I recently took a winter survival course and learned how well emergency blankets actually work!  Originally invented for NASA, the reflective material of the blanket reflects up to 90% of your body’s heat to keep you warm!  I learned that it could even prevent hypothermia and post-traumatic syndrome.

During some of the winter simulations I went through, I used my emergency blanket several times and was pleasantly surprised at how warm it kept me.  I noticed a warm feeling within seconds of wrapping the blanket around me.  Instead of my body heat escaping into the air, it stayed within the emergency blanket and radiated back at my skin.

Not only is the blanket waterproof, but it is windproof too.  This is important when it comes to how warm the emergency blanket will keep you.  Even through wind simulations during my survival course, I found that the emergency blanket kept me warm.  Because the blanket material is windproof, my skin kept its insulating ability and I was able to keep myself warm just from my own body heat.

After going through the survival course, I will never go without including one in my car or backpack.  I recommend them to any outdoorsman and believe every car and home should have several within reach.  You never know when an emergency can come up and having one of these blankets handy just might save your life!

Emergency water storage is very important in our home.  We live in Las Vegas and plan to for the rest of our lives, however, knowing our city is constantly battling water shortages doesn’t help matters.  We always have plenty of clean water stored in our home in case of dire water shortages and emergencies.

We keep several 15-gallon water barrels in our basement ready and waiting whenever an emergency situation may come up.  We also keep the Aqua Blox Water Boxes on hand too!  Both of these are important for emergency water storage and give us different options depending on when and what we need them for.

The most important thing to think about when storing your water for emergencies is the shelf life.  Our 15-gallon water barrels and our Aqua Blox Water Boxes have a 5-year shelf life if used with the Water Preserver.  While normally you may need to rotate your water storage every 6 months to a year, the Water Preserver is a small bottle of liquid preservative, which will treat up to 55 gallons of water and extend the shelf life to 5 years!

The storage life of water can be affected by many different things like intrinsic parameters, ph and moisture content and environmental factors, so it’s important to purchase water storage that is packaged in accordance with FDA processing, like the options mentioned before.  Also remember to store water at room temperature (or cooler), away from things like solvents and gasoline or other chemicals, and out of direct-sun light.  All these tips will help you to extend the life of your water storage and be prepared in case of an emergency!

My husband and I started camping when our kids were really young.  One year we brought along a couple MREs, which are Meals Ready to Eat.  We wanted to be prepared if for some reason we ran low on food or needed extra because we stayed longer than we had originally planned.  And of course, we did end up using them and from that day on have never gone camping with out lots of MREs.  We bring them along just to enjoy easy, hot meals that don’t required any work or dishes to wash!

MREs are an easy way to bring healthy and enjoyable food with you whenever you venture into the outdoors, especially if you don’t want to be a slave to making a fire every time you want to cook a meal.  To cook an MRE, simply use an MRE flameless heater.  With a few ounces of water, the flameless heater will cook your MRE to over 200 degrees and you will have a steaming hot meal ready in no time!  Perfect to end a day of any outdoor activity!

The great thing about the MRE flameless heater is you can use it anywhere at anytime.  All you do is slide your MRE food packet into the MRE flameless heater pack and walla!  The safe and effective chemical reaction between the water and the flameless heater is what heats your food.  Although MREs don’t have to be heated to eat, the flameless heaters are inexpensive, completely safe, easy and lightweight, have an unlimited shelf life and are ready whenever you are!  Why not take extras for you and your family to enjoy for fun or in case of emergencies?

I sometimes have people ask me why they should store food.  “Why should I store a year’s supply of food?  Isn’t that a bit much?”  The truth is a number of situations could occur that could cripple the food system in our country.  By taking precautionary steps, you can feel secure that your family will survive in times of need.

A drought like the one that occurred during the Dust Bowl could lead to a famine.  It’s hard to imagine since for many of us we have always seen fully stocked grocery store shelves and never a lack of food to buy.  But various situations from trucking strikes to a pandemic to crop failure could lead to a lack of food.  How long could you survive with the food you have in your home right now?  A few days?  A couple of weeks?  A month or two?  We have become so far removed from our food since it is shipped to grocery stores in brightly colored packages that we may not realize that crop failures can directly impact us.

