When Zombies Attack!Or, how to be prepared for most

anything and live well in the meantime

Some Sobering Stats The price of bread rose 17.4% from August 2010 to 2011 The price of milk rose 12.4% in the same time period 40 million people receive food assistance – 1 in 8 adults, 1 in

4 children U3 unemployment rate 9.1%, U6 unemployment rate 16.5%

(Sept 2011) Propane costs have risen by $0.39 per gallon since last year Average price of electricity up $0.12 June 2010 to 2011 EIA projects average household heating expenditures for

natural gas, propane, and heating oil will increase by 3 percent, 7 percent, and 8 percent, respectively, this winter (October 1 to March 31) compared with last winter

More Sobering Stats

American Society of Civil Engineers – founded 1852. More than 170,000 members including both private and government civil engineers.

2009 report: a big, fat, embarrassing D- in the following critical areas: Roads Drinking water Waste water“Years of delayed maintenance and lack of modernization have left Americans with an outdated and failing infrastructure that cannot meet our needs.”

So what? How does that affect me?

Well, if the zombies come, you are screwed. Really though – everything is interconnected. A system that is not resilient is vulnerable to failure at

many levels Our infrastructure, and our economy are no longer

resilient. Mother Nature is unpredictable too. The Girl and Boy Scouts motto: “Be Prepared” is an apt

one. FEMA recommends having an emergency preparedness

plan.

What do I need?

Water Food First Aid kit Bleach Important Documents A PLAN

Water One gallon per person, per day –MINIMUM Children, nursing mothers, and sick people may need

more. Here in the desert, you may consider storing more – if

there’s no electricity, you’re going to lose a lot more to evaporation.

FEMA recommends at LEAST a three day water storage supply for each person in your household.

If you know you will be without water ahead of time, store as much as you can.

Use soda bottles, juice containers, liquor bottles, or food safe plastic.

Rotate 1/3 of your bottles every month. 16 drops bleach per gallon to prevent contamination.

If you have pets, store one gallon per day for each pet.

Food

FEMA recommends a minimum of three days’ worth non-perishable food.

This should be food you can eat without cooking if necessary

Manual can opener, eating utensils Avoid salty foods – make you thirsty Rolled oats is an excellent high protein food that can be

eaten straight out of the container. 8 oz. contains 868 calories, 36 grams of protein, fiber, and minerals.

Store stuff you will actually eat!!!

First Aid Kit Nitrile or vinyl gloves Dressings, preferably sterile in a variety of sizes Soap such as hibiclens that doesn’t need to be rinsed

thoroughly and will disinfect Antibacterial ointment Eye wash solution Prescription medication. Insulin no longer needs to be

stored in the fridge but rotate frequently. Medical supplies such as glucometer, BP cuff, etc. Scissors, Tape, Tweezers Petroleum Jelly Aspirin/NSAID Antacids Kaopectate/Pepto Bismol, etc.

First Aid Continued

For Adults: Extra reading or eye glasses, Denture adhesive/supplies, Contact lenses and supplies

For Babies/Small Children: Diapers, Formula, Bottles, Powdered milk, OTC or prescription medications, wipes, diaper rash ointment

Special Storage

Propane camp stove and bottles Cell phone batteries, solar charger Copies of important account numbers and documents,

medical records, names of doctors, etc. Candles, kerosene lamps and kerosene Flashlight and extra batteries Hand crank NOAA radio HAM radio and extra batteries, solar charger Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities Alcohol hand gel

Special Storage Continued Local maps Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person First Aid book Complete change of clothing for each person – long

pants, long sleeved shirt, sturdy shoes. LAYER, LAYER, LAYER.

Bleach and medicine dropper – use only unscented non colored bleach.

Matches in waterproof container Feminine hygiene supplies Mess kits, towels, paper towels Paper and pencil Books, games, puzzles for children and adults

Sample contents

The Plan

Where will you meet if you must leave your home? How will you get in contact? Who should know the plan? Practice Keep texts/calls short

Items to consider

Alcohol: it’s good for wound and water decontamination, preservation, barter, and drinking

Bonus – it’s good for killing zombies

More items to consider

Water Filtration system such as Berkey-filters micro-organisms and impurities-can also buy filters for heavy metal filtration-used by Int’l Red Cross in disaster areas worldwide

More items to considerCoffee – Instant stores betterTeaCocoa

All are comforting in times of stress, can prevent withdrawal headaches in thoseof us who are addicted

Food for Thought Store what you know you will eat Have recipes for your storage Make your storage part of your regular stock, rotate

regularly Many organizations and groups recommend 1 month to 1

year storage Know your neighbors Get involved in your community Baby steps Preparation assists with coping – if you are prepared you

will cope better and have lower stress

Cuz you just never know what might happen….

Other thoughts…Ella had an excellent proposal…do without electricity, or at least

lights/TV/internet every night for a week. You don’t know how dependent you are on the grid until you do without it.Another thing to think about…

Voluntarily lower your standard of living. Falling out of a 4th story window hurts, a lot. Falling out of a ground floor window isn’t too bad. The same applies to your standard of living – if you are already used to getting by with less, it won’t be such a dramatic shift to have to do without if something happens.

More other thoughts…Learn to make more than just food:

You can spend time, or you can spend money.

Grandma and Grandpa spent time, and didn’t need so much money. Laundry soap:

about $.08 per load versus $.50 for ERA.Shampoo/liquid soap:

about $2 per gallon versus $2 per 8 oz bottle.Bar soap:

about $3 per 9 pounds versus $3 for 3 bars.Lotion:

about $3 per 32 oz versus $3 per 8 oz.

Conclusion

You never know when you’ll need it Planning starts now, implementation takes time Rotate your stock Practice your plan Forewarned is forearmed It’s GOOD to be warm and well fed when

the rest of the neighborhood is dark. It’s even BETTER to help your neighbors

be prepared as well.

If we planned for them they wouldn’t be emergencies

The End