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When Blue Skies Turn Gray It's been a wonderful week camping high in the Rocky Mountains. Suddenly your peaceful mountain setting is transformed as one of your children falls and begins crying. You rush to see what the problem is, expecting to find another scraped knee, elbow or other minor problem. Instead you find that their right arm is broken and beginning to swell. Almost instinctively, you grab the first aid kit, remove the necessary items, and treat your child's arm as though you did this all the time. Now that the arm is immobilized, you pile into the car and head for the hospital, grateful for the classes you had attended on first aid. Knowledge is as much a part of emergency preparedness as water storage containers. I fact, knowledge is probably the single most important element to successful emergency planning. By learning about, as well as how to use all of the Products on our emergency supplies, we are better able to aces what these Products are capable of in an emergency situation. We can then identify what weaknesses are present in our defenses and take steps to correct them. But product knowledge is just half the battle. You should know how to shut the utilities off in your home and be able to identify where safe havens are in the event of an earthquake, tornado or other natural disasters. Escape routes should be identified in the event of a fire, and everyone should know where to meet once they are safely outside. These are just a few examples of how knowledge alone could save your life. Sources of reliable information are found almost everywhere and many cost very little or nothing at all. Public libraries, emergency personnel, hospitals, and the American Red Cross can all provide you with valuable information and training related to emergency preparedness. There are many good books that cover a wide range of emergency preparedness topics and can be purchased to have on hand at all times. Knowledge gained and not acted upon is also useless, so apply it whenever possible. This will reinforce your knowledge, and probably expand upon it. Your knowledge can also be passed to those you come in contact with, and they in turn can pass the information on to others. This network of individuals can motivate others into becoming prepared more effectively than possibly any other means. It would be impossible or difficult for one individual to store enough supplies to provide for the needs of a community or even one street. For this reason, it's critical to educate others, and help them to realize the importance and peace in planning, preparing and saving for a "rainy day." Personally you can: · Prepare your immediate family, and pass along pointers and information to family, friends and neighbors · Take classes from the Red Cross or you local Fire Stations in first aid and emergency care · Help establish community watch groups to safeguard your community against theft and similar problems · Become familiar with elderly or sick people in your area who may need added assistance to evacuate · Work with local PTA's, and government groups to ensure they are constantly thinking of these needs · Make suggestions to leaders, or organize groups within your religious affiliation or other interest groups to help spread the word The list of ways you can have an impact during an emergency can go on and on. You may think of many other ways to promote safety and preparedness in your family and community. If you have any ideas let us know we will post them on our site for others to see. Being prepared yourself with food, water and other supplies could help provide you with the strength, knowledge and calm needed to provide assistance to others and help you save lives. Fark/2005 ============ "Be Prepared" .... For some.... simply means |