I see food storage as a type of insurance plan.  I don’t know if we will be hit by a massive earthquake, a flood, or a worldwide pandemic, but I do know that I have taken steps to care for my family if any of those situations occur.  I am a mother and am driven by a mother’s need to care for her family.  The thought of my children calling out, “What’s for dinner?” or pleading with me that they are hungry, and knowing that I have nothing to feed them, that we have no food, is a horrifying thought to me.

By eating out one less time a month, I can put an extra can of food in our food storage.  By making small changes, I know that I can take steps to prepare my family and ensure their safety in times of distress.

Many of us work on our emergency preparedness and food storage a little at a time.  A first aid kit here, some freeze-dried fruit there.  But often we fail to properly inventory and track what we have and we often fail to think about how much food we really need and set a goal with a due date.  So, I guess my challenge to everyone is to first, truly assess what you have and what you still need.  Do you have a dozen flashlights, but are missing essential sanitation supplies like a portable potty lid with chemicals and bags?  Do you have a 72 hour kit, but need to put one in your car?  Do you have MREs for your 72-hour kit, but are lacking in longer term food storage?  So now that you know what you have, you can better determine what you need.

My second challenge is to set a goal.  If you are just now starting, set a date to have your 72-hour kits completed.  Then when you have that done, turn your attention to having a 2 week supply of water.  Finished with that?  Look at the needs of your family.  Do you need to stock up on freeze-dried fruit or do you have a bunch of dinner choices, but no breakfast options stored?  Set a goal and stick to it.  We often think that food storage is a good idea, but how often do we make it a priority and say, “I will have a year supply of food by June 30^th?”  We have to make it a goal, make it a priority, and then take steps to make it a reality.

We don’t know when a disaster like a flood or earthquake will hit or when a personal disaster such as a disability or job loss can strike, but we can take steps to prepare ourselves and our loved ones so that we can be ready for whatever may come our way.

The number 3 is a magic number when it comes to emergency preparedness.  You can survive for about 3 hours without shelter, about 3 days without water, and about 3 weeks without food.  So, to keep with the magic number, we should try to find 3 ways to deal with each of those situations.

For shelter, there may be circumstances where we can shelter in place and use our home as a shelter.  Other times we may be stuck in our cars.  Keeping some basic items in our car in case we need to use it as a shelter can be life-saving.  Some water pouches, survival food bars, hand warmers, emergency blankets, a Ready candle, and waterproof matches can help us keep warm in a winter storm situation.  And what if a major earthquake made sleeping in your home impossible?  Consider a backpacker dome tent or even a tube tent plus emergency sleeping bags.

Next is water.  You can store a lot of water in your home by using the 30 gallon barrels and then adding the water preserver so you only have to change the water every 5 years instead of every year.  You can also think about portable water in case evacuation becomes necessary.  The 5 gallon stackable water containers are great for this purpose.  And what if you had access to water, but it was contaminated?  Think about potable aqua and an MSR miniworks water filter.  The miniworks can filter up to 500 gallons of water, so it is a great tool to invest in.

Last is food.  Survival food bars are compact enough to store in your car or even in your desk at work.  You can store MREs and freeze-dried pouches in your 72-hour kits.  And the #10 cans of freeze-dried food are terrific to store in your home for longer term food storage.

Emergencies and disasters don’t always happen how we plan, so by taking steps to resolve these 3 essential issues in at least 3 ways, you can feel secure in your emergency preparations.

Whether you’re an avid outdoorsman or you just like to be prepared in case of emergencies, thinking about purifying water is extremely important.  Recently a neighbor of ours went on a family camping trip and one of his boys became extremely sick from drinking unpurified water from a lake nearby their campsite.  This type of situation can be easily avoided if you are prepared!  For an easy and affordable way to purify water, anytime and anywhere there are several solutions.

The Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets can easily be added to water to make it bacteriologically okay for drinking…and it’s fast and easy!  There’s also a 2-step water purifier called the Potable Aqua with PA Plus, which include the disinfecting tablets and the PA Plus tablets to remove the iodine taste and color.  Both work great and are perfect to put in small places like a purse, backpack or glove box.

If water purification is something you do often, you can invest in a couple other options, which will add viral protection.  The MR Sweetwater Purifier System has a filtration system that dependably inactivates viruses, and removes other parasites and waterborne bacteria.  A fourth option is the MSR Miox Water Purifier, which is similar to the MR Sweetwater, but with no pumping required!  Both options are fast, compact, lightweight, easy to use and most importantly…reliable!

