Jan 30 2008
Myths about Disasters – Emergency Preparedness Survival Food …
By Josiah Friberg(Josiah Friberg)
We provide disaster nutrition expert advice and resources on food storage, long shelf-life food, organic whole food nutrition, food packs, healthy MREs, and disaster meals. We are committed to helping you get prepared for natural …
Emergency Disaster Preparedness… – http://emergencydisastersurvivalfood.blogspot.com/
Jan 23 2008
Worth Repeating
Survival and the Next Big Disaster: Rely on Yourself, Not the Government
Emergency kits and first aid supplies can keep your family alive when food, water, gas, electricity, or medical services are disrupted by disaster
(PRWEB) November 29, 2005 — Think you can rely on the government for your family’s survival after a disaster? Consider the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and the Kashmir earthquake in the last year alone. While governments strive to help, downed gas, water, electric, phone, and medical services, not to mention roads, may delay help for days or weeks. And government services may be overwhelmed. Meanwhile, you and your family must fend for yourselves. Will you be ready?
“The country is really just not prepared for a major catastrophic event,” said Dr. Irwin E. Redlener, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in a recent BusinessWeek cover story. “Whatever it is — the Big One in San Francisco, a terrorist attack — it doesn’t matter. The unfortunate truth is our ability to imagine and plan for catastrophic disasters is woefully inadequate.”
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brochure puts the burden of preparedness on individuals. “It’s 2:00 a.m. and a flash flood forces you to evacuate your home — fast. There’s no time to gather food from the kitchen, fill bottles with water, grab a first-aid kit from the closet and snatch a flashlight and a portable radio from the bedroom. You need to have these items packed and ready in one place before disaster hits.”
While most disasters can’t be avoided, you can prepare for them. According to FEMA, there are six essentials you should stock in your home: food, water, first aid supplies, emergency supplies, tools, special items, clothing and bedding.” FEMA suggests at least a three-day supply of food and water, adding that food requiring no refrigeration, preparation, or cooking is best.
MRE, or “Meals Ready to Eat” — a staple of US military and rescue operations for decades — are a popular way to provide survival food supplies. “Because the MRE are pre-cooked, they’re ready to eat right from the pouch,” says Thomas Sciacca, a former marine, outdoorsman, and President of CampingSurvival.com. “Unlike freeze dried alternatives, the MRE are designed to retain moisture, gravy, and sauces with maximum nutrition, variety, and a five to ten year shelf life.”
Since evacuation or travel may be necessary, it’s also wise to include emergency kits or survival supplies in each car, as well as the office, school, or wherever significant time is spent, suggests Sciacca. The best kits are lightweight, avoid duplication, and suited to the users and environment used in.
While emergency kits and survival supplies can be assembled one item at a time, Sciacca understands that few people set aside the time to do an adequate job of it. “Important items get left out, items get scattered or get old and need to be replaced,” he explains.
Sciacca designed CampingSurvival.com as a one stop shop for survival supplies and emergency supplies — from pocket sized kits to The SuperArk, from family first aid supplies to organization-sized trauma kits, from rain ponchos to solar powered wind up radio. For free Disaster Analysis and promotional pricing, visit the CampingSurvival website at www.campingsurvival.com.
For More Information Contact:
Tom Sciacca
Phone: (800) 537-1339 ext. 222
Fax: 315-592-4796
28 W First St South
Fulton, NY 13069
sales@campingsurvival.com
www.campingsurvival.com
Jan 21 2008
Emergency Food – What are the options?
Emergency Food Option 1) Buy the can goods, grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.
- Good, can be done in 2 hours or less
- Bad, most will forget or not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed
- Bad, Goods are heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much
- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.
- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
- Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile
Emergency Food Option 2) Same as 1 except be more careful in storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods buying new food so that food store is always edible.
- Good, food will not be bad when you need it
- Bad, most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this
- Bad, grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.
- Bad, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
-Bad, can goods can destroy appetites after awhile
Emergency Food Option 3) Buy MRE’s (military style – Meals Ready to Eat)
- Good, easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.
- Good, fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”
- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.
- Bad, relatively expensive per meal and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.
- Bad, lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve
- Bad, tastes like can food which can destroy appetites after awhile
Emergency Food Option 4) Buy Freeze Dried Food
- Good, easy to store and lasts up to 30 years.
- Good, fast simple preparation – just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.
- Good, once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.
- Good, light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!
- Good, can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.
