What could possibly go wrong?

What’s the worst that could happen?

What’s the most likely to happen?

Two questions worth thinking about, discussing, preparing for.  Whether it’s the lost child in the store or park, lost car keys, dead battery, overheated engine, over exertion . . . or, as we head into the cold season . . . colds/flu, furnace/water heater trouble, plumbing leak, winter/ice storm, power outage . . . what do we need to do to prepare/prevent emergencies?

Each child should know his full name, the names of his parents, their phone number(s), his address.  Somebody needs to have access to an extra set of keys.  Do you have cables or battery charger?  Do you keep a gallon of water in the car to cool the engine?  Do your kids heading off to college pay attention to car warning lights (check engine, etc), know what they mean, and know what to do?  Do they have emergency numbers in their glove compartment? Do you know when to quit, and what to do when you’ve overdone it?

Do you have current meds on hand so you don’t have to make a trip to the pharmacy in the dead of the night?  Do you have ways to keep warm/heat water, survive a few days until you can have repairs done?  Do you know of a stop-gap?  Do you have at least 3 days of supplies, ice melter, snow shovel?  Could you manage if electrical power went out for 3 days? (keep warm, heat water/food, run appliances/keep them closed or off, communications …)

The picture above shows how PSU has thought about and planned for emergencies.  It would be great if every workplace, educational facility, and every home had a plan for whatever might happen, even if fairly unlikely.  Because emergencies usually take us by surprise.

Here’s an idea for a 1 hour family activity:

1. Brainstorm the kinds of disasters that might occur in our area, and write them on slips of paper.
2. Put the slips of paper in a bag, bowl, hat, or similar.
3. Choose two teams if you like.
4. One person or team draws a slip of paper out of the bag. That team, or the family, try to come up with a plan of action if that type of disaster were to occur.  One person should act as scribe to write the ideas.
5. Game—Simon Says: Stop, Drop, and Roll; Earthquake cover; find the fuse box in the dark; where is the flashlight; fire escape; evacuation notice;  recite your name, address, phone #, and parents’ full names; and other ways of acting out what to do in an emergency.  One person could make the sound of the alert; one person could time how long it takes for everyone to react . . . Make it fun!  And age appropriate.
6. Treat: Rocky Road
7. Assignment:  someone type up the actions plans and post them, or put them in a manila envelope or binder in your 72-hour kit/Grab ‘n Go bag–so if an emergency happens, you don’t have to panic.

Attached is a document with some possibilities:

1 Action Plan–What to do if . . .