21st-century disaster prep tips you won’t get from officials

NEW! video versions of these tips

EVEN NEWER! MORE COWBELLS! Versions of these tips that I prepared for Wireless Foundation


The advent of 21st century personal communications devices and services, particularly camera phones with GPS capability, GPS devices in your car, P2P software such as mesh networking, or social networking services, mean that it’s now feasible to have two-way sharing of real-time, location-based information that could save your life in a crisis.You won’t find these tips about how to capitalize on those devices and applications on Ready.gov, or other federal, state, and/or local preparedness sites. In some cases it’s because the services described below are private sector ones that government agencies can’t endorse.
More likely, most government agencies are clueless that these services exist (for example, it wasn’t until I told them about DCERN that DHS officials realized it existed, even though it operates literally in their own backyard).So here are some 21st century disaster and preparedness tips from Stephenson Strategies that you won’t see on the official lists of things to do to prepare for a disaster or terrorist attack, but that you and your neighbors should implement NOW, so that you’ll be prepared to act intelligently and calmly if you find yourselves on your own:

  1. now that thumb drives cost less than $10, put your family’s medical records (if you can get them from your physician in digital form) and other vital documents on them and attach it to your keychain so you’ll have them with you at all times (encrypt them with TrueCrypt to provide privacy).
  2. buy a pair of family-radio (FRS) walkie-talkies (under $20 at discount stores) for emergency communications. Use them to set up a volunteer, self-organizing community
    emergency communications network similar to the DCERN one in Washington DC
  3. add your FRS emergency network to National SOS radio, which links local FRS networkswith ham operators for a comprehensive, low-power emergency communications network.
  4. subscribe to the XML feeds from the National Hurricane Center so you’ll get
    real-time information on hurricanes.
  5. buy a solar charger for your laptop so that you’ll have a portable electric supply with you at all times.
  6. download the free CUWin mesh network software and burn it to CDs to share with your neighbors, so you can create a self-organizing, self-healing mesh network with neighbors even if your Internet access is lost in an emergency.
  7. if Sirius (NYC, Ch. 148; Boston/Philly, 149; LA, 150; Chicago/St. Louis, 151; Balt/DC, 152; Atlanta/Miami, 153; Dallas-Ft.Worth/Houston, 154; Detroit,Pittsburgh, 155; SF/Seattle, 156; Orlando/Tampa-St. Pete, 158) or XM
    Satellite Radio     (Boston, Ch. 210; NYC, 211; Philly, 212; Baltimore, 213; DC, 214; Pittsburgh, 215; Detroit, 216; Chicago, 217; St.
    Louis, 218; Minneapolis, 219; Seattle, 220, SF, 221; LA, 222; San Diego, 223; Phoenix, 224; Dallas/Ft. Worth, 225; Houston, 226; Atlanta, 227; Tampa, 228; Orlando, 229; Miami, 230) provide real-time, location-based weather and traffic channels for your area, subscribe. XM has a special emergency channel, 247, that’s activated in an emergency.
  8. Use the structure and information of the KatrinaHelp wiki as the starting point to establish a self-help wiki before the hurricane hits, and add to it as the situation evolves.
  9. Get all your family and friends to join Dodgeball.com.In a crisis, you’d only have to send a single text message to let them know you’re alright. Pheeder works the same way, and is good if you are uncomfortable texting, but requires a conventional voice call to a number in NYC, so:
    • you may not be able to get through in a disaster because so many people are doing the same thing
    • since NYC may be the focal point of the disaster or terrorist attack, that number may not be available at all.
  10. After a disaster, cobble together a Google mashup similar to Garbage
    Scout,     using your cameraphone, to alert authorities to where there are elderly/disabled persons who need extra help.
  11. No matter where you live or what the temperature, make sure your emergency supplies include always keeping ice in your cell phone. Oops, I meant ICE, short for In Case of Emergency. Just create a series of ICE (as in ICE-1, ICE-2, etc. listings in the last name field field of your cell directory. Under each, put one of the family or friend’s numbers you want to be contacted in an emergency. Then, if you can’t communicate, a first responder can call the ICE numbers in order until s/he is able to reach one of your contacts to let them know where you are, how you are, and to ask about any medical or other special issues they should be aware of.

Polls have shown that not only has government failed to prepare for the next
natural disaster, terror attack, or pandemic — we’re to blame as well (and don’t forget that there’s even less chance in the future that you’ll be able to count on government assistance in the first 72 hours.

These self-help actions are practical today, using technology in your hands. Please try them — and tell your friends, ASAP. Thanks.
Technorati tags: