[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: The natural state. This is public facing the podcast with joe holman.
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Thank you for that. So glad that you're here today, my favorite listener.
Ready or not, we're going to talk about emergency preparedness and talk about some things that actually work.
Now, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of preparation.
And let's be honest, most of us, well, we're somewhere between I've got a flashlight and I think there's a granola bar in my glove compartment from 2019.
Now, seriously, emergencies, they don't send calendar invites, they don't text you, hey, run a little late?
No, they show up fast, loud, uninvited.
Power outages, severe weather, medical emergencies, fires, flooding.
And when those hit, you don't get time to figure it out, you get time to react.
So the real question is, are you ready or are you hoping nothing happens?
Because hope, well, that's not a strategy.
So today we're, we're going to break it all down.
Real life, practical emergency preparedness.
Not the extreme bunker stuff.
No, we're, we're not the even the buy 400 cans of beans and disappear stuff.
We're talking about protecting your family, supporting elderly loved ones, preparing our kids without scarring them, navigating through disabilities and medical needs, and taking care of your pets. Can't forget them.
And finally, we're gonna step up for our community, right?
Because being prepared, that's not fear.
That's leadership from the natural state. This is public Facing the podcast. I'm Joe Holman and today we get ready for real.
So lay a foundation here. Let's be prepared, not paranoid. Let's set the tone right now.
Emergency preparedness is not about living scared.
It's about living ready.
And there's a difference.
Now prepared people sleep better. Why is that?
Because they've already answered the what if.
So let's start simple.
Look at the core rule.
This is a good rule to live by.
You notice this anytime you've gotten on a plane and the flight attendants are going through their safety speech.
The core rule is take care of you and your household first.
Then, and only then, you can help others.
Because if you become the emergency when you're not really helping anybody.
Now, the baseline kit. This, we're not going to overthink this. It's, it's straight.
Because you don't need a doomsday bunker.
What you need is water, 1 gallon per person per day for a 3 day minimum, non perishable food, flashlights and batteries in working order.
First aid Kits, phone chargers, power banks, medications, copies of your important documents and cash. Yeah, cash still matters.
So let me say this clearly.
If your emergency plan is. My phone is charged.
Well, my friend, we need to talk.
Your mental health preparations, they matter too.
People freeze in emergencies not because they're weak, but because they're unfamiliar.
I mean, walk through these scenarios with me.
What if the power goes out tonight?
Or what if we have only five minutes to leave?
What if you can't reach someone?
Let me ask you something.
If the lights go out tonight, are you ready or are you grabbing your phone at 12% and hoping for the best?
That's why I recommend ready safe kits, pre built emergency kits with everything you actually need. Water, food, first aid, the works. No guesswork, no panic shopping.
Get ready before you need to be ready. Check them
[email protected] and as we, we also have to look at our elderly and our mature adults, those that are either within our family or maybe you've got a, an elderly neighbor that maybe isn't prepared on their end. You could help them with their plan and you could help them.
Well, we'll get into more of that here in a second, but I want to talk about that group that often gets overlooked and that's our parents, our grandparents and older neighbors. They may not say it, but emergencies hit them harder because they have key risks like limited mobility, chronic conditions, medication dependence, hearing or vision challenges.
So what can we do?
Well, medication planning.
Obtain a minimum seven day supply of your medications.
Sometimes you can get certain ones through your primary care or your specialist, whatever, but also to be able to.
Now I don't recommend this, okay, so I'm not giving you medical advice, but I did want to say that I have heard some people use this plan and that it has been successful and that is that with them obtaining a seven day supply of their medicines, oftentimes that means that you're going to squirrel away a single dose over time and, and you would be able to attain that magic minimum seven day supply in that regards.
Now also it's a good idea to have a written list of medications and their dosages and when it comes to mobility readiness, can they evacuate quickly?
Do they need assistive devices and do they have those ready to go?
Some of these folks are potentially going to be transportation deficient. In other words, they don't have their own mode of transportation. They're going to have to rely on somebody else to get them from where they are to where they need to be.
And the communication plan, do they know who to call and can they use the phone easily.
And plan with them.
And here's a reality check.
Don't assume they'll be fine.
Check on them, plan with them, practice with them. Because in an emergency, confusion is the real danger.
Now the power goes out and suddenly your whole house turns into a guessing game.
Fridge done. WI fi gone.
Phone hanging on for dear life.
That's where gridguard Backup power comes in.
Reliable, easy to use home backup systems that keep your essentials running when everything else shuts down because we'll figure it out is not a plan.
Stay powered, stay prepared.
Visit gridguard power.com.
As we continue.
Want to discuss how we prepare our children and how we do that without scare tactics?
Because kids don't need fear, they need confidence.
And there's really a trick to it.
Make it a game instead of this is what happens when things go wrong.
Flip that coin.
Take this approach.
Let's practice being emergency superheroes.
Teach them how to call 911.
