5 Emergency Preparedness Tips That Can Save Lives

By Staff Reporters

Adequate preparations help avoid anxiety, stress, and loss when disaster strikes. Calamities like tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, or bombings usually occur when no one is prepared for them. They cause catastrophic damages, leading to permanent injuries or death. So, as much as you can’t prevent them, you should prepare sufficiently by having all the necessary equipment and following any guidelines for when these disasters happen. 

With that in mind, here are five emergency preparedness tips that can help save your life: 

• Purchase All Essential Items In Advance 

It would help to purchase all the essential emergency response items you need beforehand. An essential part of your emergency kit is medical supplies because disasters typically lead to injuries. In this case, having user guides, tourniquets, wound dressing bandages, slings, blood loss prevention kits, seals, and splints help to stabilize any wound or fracture injuries and effectively stop bleeding.

Below are other essential items you’d not want to miss:

• • Food: Only store food that can’t go bad quickly, such as canned or dried foods. However, if it has been a year since a disastrous event happened, you should replace them.
  • Flashlights: Preferably, they should be the ones operated with batteries so you can replace them anytime. Also, ensure you purchase enough batteries. You never know how long you can go without electricity.
  • Water: Store many bottles of water since they’re easy to carry when disaster strikes.

• Medication: Have emergency prescription drugs if you have a preexisting condition. 

These are just a few examples of all the equipment you must have. For more information on other essential kits, consider looking into this helpful site, which also provides prices.

• Make A Plan 

A detailed plan helps you stay calm and helps minimize damage in the event of an emergency. Here are some elements to include in your emergency preparedness plan: 

• Have an emergency person outside your area: If you have a contact person who’s outside the zone of a calamity, they can quickly inform the relevant authorities about your current situation. And they can help devise a rescue plan to save you. 
• Connect with your neighbors: If you live in an area prone to calamities, you should speak to your neighbors and plan how you can come together to keep everyone in the loop.
• Know the possible shelter places: You can ask around for information on the available shelter places your county has set aside for use.
• Learn how to do CPR: Train yourself to do basic first aid measures like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It can help if the person you’re with stops breathing.
• Put up emergency doors where possible: It’ll help to have a place to pass through if the primary doors you use are barricaded. Alternatively, if you live in an area where you often use an elevator, you should ensure the staircase areas are accessible during such times. 
• Pick a place to meet after a disaster: When a natural disaster strikes, it pays to immediately assemble at a central point to do a head count and assess who is missing. So, set a common place you can meet after the calamity.

Planning has numerous advantages; thus, don’t overlook it when preparing. It can help save your life as well as those of others.

• Prepare Yourself Financially 

If you’re financially prepared for natural disasters, you’ll be able to minimize stress. For instance, having an insurance policy for your house, vehicles, or business properties can ensure they’re safe. Thus, ask your insurance policy provider to ascertain whether these are covered. Also, have emergency savings accounts and handy cash with you for when you need to purchase supplies. 

• Keep Yourself Informed

If you live in areas frequented by disasters, you should always keep up with the alerts from your county. The city or county may have an app that can signal anyone if they suspect that a calamity is about to happen. So, ensure you speak to the authorities so as not to get caught off guard. Also, follow the news on mainstream mass media channels as they’re always full of critical information in times of emergencies.

• Practice Possible Emergency Scenarios

Drills are one of the most effective tools for preparing you for calamities. They present a typical example of a crisis, and you learn how you can protect yourself from harm. For example, when there’s a fire, you can know the possible alternative routes if the main ones are closed. Alternatively, if there’s an earthquake, you should:

• Cover yourself and protect your head with your arms
• Turn off the stove if you’re cooking
• Move away from power lines 
• Don’t stand at doorways or run outdoors
• Move to higher ground when near a shore
• If driving, pull aside and set an emergency brake. Stay in your car until the earthquake is over. 

You should check on these things repeatedly to help you remember them when needed.

Conclusion 

You must educate yourself with enough information when preparing for a disaster. You may not have enough time to grab every vital thing. So, look into what essential things you must have and ensure to purchase them beforehand. In this instance, even if there’s an emergency, you’ll be adequately prepared for it.

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