Dealing with Personal Disaster Plan
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Current events worldwide serve to remind us of the importance of being prepared for the worst. How prepared are you for dealing with disaster in your own life?
Being prepared can save more than just your own life. The first time I thought I might die was in a Jonathan’s restaurant in Harajuku, Tokyo, March 11th 2011. After the Great East Japan earthquake, my friend and I decided the appropriate response was to order red wine. With the train system closed, I was thankful to have chosen my bicycle that day; walkers filled the streets, reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse. Supermarkets emptied, schools closed — I realised the fragility of the systems I was relying upon and decided to make an earthquake kit. Through the Learner Development Special Interest Group, I connected with Kesen Junior High School in Rikuzentakata in Tohoku — one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami. Despite being zero meters above sea level, no students from Kesen died that day. Why? Because they were well-trained and prepared.
Obvious, yes — but do you have a personal disaster plan in place? Medical emergency in the family? A super storm approaching? Whatever out-of-the-ordinary event or scenario, you can be sure that a) you probably cannot predict when it will happen b) your priorities will be tested and c) it is coming. Public institutions — schools, the government, hospitals — and many businesses are legally obliged to have an emergency management plan. So it only seems sensible to create and share a simple dealing with personal disaster plan with my closest loved ones so that when the shit hits the fan, we know how to look for the off switch and what to expect next. It is especially important for those living alone or away from ‘home’. Any attempts at being prepared may significantly improve you and your loved ones’ ability to function in high stress states.
Back up your back up
Vital in dealing with disasters is communication — who are your trusted three or more? Because I live alone and away from family, I identify three people locally who I trust to be my communication points if I am smashed out of action. When one happens to be out of town, the other doesn’t answer their phone, I hope my trusted third is still around. I also have my trusted three back home among the family. Who are your emergency contacts? Are they aware of their role? Do they have everything they need? Twice a year I send a group email to my trusted threes so that they all have each other’s contact information. I include their name, relationship to me, their contact details and brief description of their communication methods. For example, mum: landline, email (but might not check daily); sister cellphone, Whatsapp, Facebook messenger, email. I think including a subject like Emergency Contacts is sufficient for my trusted three to be able to find the email when the time comes — I don’t imagine they have many emails with keyword “emergency” but safest is to ask them all to save and test out the contact details. Remember, phone or internet communications may be lost or limited in emergencies. What’s the no phone plan?
How to get money and what money gets
Money will help in some but not all situations. How much money do you have in your emergency funds? Where do you keep it? In Japan I kept one 10,000 yen note folded behind my credit cards to cover a basic daily emergency, like an unexpected taxi ride or helping out a friend. Now I have a financial safety net which I could live off for at least a year if I have to stop working today. Transferwise allows me to transfer funds internationally but I still need to check how I can get dollars from my Bank of Guam account here in Pohnpei to non-USD locations. But there are plenty of situations when money is useless — money can’t buy anything from empty stores nor relieve you from grief.
Shit Scenarios
Consider your location, the likelihood of different shit scenarios happening and how you will deal with them: update when you move. Breaking a limb, needing surgery, crazy tropical disease — medical emergencies are the inevitable shit you and your loved ones will experience. Where exactly will you go? Do you know the way? How will you travel there? I was shocked how difficult it was to find an hospital in Tokyo open on a Sunday. Now in Pohnpei, the hospital is just down the road but if I need surgery, I will be referred to a hospital in the Philippines (name and address to be confirmed). Though extreme weather, storms, or natural disasters vary depending on your location, their intensity and frequency is increasing with climate change. How many day’s drinking water and food supply do you have at home? Why not make a family/friends-let’s-survive play day, reviewing shit scenarios, what’s the plan, what’s in the emergency kit and how to use it. You can do a whole simulation if you like. Put a reminder in the calendar to make sure the food is in date, things still work, and that the plan still makes sense.
Below are some of my reflections and questions on different shit scenarios with the most likely for me listed first.
