NZ Resilient

Communications play an important role in dealing with an Event - preppers /emergency preparedness communities typically value having backups to their main services.  This post outlines a backup for making voice calls.   By default, cellphones operate via local cellphone towers for your carrier. With Wi-Fi Calling, a voice call can be made through a broadband connection.  In effect, the person is pointing the cell-phone to use a landline.  During an Event, cell-phone towers can be knocked out, so  Wi-Fi Calling  gives people another way to call for help.   To illustrate, below is a possible case-study based on some experiments I did with my own cell-phone.  Scenario 'Bob' is at the office, which has a wi-fi connection to a landline broadband service.  An Event has occurred, knocking out all local cell-phone towers but the company broadband is working. There are injuries that require an ambulance. Sequence Bob confirms The usual...

Emergency preparedness is often daunting for the new person.  Common obstacles/challenges include  Making sense of the overall topic. Figuring out what you need. The amount of work and complexity involved is far greater than your enthusiasm. This article presents a high-level map to kick-start preparedness for households. C licking on the image will magnify it. The Map This map provides a  big-picture view for someone new to preparedness .  The practical uses are Show the full spectrum of possible readiness as a single 'big picture'.  To compare your current readiness against and identify any gaps. To show where the advice/information can be applied.   Working top-down, the standard 4Rs of the Civil Defence framework are converted into a set of capabilities or steps  appropriate for any circumstances.   This map is a 'one size fits all' approach for organising anyone's thinking. As such, the reader needs to Tailor the range of risks and responses ...

I find that the more I try to be self-reliant, the more I realise just how complex our supply-chain/economy is. It's kind of humbling in a way. Todays lunch was a tuna salad sandwich and I still have to buy the majority of the ingredients.  I'm (currently) self-reliant in the lettuce, spring onion and celery.  My dependencies are a longer list:  -  Canned tuna, salt, pepper,  a lemon from the neighbor - Bread:  store-bought flour, yeast, salt, sugar   - Mayonnaise:  store-bought olive oil, egg, salt and vinegar Oh well, time to figure out how to grow canned tuna....

While updating my bug-out plan, I've 'formalised' how I would decide to evacuate.  In this post, I lay out a simple decision-making tool and the supporting information required.   Previously, I've relied upon some vague notion of 'oh look, imminent danger' or 'yeah nah she's fine'. Recent events have motivated me to be more considered. In part, this to help me cater for family now living in the same city. I've devised a simple list to make a better decision under pressure. It's  untested, but better to have done some pre-work now than starting from scratch during an actual event. I'm sharing this to help me organise my analysis, and to help others structure their own thinking if they want. The 'Stay or Go' decision is often made  Without little or no warning While facing actual or imminent danger Forgetting some of the variables, and  With missing information. Sometimes the decision is wonderfully simple, like when the the toxic s...

Household evacuation or 'bug out' plans are a recommended staple of both Emergency Management functions and the prepping community. This article shares the lessons learnt from the first drive of my bug out route in just over three years. The main lesson for me is that consistent practices or test runs are essential to ensure all knowledge, gear and supplies kept up to date.  It was a sunny day for a drive, so I decided to test my bug-out route. This test was limited to driving the route from home to a designated Finish Point about 90 minutes away, near the regional boundaries. I'll test the supplies and gear another time.   The Default Plan As part of my general disaster preparedness, I have a default 'bug out' route which was developed and last practiced some three years ago. This is based on the principles  Destination: Family outside the Auckland region. Route: Southerly, avoiding the main highways for various reasons. Supplies: Three-day kit for li...