September is National Preparedness Month!

You already know that. Every month is preparedness month as far as we’re concerned. You might not need a special month to think about self reliance and preparedness, and you already keep your preps well in mind. You probably don’t need a federal site telling you about a 72 Hour Kit. However, consider this..

An Opportunity to Educate

Even if you are an expert and well beyond Preparedness Month for yourself and your immediate family, this does bring about an excellent opportunity. While one of the rules to prepping is not to tell everyone about your prepping, maybe we should think about using National Preparedness Month as a golden opportunity to help educate our friends and neighbors.

National Preparedness Month can open the door to a conversation about basic preparedness for those that might rather keep their eyes closed. And with plenty of resources pointing to the basics, the barrier of entry is low. It isn’t as overwhelming. It’s easier to take the first steps to preparedness and self reliance. It’s easier to encourage.

Try bringing up National Preparedness Month in conversation, and gauge just how ready the people around you are.

The 72 Hour Kit

At the very least, everyone should have a 72 hour kit with the basics, but how many of your friends or extended family do not? Consider taking some time out to help them construct a basic kit from what they have around the house and what they can find at a dollar store. Make sure they have a basic first aid kit in the house, it is filled, and they actually know itcontains what they may need.

The Red Cross site’s 72-Hour Kit might be a little less imposing than Prepper Website, and newcomers are less likely to suffer from information overload.

Emergency Planning

If you’re experienced in these things, you might be doubtful about information supplied by Ready.gov. But their emergency planning documents have plenty of solid info for beginners on preparing your family before an emergency happens.

The site has plenty of printable checklists and documents with step-by-step instructions on coming up with plans for babies and children, seniors, and even pets. It also contains information on what to do in an evacuation. (How many of  you know at least one family member that’s going to try to drive through that running water? I’ll bet you know exactly who that is, too!)

Weather Preparedness

We live in the Great Lakes area and winter is coming. Yes, it’s still warm out, but you can already feel the difference at night. Whether or not we get a ton of snow this year, we usually go through at least a few weeks of icy weather, and that’s when the power is most likely to go out. And that’s also when we get hit with some messy flooding.

Remind your friends or neighbors about that time they were out trying to find a generator while everyone was mobbing the stores, or when they were bailing water out of their basements. Gently remind them that things will be far less stressful and much more comfortable if they have plans in place before the weather turns.

To repeat, this is all common sense that most of us already know. But with an official National Preparedness Month, we have an excellent window of opportunity to talk and educate – without getting in too deep and overwhelming anyone!

Finally, if you think they’re up to it, invite along a friend or family member to the Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo on October 8!