· Being spat on with betel nut juice
Eeeeuuuughghhhh!! YUK YUK YUK! This shit STAINS! Most likely I’m on my bicycle and someone spits their red gob out the car window. Try to engage the spitter in conversation.
Me: “Hey!” I heard in Micronesian culture it’s good luck to be spat on with betel nut juice. Is that true?”
Spitter response a) “Yeah!!”
Spitter response b) [confused stunned no response]
Me: “So how about you donate me $3 to try to get this stain out of my clothes at the laundry?”
· Someone is hospitalised
Depends on what they are hospitalised for and who it is. For me; I rely on my trusted threes to connect with each other for updates. For others, Mum is priority one — broken leg — unlikely I’ll go. Surgery I will go. What if it is planned, scheduled? Depends what it is — this relies on me having a fairly close understanding of mum’s health condition, so as not to be surprised. What if she slips, falls and hurts her hip? This kind of thing might have longer term effects on my lifestyle choice. I could take a few months off to work remotely or live off my emergency fund. After that I would have to make a decision about what next.
Question: Which work tasks — if any — could be done remotely? Which mission critical tasks would I need to delegate? Are people around me enough trained to make that work?
· Natural disasters
Depending on type (storm, earthquake, flood) immediate danger time ranges from “what-the-hell? RIGHT NOW” to “get ready for a few days of hell”. Always ensure a sufficient amount of drinking water is in the home with food supplies — try to make them simple, nutritious and preferably no prep. Let trusted folks know of the situation as soon as possible — either before and/or after. Be with other people. As soon as possible, contact all trusted folks to let them know I’m safe. Phones and internet may go down. Since my mum’s birthday card took two months to arrive, I can realistically hope the internet to be back faster than the postal system. Besides phones and internet, my only communication out relies on airplanes running or hard-core training of carrier pigeon to fly 13,104km from Pohnpei, FSM to Ipswich, UK.
· War
Depends on who versus who?! My friend already thinks we are in world war III. The UK consular services no longer keep lists of their citizens overseas so all I can do is sign up to their travel advice in the region and automatically forward any advice from them to family? Precautionary measure in place.
· Death
My death: I suppose I should write a will. As for my body, not really sure what to do with that… lob it in the sea though it wouldn’t be very nice for that to wash up on someone’s shore. How / did they used to do sea burials here? Maybe I should prepare a “Looks like I’m dead” box or YouTube video “Thanks for the ride — it was a blast while it lasted”. How does it work for donating body parts? I don’t think they have capacity here. Do body part donation permissions work internationally?
Someone else’s death: Go immediately. Take birth certificate folder which includes precious things pouch. DO YOUR BEST TO MAINTAIN HEALTHY HABITS — TRY TO SLEEP!!!! TRY TO EAT SOMETHING!!!! MEDITATE!!!! DANCE!!! SWIM!!! Try to stay calm in support of others and remember YOU ARE HUMAN!!! The most difficult time to continue these habits is when they are most important. Use as much compassionate leave as I can. Then sick leave. Then annual leave. Then leave without pay. After 3 months, make the decision. Book a fucking holiday, take a long, long break — take as much time as you need.
Ultimately what will get you through disaster is you, the strength of your connections and luck. Elevate your baselines — are you strong enough today to be able to recover from a set back tomorrow? If you don’t find time to be healthy you will certainly find time to be sick. If you tend towards a solitary lifestyle, make sure that your few connections are strong enough to help you walk on through tough times. Try your best and then try to improve upon that. Although a trained marine person would probably laugh at the inadequacy of my dealing with personal disaster plan, I am a little more prepared than I was a few years ago, and really, you are the only person you should be comparing yourself against. Focus on what is in your control. Do your best. Become a better you.
If you enjoyed reading, you can show your appreciation by clapping up to 50 times on the hands below or sharing with people who might be interested. I always love receiving feedback (good or bad), comments, questions, and suggestions.
