This is a fundamentals book, a guide for making preparedness a way of life, not a survival manual for when society collapses. It summarizes, organizes, and focuses the important principles of each topic in a balanced, common-sense way. Written by a newspaper columnist, every chapter has appeared and has been well received as feature articles in various mountain-west newspapers. The first section, Emergency Preparedness Skills, includes basic topics that are applicable to all emergencies: creating a family emergency plan, ten key principles of 72-hour kits, evacuation planning, first aid, emergency water storage, and long-term food storage. The second section, Responding to Emergencies, covers the potential emergencies around us: house fires, earthquakes, hazardous materials accidents, winter weather challenges, handling summer heat problems, coping with power outages, preparing for high winds, tornadoes and hurricanes, floods, Y2K and technological emergencies, social unrest, and financial emergencies. The third section, Emergency Preparedness as a Way of Life, is about making emergency readiness a low-key but regular part of everyday living, with over a hundred miscellaneous suggestions on medical and first aid situation, clothing, food preparation and cleanup, personal hygiene, survival, and miscellaneous items such as emergency preparedness gift ideas. A final chapter presents four profound principles for on-going emergency readiness. This book is filled with dozens of tips that inspire action. It's level-headed thinking, with valuable new insights that families and communities can use to real advantage to dilute the danger and suffering of the potential emergencies that face us all.

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