How To Get Started Preparing for Disasters

I saw a question about this on Quora and it got me thinking, because there’s so much information out there and it can be overwhelming. Where to start? What’s the first step? Especially for someone starting cold.

Here’s what I’ve come up:

The first thing everyone should do is make sure they have
the four basics we all need, regardless of where we live. You can get them for
under $60 total:

2 cases of water per person

Basic first aid kit

Emergency Radio

Survival Manual

Four Key Survival Items for $60 you must have from Bob Mayer

Then download free survival apps for your phone such as
American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and Choking and others as applicable.

FREE Survival, Emergency and First Aid Apps from Bob Mayer

Then conduct an Area Study. This is looking at yourself,
those around you and your locale for assets and possible threats. This will
determine how you prepare further, for your specific situation as we are all
different. Here is a brief summary how to do this:

The Area Study– the first step in preparation from Bob Mayer

Once you have the Area Study done, you can prepare your home,
your work/school, your car, etcetera. You can coordinate with family members
and friends about what to do in disasters, such as a initial rally point and
emergency rally point.

You can also then prepare your grab-n-go bag. You can also
simply get a pre-packaged grab-n-go bag. It contains basics, including the
first aid and emergency radio needed. I bought one for my son to put in the
trunk of his car.

Grab-N-Go Bag Essentials You Must Have from Bob Mayer

I think this is a good start. I go into more details in The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. The first half is all of the above explained, with links, and then the second half is a manual for survival and beyond, including scavenging.

Another good book I recommend to complement it is the SAS Survival Handbook. It’s more detailed in terms of long-term survival as far as plants, animals, etc.

Let me know if you find this useful or have suggestions.