Health & Fitness
WHO YA GONNA CALL?
Claudia Svoboda is one of the Sunset Hills Ward IV aldermen, writing to encourage a culture of preparedness, neighbor-to-neighbor.
When my mom and I lived through the spring 1973 tornado in Concord Village, the help we immediately got came from my then-boyfriend, Mike, who is now my husband. He had the day off from work and came right over. My parents and I had only lived here a year at that time, and were just getting to know our neighbors.
Who do you have to count on in emergencies?
If it is a neighbor, that is fantastic, and a tribute to our community. On this past tornado-blasted New Year's Eve, I first called my next door neighbors' housesitter, a sister of one of them, who is a physician. Since neither of our homes had suffered damage, she accompanied me to check on people in my ward and others in the city after the storm.
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If you count on nearby family members, long-time friends, fellow church members or others that you know socially or through community organizations, have you actually ever had to lean on any of them in an emergency? Who is the keeper of a survival plan in your network of contacts?
Think hard. For example, the last time your power went out and stayed out for days, who besides Ameren did you call? What went through your mind as a worst case scenario, especially if the power went out due to something like our New Year's tornado and your house was damaged and became unsafe? Did you resolve to plan ahead in case there was a "next time" ?
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If so, how is that resolution going?
I started with the basics on getting prepared: stocking up on water and food that tastes good right out of a can. We humans have to have water within 4 days or we become dangerously dehydrated. If you saw my article last week, "We Need to 'Encourage a Culture of Preparedness,' then you read that to be ready to be self-sufficient in case of large scale emergencies, you need to prepare to wait 3 or 4 days before outside help can make it into your area. So start small in your quest to be prepared. Start by fulfilling the basic needs of water and food. Ask your neighbors or any others you count on if they have a plan or preparations in place.