Make sure they know their full name and address and where to go if they get separated and who is considered a safe adult.
A kid friendly go bag might consist of snacks, water, a comfort item like a stuffed animal. Even that counts, right?
A flashlight in good working order with batteries and a small activity may maybe a puzzle or a book, something to that effect.
And listen, if your child's emergency plan is find mom and panic, we're going to upgrade that today.
If you or someone you love depends on medication, listen up. This matters.
Meditrack plus helps you organize, track and manage prescriptions so in an emergency nothing gets missed because guessing dosages under stress, that's not where you want to be.
Stay consistent, stay Safe. Check out meditrackplus.com and take control before things get hectic.
Public Facing the Podcast.
When it comes to persons with special needs, disabilities and health conditions, See this is where preparedness becomes personalized.
There's no one size fits all plan here.
Consider persons with medical devices, oxygen.
Perhaps somebody at home has home suction. Or maybe they have a home dialysis machine.
There's a lot of possibilities there. And mobility equipment, of course, making sure that they have access to that and those are in working order.
And also sensory sensitivities.
This is where perhaps somebody has access to a hearing aid. Or those that are visually impaired also may require something that's been made specific for that medical situation and communication challenges.
And I mean by that, if someone is, let's say they are deaf, maybe they're unable to speak and their Method of communicating is through the TTY operator.
Well, the power's down.
Phone lines are down too.
How do they communicate in this type of a situation?
And going over routine dependency.
You see, we have to build the plan around the individual and not the other way around.
Backup power.
If equipment needs electricity, have a plan period.
Do you have a generator, something like that?
Written care instructions. If someone else needs to step in or you're in a position where you have to hand that person off to someone else, make sure that they have all the information they need on how to care for that individual. Whether that's a family member or whether that's a neighbor or a perfect stranger for that matter.
And familiarity.
Practice routines keep environments as predictable as possible.
Preparedness here is about dignity.
It's about making sure everyone is safe, not just the easiest people to plan for.
And quick question, if you were separated from your family right now, would everyone know what to do?
It's the real time, location sharing, emergency alerts and one touch check ins.
It's like having a safety plan in your pocket.
Peace of mind. That's powerful because staying connected is everything.
Download Safe Circle today available in the App Store and the Google Play store.
Now we can't forget our pets, so let's settle this right now.
Our pets are not a figure it out later component to your plan.
They are part of your plan.
If you need to make an emergency kit for your pet, make sure that that emergency kit includes food and water.
A leash and or well a carrier as well would be preferable.
Vaccination records, their ID tags and any medications that they use.
And please, please don't say well they'll just follow me.
Yes, you're right. They will just follow you.
Your dog will follow you right into chaos.
Please do the right thing.
Plan for them.
We talked about it. Your pets are family so why are they always the last part of the plan?
Petready Packs makes it simple.
Grab and go kits with food, supplies and essentials for your four legged crew.
Because let's be honest, your dog is not packing their own emergency bag.
Take care of them like they take care of you. Visit petreadypacks.com so on the community we go from being prepared to being powerful.
And you see this is where you become a emergency superhero.
Because we're going to expand this. Once your household is solid now you can help others.
There's several ways to step up.
Check in on your neighbors, volunteer with a local emergency group, donate supplies, share information responsibly.
But remember you are not useful if you are unprepared, prepared individuals build strong communities. Unprepared individuals create more emergencies.
Here's a quick hit I want to just toss out there the the five Step Readiness Framework.
These are just straightforward.
I feel like this covers a bit of every aspect.
You certainly can build on it, but let this be the framework.
So let's simplify everything.
Know your risks, make a plan, build a kit and practice that plan.
And finally help others after you're ready.
That's it. That's all there is. There's no fluff, there's no overwhelm.
And if you want to take preparedness to the next level, then check out Ready Community Training as it offers simple practical courses on first aid, emergency response and disaster readiness. There's no fluff, no overwhelm, just real skills that you can use when it counts.
Because being the calm one in the room, that's a skill.
Get trained, get confident and head to readycommunity.org so as we, we've been through a lot today.
Let's see what we have to, you know, make a strong finish.
Because here's the truth.
Preparedness.
Preparedness isn't about the worst case scenario.
It's about showing up, being ready for whatever comes.
It's about protecting your people.
It's about standing steady when things get shaky and being the person others can count on.
Because when something happens, and something will happen, you won't be asking, what do I do?
Because you already know.
Folks, I've enjoyed our time together. I'd like to encourage you to check out also the
[email protected] that is where you can get more information on emergency preparedness, making a plan. And there's also resources there that you can download and where you can actually, you know, put that plan down on, down on paper or whatever and be able to share that with your, with your family, with your folks.
So folks, take care of yourself, take care of your people, then go and take care of your community from the natural state. This is Public Facing the podcast and I'm Joe Holman.
Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Thanks for listening to Public Facing the podcast with Joe Holman. Visit us online atpublic facing pod.stream and on
[email protected] public facing pod.