Whichever water purification system you go with, take the time to find one right for you!  Don’t let yourself or your family, get caught drinking unpurified water and risk the chance of getting really sick!

Emergency blankets may not seem like a big deal, but they can be really important, as I discovered recently.  Yes, you may have a couple lying around at home and one in the car, but is that enough?  No…you should have an emergency blanket for each member of your family and they’re inexpensive enough to have them in different places too!

We’ve always kept an emergency blanket or two in our car, thinking someday we may need them.  But, as we discovered during our unusually cold and long winter this year, only 2 in the car was not enough!

On our way home one night from visiting some family friends in the country, our tire went flat and it was too cold (5 degrees below 0) and too dark for my husband to change it safely.  Fortunately we were able to get some roadside assistance, but we didn’t have much gas left in the car so we decided to wait with the ignition off; hence no heat.  We were so glad we had our emergency blankets on hand, but with a family of 4…2 wasn’t enough!

Luckily, we only had to wait for about an hour for a tow truck to show up, but my husband and I gave the only 2 emergency blankets we had to our children while we waited, and only wished we would have had enough for all 4 of us!  Now we stock 4 emergency blankets every place we frequent because we now know the importance of each family member having their own!

    I’ve noticed that a lot of television shows and movies that are being shown these days have an end of the world type theme to them.  On each show a bomb goes off, a meteor hits the earth, or aliens land in their spaceships and start blowing things up.  luckily for the main characters, they always have a radio on hand to find out any relevant information from the government or whoever is now running the show.  It made me think about what type of radio I should have in case of an emergency.  I’m sure we all used to have an AM/FM radio with our tape players, but with the new technology of CDs and MP3s I think that radios are being used less.  There are also four different bandwidths for radio now, so I wanted to find out which would be the best option.  This is what I found out.

FM radio is the most popular when it comes to listening to music, but it’s not so great for an emergency.  The FM transmissions have a very short wavelength.  At most, they can only be received about 75 miles from the site of origin.  This might be ok if you live in a big city, but out in the country or in the mountains you would be out of luck.

AM radio has long been a source of news broadcasts and information.  Unlike the short wavelengths of FM radio, the AM transmissions use long wavelengths that can travel across the world.  AM radio is more prone to static than FM, but it is more ideal if you are needing to find out what is happening in your city, state, or country.  If a natural disaster wipes out your town, such as Hurricane Katrina did, then the local radio stations will not be broadcasting any information.  You would need a radio that would pick up a transmission from a neighboring town or state.

A relatively new band of radio is the satellite radio.  These are becoming more popular in both cars and homes and they are a great source of information.  With satellite radios you can receive real time weather and traffic reports for anywhere in the country.  This can be extremely useful if your town is being evacuated and you need to find a way out that isn’t so crowded.  The Red Cross has even started their own station on XM radio to provide important information to the victims and workers of Hurricane Katrina.  They are able to use it to give information, make announcements, and send messages to a large amount of people at the same time.

Finally, the shortwave radios is an option, especially if you plan on using a bomb shelter.  The shortwave radio can receive transmissions from all over the world.  You could be in Montana and find out what is going on in China.  So if something were to happen to the main broadcasting stations in our country, you could still find out what is happening by listening to chatter from other countries.

Satellite radios tend to be the most expensive and you usually have to pay a monthly service charge to have access to them.  They are worth the money though, especially if you travel a lot because the reception is great anywhere you go.  Most regular radios come with both AM and FM bands, and are the least expensive.  These will work well for most cases.  If you decide to go with a shortwave radio, you can purchase one for under $50.00, and in the mean time you’ll be able to listen to different types of music from all over the world.

    My earliest memories of eating freeze dried food was from when I was 7 years old.  My parents had taken me and my siblings to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  After taking a tour of the museum we stopped off in the gift shop.  We were each allowed to pick out one small item.  When I saw the freeze dried ice cream that was the same ice cream used in space during the Apollo missions, I knew I had to try it.  I instantly fell in love.  It was a block of Neapolitan ice cream with the strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate flavors.  I broke off a bite and it slowly dissolved in my mouth, releasing the most amazing flavors.  It was like nothing I had ever had before and I couldn’t get enough.  To this day I still buy packages of freeze dried ice cream any time I find them at a museum or store.  My husband even bought me some for Christmas once.

