Date Added: March 08, 2017 05:25:55 PM

In today’s environment, there are many events, both natural and man-made, that are possible. We all must become aware of these events and begin now to prepare our family for them. We have time now to prepare, but unfortunately, we may not have time after the event occurs. This article will briefly identify some the events that may happen and how to prepare for them.

• Totally unexpected events such as families or groups becoming lost on hiking trips or other outings. 
• Being trapped inside a stranded or disabled car away from well-traveled areas where assistance is unavailable.
• Storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, tornadoes, or other unexpected disasters.
• Economic collapse either domestic or foreign.
• Hostile invasion by another nation or sources closer to home.
• Complete loss of our electrical grid and therefore loss of everything including the use of all or some of our electrical and communications equipment. What would our families do if they were unable to communicate with other members of the family or even emergency services? Today we take this for granted.
• Other disasters, life-changing disasters can happen at any time.

These events can last for a short period of time or for days, weeks or even months. Life as we know it could drastically be changed and could become a serious survival event for us and our families. Plan ahead, begin preparing today, is one of the most important things that families can do. Where do we begin?

First, prepare by admitting to ourselves and our families that events can happen and that the need to prepare must become a priority. Today time is on our side, in an emergency event resources may become nonexistent in a matter of hours. For example, groceries shelves could become bare in a very short time, gasoline or other fuels could run out and what about drinking water, food, and medical supplies?

Next, begin educating ourselves as to what are the minimum survival tools, survival skills, food, medical supplies and other necessities that we will need to stay alive and exist. There are countless educational books, survival courses and articles available to help us plan for what supplies and skills we will need to have a better chance of survival. The internet is a good source to begin our search, but remember if the grid is lost so is the internet. We must be prepared and have on hand printed reference guides to help us survive.

Having disaster survival gear where we can access it in a hurry can be the difference between surviving and becoming a victim of the disaster. We must not let the list of necessary gear overwhelm us, instead, we need to develop a family plan and begin to purchase the most basic of these items. We must begin somewhere, for most of us it will take time. Time is important as we cannot know when an event will happen. Prepare to survive at school, office, home or in our car in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. In any of these situations, we must start now to be prepared.

Each family member must know their own responsibility in case of an emergency and be comfortable with it, this helps to prevent panic, Develop a plan and most of all practice on what each family member will do in an emergency. Schedule regular drills to practice so that everyone is prepared.

In some emergency events we may have to suddenly abandon our homes, do we know where we will go? Should we have a plan? Knowledge is power and there are times when we will need to rely mostly on ourselves. Wilderness survival could be the only way to get by. When in the wilderness our survival skills and abilities will be tested as many of us have never been far away from all the conveniences that we enjoy. Many of the early settlers survived in the wilderness and so can we if we prepare. 

In summary, these are the steps to begin this important task:

• Admit there is a need
• Educate ourselves and our families
• Develop a comprehensive plan
• Begin to assemble the items needed to survive remembering that today, time is on our side
• Practice and drill

Bob Laurel has always advocated for people to prepare their family for an emergency event. He helps run a website where they sell survival gear. You can browse their site today at http://www.YourSurvivalPro.com