We went to a great Emergency Preparedness Fair held at the Mormon Church in Beaverton, Oregon over the weekend. They had everything there that you could need to help you prepare for a natural/manmade disaster of any kind. From, how to “keep” bees, to a device that shuts off the gas to your house in the event of an earthquake, to how to “can food” and use food storage containers so that you can survive during an extended period without the aid of grocery stores and food marts.
Beaverton CERT was also on hand to give out free materials from FEMA and others that will help you know what to do (and how to do it) to begin to prepare for such an event. Unfortunately, these types of disasters are happening more frequently. From major storms to terrorist attacks, it really is in one’s best interests to prepare ahead of time, instead of waiting until after the emergency event happens.
The keynote speaker was Major Decelle, from the Army National Guard who is an emergency preparedness expert. He spoke about how to prepare for, and survive a natural disaster. Coincidentally, a lot of what he said can be found in the pages of the GO|STAY|KIT. Also, what I found interesting is that he said “a cell or smart phone only lasts about 24 hours in such an event, so you should carry some kind of emergency preparedness materials that are not dependent on batteries, cell towers, or rechargers.”
FYI: We have been going to these emergency preparedness fairs since 2009 and I have noticed that attendance at these events is increasing. Being an emergency preparedness evangelist as we all are here at the GSK, we find this fact to be good news, because you really never can be too prepared, and “some kind” of preparation, is better than doing nothing, and waiting for the inevitable emergency situation to happen, and catch you off guard.