Although Neapolitan ice cream is probably the most recognized flavor of freeze dried food, there are many varieties of food available these days.  You may have already eaten freeze dried food without even knowing it.  Some instant coffee is freeze dried, as is fruit that is sometimes included in breakfast cereals.  With freeze dried food now being used not just for missions in space, you can get freeze dried food for any meal of the day.

Some of the popular flavors for different meals are:

• scrambled eggs with ham or bacon
• granola with fruit
• bananas, cinnamon apples, peaches, pineapples, strawberries, blue berries, or raspberries
• potatoes, broccoli, rice, green beans, peas, or corn
• dice beef, diced chicken, or ground beef
• beef teriyaki
• pasta primavera
• chicken and rice
• seafood chowder
• spaghetti with meat sauce
• sweet and sour pork
• vegetable stew
• beef stroganoff
• chili mac
• mac and cheese
• blueberry cheesecake
• raspberry crumble
• and many more

As with the ice cream, some items such as the fruit can be eaten as is without preparation.  The other items couldn’t be easier to prepare.  Simply boil water, add it to the food item, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  The food tastes great and can be stored for up to 30 years.  So if you are planning a camping or hiking trip where weight of your gear is a concern, or you want to have quick and easy meals on hand, then freeze dried food is an excellent option.

We all remember exactly where we were on September 11, 2001. That terrifying, devastating day will stay with us forever. An attack on our soil, an attack on our freedom, an attack on Americans. What if it happens again? We’ve been told to prepare for “not if, but when.” Today, it is still a scary thought. Many people just want to put terror out of their minds, just not think about it and hope it goes away. I wish we could.

Today people are expressing concern over the threat of “dirty bombs.”  These weapons are not nuclear, but can still do massive damage to life and property. Dirty bombs are bombs that are made by using an explosive, combined with radioactive pellets or pieces. When the bomb ignites, the small radioactive pieces are hurdled through the surrounding area, making buildings and lands unsuitable to use for a long time. Not to mention the damage that can be done to human life. Hopefully, these types of attacks will never happen. In the chance that they do though, this information may help you be a bit more prepared for how to best handle the situation.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that nearly 70 percent of all terrorist attacks in the USA between 1980 and 2001 were bombings. This is why it is very important to always have a family plan for emergency situations. Go through the plan with your family at least once a year to keep it fresh in your minds. Make sure you have emergency contacts, places to meet up in the chance that you get separated, and 72 hour kits on hand and a portable radio in case you need to evacuate quickly.

If you are in a bombing, leave the area immediately. Avoid crowds as much as possible. If the attackers are still in the vicinity, a large crowd of people might be where they attack again. Stay away from damaged buildings that might contain broken glass or falling debris. Follow directions that are being given by people in authority: Police, Fire Rescue, or Military. Help others who are hurt if you are able to do so without endangering your life. Follow your family’s disaster plan and meet at your designated meeting area when it is safe to do so. Use your portable radio to find out more information when possible. If you are hurt, go to a hospital or clinic.

No one likes to think about the possibility of another terrorist attack. It is frightening and hard to process. The best way to prepare is to be informed. Know the dangers involved and talk with your family and loved ones about them. Make a plan in case of emergencies, terror attacks or otherwise, and it will give you some much needed peace of mind in these troubled times.

As a mom, screaming kids in the middle of the night is not the most welcomed situation! It was, indeed, the middle of the night though; A very dark and stormy night. Thankfully, my children had all been sleeping through the terrible winds that had been howling outside for the previous 2 hours. I was 8.5 months pregnant with our fifth baby, and so I wasn’t sleeping well anyway. I had been laying in bed listening to the wind kick up, wondering when it was going to get better, when instead…it got worse. All of a sudden, I heard a large “C-R-A-C-K!” Immediately, all the power went out…and that’s when the screaming kids began.

Luckily, the crack I had heard was not something that had fallen down and landed on our house, but the winds were so bad that we couldn’t even open our front door without being pummeled by flying debris, so we had to check the situation outside later. (We eventually found out that the winds were up to 88 miles per hour that night.) My children always slept with fans blowing in their rooms to drown out noises. They also had night lights in their rooms to keep the boogie man away. But as soon as that power went out…it was silent…For about 3 seconds! Then they all started crying at once. It was bad enough that they didn’t have the fans going anymore, but not having any light around was torture to them! It was pandemonium!

