This Independence Day, vow to become as self-reliant as our Founders. As a teacher and student of human behavior, I know we seldom have a disaster plan.
Here’s why. 95% of the world’s humans have a disorder called “NORMALCY BIAS?” As a doctor, let me ask you a few questions and we’ll see if you have it and then I will tell you what it is and what to do about it.
You come home and find out your electricity has been turned off. How many times do you flick the light switch? Three? Four? You go out and get into your car and the engine is dead. How many times do you turn the key? Twice? Three times? This unthinking behavior is called “NORMALCY BIAS.”
It is caused by a lifetime of programming. We expect certain things according to the way we have lived our lives. If we have always worked, we can’t imagine being without a job. If we’ve lived in the lap of luxury our whole lives, we can’t conceive of hard work. We talk about the “Big One” but our perception depends on where you live. In California is the BIG earthquake. Mid-West it would be a tornado of huge proportions. In the Gulf States it is a hurricane. But in our minds we don’t really believe it will ever affect us, not to the point of total destruction.
There has always been talk about End Times and the “end of the world.” I remember when I was in grade school the end was coming within the year. We have all talked about it, but we don’t really believe it will be in our life time.
We can’t imagine the end of our country either. Each one of us has lived a life with the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA as the strongest, the richest, most powerful country in the world. The US dollar was accepted everywhere in the world. Today that just isn’t so and yet we don’t want to believe it. We have heard rumors that our economy will fail but we didn’t worry about it because the world’s currency has always been measured by the U.S. dollar. Not today.
We can’t imagine riots in the streets and are told we should have emergency supplies on hand but how many of you do? Not very many I’ll wager. We are too busy, the budget doesn’t allow for extras, and deep down, we don’t believe we will need a survival kit. That is NORMALCY BIAS.
That was the case in Greece and France and many other counties. Is “the end” coming? I don’t know but I do know this, there is a time of turmoil coming. Chaos will be the rule of the land and if you are not ready you will not survive well, if at all. If (when) our monetary system fails, the result will be the turbulence that pushes us over the lip of civility in this country. “But what do I do?” you ask. Nothing, it is out of our hands. This has been in the making for years and we just closed our eyes; lived, spent and partied to the very edge of our being. But now we must face The Big One as very likely and take steps to survive a shift in our reality, to make life safer and a little more tolerable for your family and your animals.
Your Family and Pets Survival Plan
First of all, if you live in a city, make sure you have picked a place to go where you will be safer. The less people the better. Plan to spend about six months there. It will take that long for basic civility to return. If you don’t believe me just pay attention to the news tonight and see all of the robberies, murder and mayhem and most of all, the riots in other countries which are occurring right NOW! Imagine what it would be like if there was no money, no food, no gasoline and no medicine. It wouldn’t matter if you had those things or not you would be challenged for what they believe you might have. Forget about doctors. They will be in the same situation as you are and the hospitals will have been robbed first.
So first: Find the safest place you can get to without a long travel. Then assemble medical supplies for your survival kit. If you are on prescription medication, stockpile it. Each shopping trip, begin to assemble the following: large first aid kit and along with that, lots of cotton balls, Q-tips, Bandages, Neosporin, many tubes! It will become your best friend. In the not very distant past, many people died from common infections that are unheard of now. So add Rubbing Alcohol, Hydrogen peroxide. Many bottles. Aspirin AND Tylenol, Tooth brushes, not electric. Sun screen. Lots of it. If nothing bad happens, you will use it all over time.
Now a word about your car. NEVER let it get below half a tank. There will be little warning and other people will be lined up for gas. Half a tank will take you out of the city. Keep a 5 gallon gas can full, alternating it in your car to keep it fresh. Once you run out of gas, chances are you won’t be able to get more but DO NOT get rid of your car. It can serve many purposes.
Your car can be locked and it is a place to sleep out of the elements. When it is cold outside even a little sun will warm the inside of the car AND in hot weather it can serve to dehydrate food, allowing you to keep certain foods longer. This could be important to your survival. Keep at least a partial survival kit such as blankets, bandages and batteries in the car at all times.
Stock up on water. It takes about 3 gallons per day per person and if you have pets even more. That isn’t counting bathing (which will be a luxury) but it will be enough for brushing your teeth. Buy or store it in glass bottles so that the poisons in the plastic won’t leech into your water.
Take towels and a tip from the homeless when it comes to clothing. We may have to layer our clothes. You will need clothes appropriate for weather year-round because the chaos could go on for six months or more. Make sure you have at least a dozen pair of socks and underwear. You won’t have the luxury of washing and you will have to wear your clothes for many successive days. Sun airing can’t remove spots but it will get rid of the body odor.
For your clothing list: 12 or more pair of socks and underwear. Tennis or athletic shoes plus boots for hiking. Hat to protect your head. Heavy rain proof jacket and a second heavy coat if you live in cold country. The warmest (light weight) blankets you have plus at least one thermal and one “space blanket” in your survival kit.
Disaster Survival Notes
For Your Family Pets
Now for our pets. Most can not survive without you. The wild has been bred out of them and they will slowly starve and die alone. You have to make plans for their survival too. That means veterinary medicines including antibiotics so be sure you stock pile starting now.
You know how much your pets eat so plan on a six months supply. Dry foods are best as they are light weight and compact compared to canned food. No matter how spoiled your pets may be, dry food is preferable to starving!
Water could be a serious problem so make sure you have notes on clean natural water sources along your route and where you will be staying. Take extra “pet containers” to collect water from ponds or streams so that you can save the bottled water for your family.
Pack extra collars, leashes, or harnesses in your pet’s survival kit. And speaking of harnesses, if you have medium to large dogs, purchase canine back backs! They may need to literally “carry their weight” if you wind up walking. Don’t worry about beds for them remember this isn’t a vacation, this is survival. Depending on the breed you may need to take the dog sweater or booties.
We will talk about human food and the best deals in the next issue. This is a lot to absorb and if your basic reaction is “she’s nuts” be sure to read part two because avoiding panic, I will share things with you to convince you to take precautionary steps now.
Remember, just because the talking heads on the TV don’t tell you these things doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen. NORMALCY BIAS affects them too. Plus they can only read what is on the script and our leaders will avoid mass panic as long as possible. I am trying to do the same thing but there are things like Cheyenne Mountain and Denver airport I must share with you in order to make sure you take this seriously.
It is time to get our heads out of the sand and see what is going on. Our government can’t help us. They will be to busy trying to save themselves. We will be on our own.
Stay tuned for the 2nd
installment. Vital, sensible information for all
animal owners.
Good luck and God speed. Re-write your survival kit shopping list NOW.
http://www.thedogplace.org/Family-Dog/Disaster-Survival_Lee-11.asp
