Make junk food less accessible (e.g., keep dessert in hard-to-reach spot)
• Exercise
  • Practical strength (not beauty strength)
  • Have agility and endurance
  • Good range of motion & muscle balance
  • Coordination & stability

These are easy to say, but much harder to do.  We need discipline!  Consider these:

1. Connect our passion with activity (motivates us)
2. Set a long-term realistic goal
3. Set smaller goals to get to long-term goal
4. Be flexible (life happens) and never give up improving

Response:

When our body is the emergency, it helps to have a first aid kit and training.  Health insurance also helps us to get proper care when needed.  Further, we need patience when we get hurt so our bodies can take the time they need to fully heal.  Once healed, get back to exercise.  Be wise and exercise hard!

When responding to an emergency, it helps to know our body’s limits.  This means drilling our plans to make sure we can handle the fitness needed to do the plan.

Lastly, emergencies happen at bad times and are stressful.  We can prepare for this by drilling our plan when it’s untimely (e.g., use a random start, such as a friend calling) or when we’re under stress (e.g., drill after a jog or fast walk around the block).  In Krav Maga (Israeli Martial Arts) we call this chaos training and stress training, respectively.  This helps our confidence and prevents shock during a real-life emergency.

DAY-TO-DAY PERSONAGE #2: THE FAMILY

Another important personage we often forget to prepare for is our family.  Our family can have any of the day-to-day emergencies mentioned as well as those we will discuss in upcoming posts.

Preparing for family to experience emergencies is especially important.   Specifically, younger and older family may have more emergencies (dealing with health issues), fewer resources (cannot afford preventive care or needed prescriptions), and are likely more dependent.

Really, any family may need short-term help during an emergency.  This may take a toll on us and our resources.  For example, a family member may have a flooded house and need somewhere to stay.  Part of being a prepper is helping teach preparedness skills and assist those we love.

THE FAMILY IS RUNNING SMOOTHLY –> RELATED EMERGENCY:

Here is a list of smooth family operations and potential emergencies:

• Self-sufficient & resilient –> Lack resources, skills, or desire to deal with emergency
• Rainy-day fund –> little/no financial resilience
• Reliable car –> can’t evacuate or get around when needed
• Shelter –> no place to live, poor living conditions
• Insurance –> no insurance (can’t afford care or medications)

Now let’s see what supplies and actions we can consider for the family.

SUPPLIES FOR THE FAMILY

We can help prepare our families for emergencies!  Examples of ways we can help are: teach them emergency prep skills, encourage family to be prepared, or provide resources for them (e.g., roadside assistance, groceries – to help family eat healthy, or health insurance).

Here are some supplies to consider:

• Time off work (able to assist)
• Extra rainy-day fund money (when family can’t afford to deal with an emergency)
• Guest room, air mattress
• Spare car, or money for ride sharing

ACTIONS TO TAKE FOR THE FAMILY

Prevention:

The most helpful way to prevent a family-related emergency is to teach them to be prepared.  We can help a family member be more aware by asking realistic and common place “what if” questions.  For example, ask a family member how they might deal with a flat tire, stranded vehicle, broken toilet, knee injury (and can’t work), etc.

We can also encourage family members to prepare for emergencies.  Ideas for family include:

• Save up money (rainy-day fund)
• Have time off from work (still need to pay bills while dealing with an emergency)
• Be insured (health, car, etc.)
• Get roadside assistance

Response:

Responding to a family member’s emergency means being prepared ourselves.  Being an example can help others in our family to take preparation more seriously as well.

As discussed above, we can offer our help (time, resources, knowledge, and our love) to them.  For many people, experiencing an emergency is what motives them to take preparing more seriously.

When a family member depends on us we should also account for that in our emergency planning.

Go back to Day-to-Day Prep Post I or the first post in this blog series, Prep Strategy 101.