My husband and I tried to soothe them and huddle them all together as we shimmied our way down the hall to the kitchen to find the flashlight. Digging in the cupboard behind piles of papers, pens, loose bandaids, and my secret stash of chocolate, I finally found the flashlight. My kids would take it and play with it in their “forts” under the bunk bed, so I eventually had to hide it from them so they wouldn’t waste the batteries. When I switched it on, I realized that I had let them play with it one too many times. The batteries were dead. OH, more sobs!!! And of course, we had no extra “C” batteries lying around, so what were we to do? I went cupboard scrounging again and eventually found some matches. I grabbed my lovely decorator candles, you know, the ones that just look pretty and never actually get used, and lit them up.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the easiest night we had ever gone through as a family. Eventually, we got the kids settled down and laid with the little ones until they fell asleep again. We found out later on that we were definitely the lucky ones. Many trees had fallen during the night, some right through our neighbor’s houses! Our power came back on after a few hours. Other people had to wait for weeks!

So, let me give you some advice so you don’t have to go through a situation like mine. BE PREPAED! It doesn’t take much to have a good back up light source in case your power goes out. A flashlight is a wonderful tool; just make sure you have batteries for it that aren’t dead! Keeping the batteries out of the flashlight until you need to use it is a good idea. It helps the batteries to last longer. It’s also an excellent idea to keep a flashlight in your car. If you’ve ever tried to change a tire on the side of the road in the middle of the night, you’ll understand why! You can also purchase candles that last up to 115 hours. They are odorless and smokeless, so they are very safe to use indoors. Another excellent option is to buy some of those neon lightsticks. Kids LOVE those things, and they will last for up to 12 hours without wasting any batteries.

Don’t put off basic preparations until it’s too late. All of those options are very inexpensive and easy to acquire.  Make it a priority to get your family prepared, and you won’t end up in pandemonium like we did!

Sometimes we may have a plan for evacuating or dealing with issues like the loss of utilities.  But sometimes those plans are not feasible in an emergency situation.  A friend lost power and heat for several hours during a major snowstorm.  Her husband was trying to make it home during the inclement weather and she was at home with their 2 daughters.  While she was prepared and able to care for her children, their family emergency plan was that they would stay with family in the nearby area who still had utilities if a situation like that was to occur.

The problem was that they were unable to follow the emergency plan since roads were impassable.  So, what is the back-up plan?  They didn’t have one as most of us don’t.  Luckily, the power outage only lasted a couple of hours before the lack of heat became a real concern.  Play a “what if” game and see what kind of scenarios you can come up with.  What if a trucking strike meant grocery store shelves were empty and we didn’t know how long it would last?  What if there was a local natural disaster and grocery stores were damaged?  What if there was a power outage and gas pumps didn’t work?  What if there was a chemical spill and we had to evacuate?

By planning and discussing possible scenarios, you will be better prepared to deal with the stress and complications that can occur during a disaster situation.  By taking steps to prepare now, you can meet challenges before they arise.

After talking to several friends and neighbors, they shared what they learned from the severe winter storm we experienced that knocked out our power for several hours while the snow and wind howled ferociously.  Communication was key.  Many people only had cordless phones that were rendered useless when the power went out.  Many relied on cell phones, but dead batteries were a problem for several people.

Most of the families were women at home with their children while their husbands tried to get home from work, often spending hours in their cars to only get a few miles.  While the mothers felt safe, they worried about the safety of their husbands.  One wife spoke about how they have a kit in the family car, but they had failed to put one in the car the husband used to commute to and from work-a situation they care now rectifying.

Another lesson was the need to keep your gas tank at least half full.  Many motorists ran out of gas waiting in traffic, forced to abandon their cars on the side of the road.  The next rule applies to everyone, but is especially important for women.  Often when people ran out of gas, they were forced to walk a considerable distance to reach shelter.  Having a pair of sturdy walking shoes is essential.  It can mean the difference between teetering in high heels in several feet of snow and walking with winter boots.  Take into account the area where you live and what disasters are most likely to occur as you make plans for your personal preparedness.

We often don’t think about the challenges we will face when a disaster strikes.  We may think about the basics, but not realize what we will need specifically.  The area where I live in encountered a severe winter storm that knocked out power for several hours, right before dinner time.  While we were prepared, we realized a few things.

