It’s often the dangers in your own community that pose the biggest threat to your health and safety; are you prepared for them? Do you even know what they are?
When planning for a SHTF moment, don’t overlook the dangers that could be right in your backyard.
There is a small book out that I carry in my truck and also keep in my house library. It’s called Emergency Response Guidebook: A Guidebook for First Responders. If there’s an accident of some sort, how far away do you need to get? Is that distance downwind or upwind? This book gives you the safety recommendations and emergency response information to protect yourself and the public.
There is a table of placards and codes to provide a quick response. Listed are the potential hazards including explosion, vapors, runoff, etc. It also lists potential health hazards. Another topic is public safety. How far away should people be evacuated. Even if you aren’t on scene to help, at least you will quickly know how far away to get yourself and your family! The book provides information on the emergency response. If there is a fire the book tells you what to use to put it out. Remember some substances will get worse if you put water on them. There is also a section on first aid. You need to get this right because what’s good to aid for one chemical may be deadly for another.
Start looking at the trucks that go by, or at the placards near buildings. Do you recognize those? Learn what they are and what the safety measures are. If you are in the city and something goes wrong, this may be another tool in your tool kit for where it’s safe and where it isn’t.
A FREE and Downloadable copy of this, rel;eased in 2008 (latest version) can be had at http://phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Files/erg2008_eng.pdf
It is a PDF format file and you will need ADOBE Reader to read it.
I formerly lived directly between two military bases in Kentucky. One housed and disposed of chemical warfare agents the other mostly serviced vehicles and aircraft and shipped other items such as uniforms. The one with the agents would mail out a booklet every year to everyone living in a certain radius about what to do, where to go, and what to expect. The what to expect was broke down by different radius to the base, if there was heavy wind or rain and a few other factors. Very helpful to know all those things and glad they were keeping people in the know and prepared.