GenXTalkin Making a Plan - Communications Planning GXT-EP05-02

09/29/21 • 36 min

RESOURCES:
YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/i7swLmicckc
https://www.ready.gov/
National Risk Index MAP
https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map
I’m Matt Damon
https://youtu.be/gnPWJOJYVKc
Bourne Identity Scene
https://youtu.be/dsJiYWv3J00
Planning Your Communications
Most important here is understanding how important it is to have proper communications. Without communications, how will we know:
where to meet up
when to meet up
what do we do when the first meet up location fails
What are our next steps
what direction I'm headed
or simply... is my family OK?
Start with the basics for the Communications Plan. First, collect important information such as phone numbers; for each other, for friends and family, for doctors, hospitals, dentists, ob-gyn, etc. Collect information around children's school (including college), and adult workplace emergency plans. Where will the kids be taken (and how, by bus?) in a time of emergency? Always include out of town contacts to use as go-between during large events, and establish a time to check in at regular intervals.
establish meeting places ahead of time for additional purposes.
Indoor - in case of extreme weather, such as tornadoes
In your neighborhood - like the neighbor's front porch in case you can't get into your home
Outside your neighborhood - to meet up if you're not at home during emergencies and cannot cannot get there
Outside your own town or city, or even state or region - for cases in which you cannot get home and you've been instructed to evacuate the area
Make small laminated sheets for each to hold in a wallet, purse or backpack. Having this information handy will allow each family member to respond well and recover faster.
Consider adding a couple of apps to your smartphone. Many of these groups create their own smartphone apps, but they also have directed us to the following:
AED
PulsePoint
USNG
CodeRed
311
ERG2020
Compass
Broadcastify
One of the problems that often occurs during natural disasters is that cell phone services get "clogged". So, start with just texting instead.
Try to find additional locations at which you can connect to the internet via WIFI. Of course, you want to make sure this is actually a free service. Very frustrating when you're in the midst of an emergency, and you have to enter a credit card, or email information to gain access. Also, a good reason to plan this ahead is you also want the ability to recognize the WIFI network you're using. Whether emergency or not, you never want to transmit your personal data, unprotected by VPN, across an unknown WIFI network!
Lastly, you should come to realize that preparedness does not stop at the end of National Preparedness Month... Keep going, and remember that "practice makes PROGRESS!"
@genxtalkin

Would you be prepared? Are you prepared?

Choosing to be more prepared every day is a skill. One that should be honed. Focusing on growing just a little everyday will allow us all to be prepared to respond well and recover faster.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about prepping, so please reach out and share as you can.

Until next time... this is monk signing off... better be prepared

Would you be prepared? Are you prepared?

Choosing to be more prepared every day is a skill. One that should be honed. Focusing on growing just a little everyday will allow us all to be prepared to respond well and recover faster.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about prepping, so please reach out and share as you can.

Until next time... this is monk signing off... better be prepared

Previous Episode

GenXTalkin Making a Plan - Shelter in Place and Evacution Planning GXT-EP05-01

YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/2XlOcaRnqp4
RESOURCES
- https://www.ready.gov/
- National Risk Index MAP
-- https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map
- I’m Matt Damon
-- https://youtu.be/gnPWJOJYVKc
- Bourne Identity Scene
-- https://youtu.be/dsJiYWv3J00
Show Notes:
Hey there all you GenXers. Great to be back again for an exciting show on Making Plans for Preparedness. I’m Matt Marshall overall preparedness enthusiast... and I’m here to remind us all with preparedness comes comfort, with preparedness comes peace, something we could all use a bit more of...
With all that said,. Onto the show! It is National Preparedness Month, and that mainly means we focus on two things, making a plan and creating a go bag. We’ve spent some time in a couple of past episodes talking about the different types of bags; edc, go-bag and bug out bags, and the get home safe bag. And for sure we’ll dig deeper into these in future episodes.
For today we’re focusing on the other half, making a plan.
I think one of the important concepts around making a plan is first to realize it’s never just one plan at all!
Fire escape plan
Shelter In place plan
Evacuation route planning
Water collection plan
Communications plan
Financial plan
This I’m sure is one of the reasons it can take a while to make a plan - when you consider... all the plans.
Planning to Shelter In Place
For Shelter in place I personally think, and I believe most preparedness-minded people walk this same path, that it’s important to first define what are your greatest threats. If you know what you and your community are most at risk of encountering, then you can more easily prepare to combat them.
We review the types of threats:
- High Impact, High Frequency
- High Impact, Low Frequency
- Low Impact, High Frequency
- Low Impact, Low Frequency
Planning to Evacuate or Get Out Quick
The government recommends having a Bugout, or Go Bag in the event you have to get away from home quickly. And most preparedness minded organizations add onto this in saying, within 15 minutes, you should be ready to go with all you need for at least 72 hours, but supplies for one week is even better.
As well, if you travel for work, get in the habit of doing this in hotels, airports and your temporary place of work. Good to at least get a basic idea of layouts.
Next, create a fire escape plan at home. Also consider where your gathering points might be staged. There should be two, one right outside the house (near a tree) and one should be slightly further away, like a neighbor's front porch.
————————-
Lastly, you should come to realize that preparedness does not stop at the end of National Preparedness Month... Keep going, and remember that "practice makes PROGRESS!"
@genxtalkin

Would you be prepared? Are you prepared?

Choosing to be more prepared every day is a skill. One that should be honed. Focusing on growing just a little everyday will allow us all to be prepared to respond well and recover faster.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about prepping, so please reach out and share as you can.

Until next time... this is monk signing off... better be prepared

Next Episode

GenXTalkin Army Survival Guide FM 21-76 Review

GXTEP06 Army Survival Guide Review
In todays show, Ed and Matt review the FM 21-76 Army Survival Guide. The intrroduction to this classic survival guide covers the army's S.U.R.V.IV.A.L Acronym.
S: SIZE UP THE SITUATION
U: USE ALL YOUR SENSES / UNDUE HASTE MAKES WASTE
R: REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE
V: VANQUISH FEAR AND PANIC
I: IMPROVISE
V: VALUE LIVING
A: ACT LIKE THE NATIVES
L: LIVE BY YOUR WITS / LEARN BASIC SKILLS
We cover a lot of information and personal experience on camping and using survival skills during camping.
Ed's passion on teh subject of this guide is contagious. So be prepared when you listen to this one!
Some Resources
Survival Guide on Amazon

https://smile.amazon.com/Survival-Historic-Department-Military-Outdoors/dp/1643890174/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=fm+21+76&qid=1633791728&sr=8-3

Survival Guide in PDF

https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/FM_21-76-US-army-survival-manual.pdf

The Meaning Of SURVIVAL

https://www.offgridweb.com/survival/the-meaning-of-s-u-r-v-i-v-a-l-analyzing-the-u-s-armys-survival-acronym/

The Big One Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-one-your-survival-guide/id1445054297

Mission Cooling Towel

https://www.mission.com/collections/mission-original-cooling-towels
Hope you enjoy!
@genxtalkin

Would you be prepared? Are you prepared?

Choosing to be more prepared every day is a skill. One that should be honed. Focusing on growing just a little everyday will allow us all to be prepared to respond well and recover faster.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about prepping, so please reach out and share as you can.

Until next time... this is monk signing off... better be prepared