While we have the GE Krypton lantern and used it, we could have used a couple more.  The lantern worked great while we were all sitting at the dinner table eating, but when our kids wanted to read books and play games in different rooms, we realized what a pain it was to hold a flashlight the whole time.  I also will get a headlamp so that I can see better to do tasks like wash dishes and change a baby’s poopy diaper without trying to hold a flashlight at the same time.

Due to the conditions of the storm as well as several car accidents, it took my husband over two hours to drive the 12 miles from his office to our home.  While I knew where all the emergency supplies were and how to use them, my husband was stranded in his car.  He has a basic kit, but he has started carpooling recently and has 2 additional people in his car.  I realized that I needed to add some water, emergency blankets, and survival food bars so that if they were trapped, there would be enough for everyone.

My husband and his co-workers made a stop at our house to use the restroom before attempting to head home.  I realized that we need to be almost overly prepared, so that if we had to care for additional people that it wouldn’t be a huge drain on our resources.  By having an extra 72-hour kit, some additional water, and extra flashlights, we would be able to assist people who were caught unprepared.

Consider doing a disaster dry run.  Shut off the power, don’t use any faucets or the toilet.  By doing this for even a few hours, you may learn that you need more  entertainment items like a deck of cards and some board games or that the batteries you have for your flashlight are the wrong size.  By practicing your preparedness skills, you will discover any problems before the real things occurs.

After a bone chilling winter, I am definitely ready for a bit of warmth to hit my face! Spring brings out the flowers and green grass, but it’s really summertime that I crave. Even so, the beauty of warm summer days can still bring danger if we are not prepared. Extreme temperatures, over-exercising, or prolonged sun exposure are just a few of the risks involved in those gorgeous summer days.

In high heat and high humidity, evaporation is slower and your body has to work harder to keep a normal temperature. In a heat wave, you are exposed to prolonged periods of heat. These situations can bring on the possibility of heat-induced illness. Here are a few of those illnesses, their symptoms, and how to treat them.

Sunburn: Skin redness and tenderness, possible headache, fever, swelling and blisters. Treat a sunburn by showering in cool water to get rid of oils that might be blocking your pores. This will help your body to cool off better on its own. Apply aloe vera to the burn, if it’s available. Apply sterile bandages to any blisters, and seek medical help if necessary.

Heat Exhaustion: Heavy sweating, even if the skin might be pale or cool, weak pulse, faint or dizzy, nauseous, exhaustion, and headaches are possible. Treat heat exhaustion by getting the victim to a cool place immediately. Loosen clothing, or remove if possible. Put cold, preferably wet, cloths on the victim, but make sure the cloths stay cool. Have victim sip cool water if they aren’t unconscious, but make sure it is sipped slowly. If they are vomiting, do not give more water. Get immediate medical help if they are vomiting.

Heat Stroke: Extreme body temperature (usually over 104 degrees Fahrenheit); dry, red skin; fast, weak pulse; shallow breathing, possible unconsciousness. Heat stroke is a severe medical emergency. If you suspect that the victim has heat stroke, call 9-1-1 immediately. Move the victim to a cool area until help arrives. Remove their clothing and try sponging them with cool cloths. Make sure they continue to breathe, and use extreme caution.

Hopefully none of us will ever be in these situations, but in the possibility that we are, make sure you are prepared with information that can help save your life. Also make sure you keep a kit handy in your car, such as a basic 72-hour kit. Or at least keep a few water pouches or bottles of water in your trunk in case you get stranded on those hot summer days.

When I was a senior in high school, my family and I moved to Las Vegas….In the MIDDLE of JULY!!! Wow! Talk about hot! With temperatures ranging, on average, between 102 degrees and 117 degrees, well, let’s just say it wasn’t the most comfortable summer I’ve experienced. Not only did we move there in the worst part of the season, but we also moved there with a car that had NO air conditioning! How we survived that summer, I couldn’t tell you, but I know now how to be prepared in case I am ever in a situation of extreme heat.

Extreme heat can kill. Simple as that. We see it all the time on the news…children being left in cars “just for a minute.” There are many things you can do to prepare you and your family in case of extreme heat. Most heat disorders happen when the victim has been over-exposed to heat or has over-exercised for his or her physical ability. Older adults, younger children, and those who are sick are more likely to suffer from heat disorders.

If you live in areas of the world that are prone to extreme heat, try using these ideas to help you prepare your home.

