I have a confession to make-- I don't watch a lot of TV. I just like to read. When Jericho came along it captured my attention like few programs have. Oh, I do love " Brothers and Sisters" but I'm sort of afraid to keep watching in case it gets cancelled. Anyway, when I watch TV I mainly watch for the entertainment. What I mean is that I take it at face value.
However, I was talking with some folks recently about blog topics and someone asked why didn't I write about how Jericho has raised awareness of the need for disaster preparations. I had to think about that for an hour. I started surfing around and reading various articles, posts, and message boards and was surprised to find how many people are interested in the subject. Which came first? The interest or Jericho?
Since I live near TVA I've always been aware of the possibilities of a disaster. I just never thought much about it. Imagine my surprise when I was able to post a message about Jericho on an Avian Flu board. Yes, lots of fans there. All this led me to thinking about survival skills in case of a disaster. I thought about Jericho and the lack of water, food, medicine, transportation, shelter, ventilation. What about heating and cooling, medicines, sanitation, communications? Guess I'd put Rich at Copywrite Ink in charge of all communicating.
I was thinking about all this and wondering how many people actually have the skills that would be needed to survive. I happened upon a very interesting post at JerichoRallyPoint just in the nick of time. Someone posted about SCA- the Society for Creative Anachronism. http://www.sca.org/
The SCA is a historical re-enacting group that recreates the Middle Ages. They are non-profit and educational.
I won't go into all the details here since they're on the website but I find this group fascinating. If anybody could survive a disaster it's these folks. Some of them forge their own steel weapons while others make candles or learn how to preserve food. Think about it. Could you make a fire without matches or a lighter? Could you kill, clean, & cook wild game? How about purifying water or preserving food without refrigeration?
Now I'm looking at Jericho in a different way. I try to imagine no heating or cooling system, no TV or computer, no microwave. That's depressing. So, I think I'm going to brush up on a few survival skills just in case.If worse comes to worse I suppose I'll make my way to Kansas. Skeet, leave a candle burning.
More info:
http://www.oism.org/nwss/
http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm
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8 comments:
How thoughtful and ironic of you, JS. Sometimes I work on the National Emergency Number Association's Next Generation 9-1-1 program, which will one day allow 9-1-1 services to be contacted “anytime, anywhere, from any device,” a defining tag line I came up with a few years ago.
What NG 9-1-1 means for you and me on a daily basis is the ability to contact 9-1-1 from any device and always get the closest 9-1-1 dispatch. There are many challenges, but I have faith that NENA will be able to work it out. In a disaster, it means towns like Jericho will be less likely to be cut off from the outside world because of system redundancy (among other things).
As a result, I've listened to hundreds of stories of how communication broke down during Katrina, and saw, in some cases, how badly communication was handled during 9/11 (during 9/11, I created a make shift crisis communication center from our office to dispatch updates to every concierge desk in Las Vegas; concierge desks became mini-epicenters at each casino hotel for travelers hoping to get home.)
Ah ha, the down side of our account diversity is we only talk about one sliver of experience at a time, which means someone has to ask the right question or make the right statement for us to talk from. I could have just as easily chatted about selling Volkswagens in a radio spot. ;)
It's a good topic, and worthy of your coverage. I look forward to reading more of it.
All my best,
Rich
Rich,
Thanks for the comment. I just knew you'd be right in there to communicate in a disaster.
NENA sounds like a very necessary service. I remember watching coverage of Katrina and all I heard was who couldn't communicate with whom. Same with 9-11.
I feel better knowing you're involved. I'd like to read more about NENA but I should probably blog about Ashley Scott visiting Paris in jail. Could you tell me how to communicate my feelings about that??
I've thought of this scenario many many times. Unfortunately, since I've had my thyroid out, I rely on synthetic medicine to live. Ack. I really don't like thinking about that very often. So, if anything happens, my skills aren't really going to matter. I wonder what the shelf life of Synthroid is?
I'm not sure about that but how would you know how much to stockpile if you had to? Medicine is something a lot of people would need
Thank you for the comment. I'll do some more research on the medicine.
Hey JS,
Well, I try to stay away from blogging about feelings for the most part (though many people say I do everyday). But if you want to blog about feelings, then just let it rip while supporting those feelings with facts (so you don't morph into Rosie; the world wouldn't want that).
Oh yeah, being sensitive to your readers who might have a different view works too. Doesn't mean you can't agree to disagree.
Hey, I really like the medicine aspect. It's something to think about for sure.
I like the medicine idea too. Look for more on that this week.
Thanks for commenting.
BTW, this blogging is hard work.
Bieng with out power for 16 days, cell phones, land lines, even shouting is pretty much useless when a hurricane hits like here in Florida several years ago. Fresh water is a must, or a system for cleaning and purifying water, otherwise you are going to have a hard time taking pills!
Great post.
woodman,
Thank you for your comment. Looks like that's another good skill to know- purifying water. I hadn't thought of that.
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