The first 72 hours of an emergency decide how it goes. Power outages, ice storms, a tornado warning, a house fire. In most of them, help is coming, but it may not come fast.
A family that has planned for those three days is in a very different position than one that hasn't. And the planning is a perfect job to hand to a teenager.
Week 5 of Life Ready 1 walks students through it. Here's the short version, laid out as a weekend project.
Saturday morning: the communication plan
Cell networks go down or jam up during emergencies. Your family needs a plan that works without them.
- Write every important phone number on paper. Put a copy in each backpack, each car, and on the fridge.
- Pick one out-of-area contact. After a local disaster, long-distance calls and texts often get through when local ones don't. Everyone checks in with that one person.
- Pick two meeting places: one right outside the house (a neighbor's mailbox, a tree) and one outside the neighborhood in case you can't get home.
Saturday afternoon: two kits, not one
A go-bag is for leaving. A shelter-in-place kit is for staying. They're different, and most families only have half of one.
Water is the most important item. Plan on at least one gallon per person per day, for at least three days. Then add food that doesn't need cooking, a flashlight and a battery radio, spare batteries, a first aid kit, any daily medications, phone chargers, and cash in small bills.
The go-bag holds a smaller version of the same, plus copies of important documents: insurance cards, a current medication list, and IDs. When your family changes (a new baby, a new prescription, a new policy), the documents change too.
Sunday: walk the house
Have your student lead a walk-through and find the hazards your family should know about:
- Fire: where the extinguishers are and how to use one.
- Carbon monoxide and smoke: where the detectors are, and when the batteries were last changed.
- Gas: where the shutoff is.
- Electrical: where the breaker box is.
- Weather: where you go in a tornado warning.
Sunday evening: run the drill
A plan that has never been practiced is a guess. Run a drill. Time how long it takes everyone to get out, grab the go-bag, and reach the meeting place. The drill will show you what the planning missed. It always does.
Then make it a habit
Readiness is an ongoing conversation, not a one-time project. Check and rotate your supplies twice a year. The daylight saving time changes make an easy reminder: change the clocks, check the kits, test the detectors.
Life Ready 1 is a 12-week, self-paced course for homeschool students ages 12 to 18, taught by Daniel Shaw, a retired Marine, firefighter, and Advanced EMT. It's $249, carries a suggested 0.5 elective credit, and Compass Life Skills is an approved Arkansas EFA vendor. See what's covered each week.