• Install window air conditioners snugly; insulate if necessary.
• Check air-conditioning ducts for proper insulation.
• Install temporary window reflectors (for use between windows and drapes), such as aluminum foil-covered cardboard, to reflect the heat back outside.
• Weather-strip doors and sills to keep cool air in.
• Cover windows that receive morning or afternoon sun with drapes, shades, awnings, or louvers. (Outdoor awnings or louvers can reduce the heat that enters a home by up to 80 percent.)
• Keep storm windows up all year.
• Also, it’s a great idea to check up on your elderly loved ones who might be in extreme heat situations. Make sure they are taking proper precautions to stay cool and healthy.
• And always, always make sure you have water stored in your car in case you are stranded in the heat.

Knowing what to do before you get into a situation where you will need your first aid kit is very important. Your prior knowledge of the items in your kit, and your quick thinking in certain situations, will possibly prevent emergencies…and maybe even death.

The first step in basic first aid preparation is to protect yourself and your family by getting yearly check-ups by a health professional. Determine if you have any life-threatening conditions, and prepare specifically for those if possible. Reduce any risk factors that might be dangerous to your health. If you don’t prevent now, you will not be prepared later.

Keep a list of emergency phone numbers with your first aid kit. Numbers on this list should include your family doctor, fire, police, and poison control. Make sure, if you have young children, that they know how to use a phone in case of emergency, and that they know where those numbers are. Make sure that you have a list of all the medications that your family needs, or that your family may be allergic to.

Learn about the difference between a minor situation and a life-threatening one. Not every cut needs stitches, but they may. Not every stomach ache is appendicitis, but it might be. Make sure you have a reference book handy with your first aid kit that will help you recognize the signs of these situations. It is always best to be cautious, so if in doubt, always call 9-1-1 or the local hospital.

I have to admit, when I first heard about the bird flu, I thought, “Why do I need to worry about a flu that people have on the other side of the world? How could a flu like that be a problem to me and my family?” But as I started to watch more coverage on the news, I realized that, just like any other emergency, I should really be prepared for it. I started my preparation by researching the flu and learning what I could about it.

The bird flu (Avian Influenza or H5N1) became a threat to humans when it became apparent that cases of the flu were being transferred from birds to humans. (Humans can potentially become affected with the bird flu by coming in contact with infected birds.) If you are not immunized against the bird flu, it is extremely hard to survive it. Also, experts have declared that it could very easily become a pandemic. This means, if the virus were to gain the capacity to spread easily from person to person, a worldwide outbreak of disease could begin. So, how do we prepare for that possibility?

The immunization that is available to protect humans from the bird flu is not easy to get your hands on. The few companies that make it have been making it as fast as they can, but are still not able to make it fast enough for the demand that is on them. So, the best way we can prepare ourselves for this emergency is by doing some of the same things you do to protect yourself from any other contagious disease.

Rule number one, wash your hands! We all learn it in kindergarten, but it’s so important to thwarting disease. Also, make sure you take proper food safety precautions. Never eat uncooked or undercooked poultry, and always wash anything in your kitchen that comes in contact with it. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to stock up on good face masks for your family. If there indeed ever was a pandemic, you would not want to leave your home with out one! My family stocked up on “N100 Particulate Respirator” masks. They filter out nanoparticles, including viruses and bacteria. You may also want to purchase high quality nitrile gloves. A stash of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer is also good for protection.

Luckily, we haven’t had to deal with a pandemic of the bird flu, but, just like any emergency, we never know if, or when, it will strike. The best bet is to be prepared!

One of the thing we often fail to do is practice our emergency plans.  So by practicing, you can figure out what works and what doesn’t before a real emergency arises.  Gather your family together and recruit a neighbor to help.  The neighbor will knock on the door and say that you must evacuate the area in 5 minutes.  A railroad car has overturned, leaking toxic gas in the area.  Set a timer and tell everyone that they must be in the car in five minutes.

What did everyone bring?  Did you remember the 72-hour kits but forget your daughter’s allergy medicine?  Did everyone head for the kits and no one remembered to grab Fido and his pet carrier?  Did you think to call your elderly widowed neighbor and see if she needed a ride?

And what if you had to walk out?  How far can you carry your 72-hour kits?  Do a practice session and try seeing how far you can walk before they become heavy.  Can you load up a wagon or stroller and pull your drinking water?  Practice makes perfect.  By practicing your emergency plans, you will be more likely to remember them and your children will be better able to handle their stress and fear since it is a task they have preformed before.