For President's Day I wanted to cook bacon and a steak on the charcoal grill. I had two forms of fuel I wanted to try: canned fuel, and old chestnuts & packing materials I had kept and thought to burn. If you note the date, I used the grill on Saturday, because Monday was forecast to be very rainy.
I put the canned fuel in the charcoal grill so it would be at a height a person in a wheelchair (myself) could reach, also so that it could be in a controlled situation for safety. I tried some old matchbook matches and some little strike-on-the-box matches I'd been given. I got them to work, but I think an easier means to light the can would be the long matches I have. Yet I'm too frugal to just toss out the old matches.
It all worked alright for cooking the bacon, though I found you can't just leave it to cook . . . it would burn the middle and not cook the rest: I had the bacon laid out on a piece of foil (for easy dish duty/disposal). It just takes keeping an eye on it and moving the bacon around to cook more evenly. When you're done cooking you put the lid back on the can to use the rest of the fuel another day. Be careful taking the hot bacon grease off the grill. I adjusted the shape of the foil to remove it more safely.
Of course I could have cooked the steak over the canned heat, but I thought it not the best method . . . I didn't want to just burn a hole through the middle of my steak. And, I had these old inedible chestnuts I'd been given, as well as packing material I'd saved for fire building. I had old charcoals leftover in the grill, so I put them in the cardboard packing along with the chestnuts.
I crumpled up packing paper I'd saved, and ended up pouring the bacon grease from the canned heat experiment to be absorbed by the cardboard. The grill helps a bit with controlling the paper ashes from flying all over.
A little smokey, but the steak came out very well. I was a little impatient to wait for the coals to really heat optimally. I had covered the grill with the lid to maximize the heat, and set the air intake and outlets fully open.
When my food was finished, I covered the grill with its lid and closed all the venting so the fire would die from lack of oxygen, thinking to preserve whatever might be left of the charcoals for another time.
Thus, taking the time to experiment with various options helps prepare for when we might have to adjust to what's available. It's the practice with problem solving that is most useful.
If you missed this year’s ShakeOut, you can still practice on your own, with family, and co-workers or at school–pretend practice anywhere, by looking around and imagining what would happen in an earthquake: wherever you are at (the store, the doctor’s office, on the street . . .), and how you could best respond. Even taking the time to think about it will help you have something to draw on in an emergency. Some valuable info I received and am passing on:
– Schools – Colleges – Businesses – Non Profits and Other Organizations – Government Agencies and Facilities – Options for Government Agency Participation and Outreach – Healthcare
We’re in challenging times! Could anything more happen? If prepared, we need not live in fear. Competence breeds confidence. Things can still be challenging, but manageable.
Many students are distance learning, and don’t have school earthquake and other drills. It’s even more important to start thinking about how to prepare the family for the annual Great Washington ShakeOut. The organizers have given thought to COVID concerns. See https://www.shakeout.org/washington/
Washington state has a plan, a policy, a program for preparing for emergencies. Check into all the information, including short videos and a webinar, at https://mil.wa.gov/emergency-management-division
-What do you do when the lights go out, you spring a leak, or after an earthquake you smell gas?
–Practice finding where to shut off your utilities, by making it a treasure hunt. Pretend it’s dark, electricity went out. First you have to find a light. Next, find the fuse box. Have a treasure, a challenge, and a clue taped to the fuse box. Put the treasure in your treasure bag, do the challenge (find the fuse for the kitchen, for the living room, etc), and follow the clue to the next treasure: You’ve just sprung a leak! Find the water cut-off valve (you may also include turn off valves for the toilets and sinks). Have a treasure, a challenge, and a clue taped to the water turn off valve. Put the treasure in your treasure bag, do the challenge (turn off the water), and follow the clue to the next treasure: Shake it up, baby! (everybody shakes all over) You just had an earthquake and you can hear a hissing sound, and smell the nasty odor of gas! Find an applicable wrench, take it to the gas cut off, and pretend to turn it off (never turn it off except in an emergency and you smell gas. Only the gas company can turn it back on). Put your treasure in your treasure bag, and meet in the family room or kitchen. Enjoy your treasures.
–treat: gold coins, candy necklace and rings, if you like, or, golden fruit slices or raisins, popcorn or cereal Os necklaces, apple rings . . . get creative! What would the members of your family treasure?
Survival Mentality: The Psychology of Staying Alive by Nancy Zarse PsyD, 12 half-hour lectures, the last two titles I think look especially important at present . . . #11 Resilience in the Aftermath of Trauma, and #12 We Survive Together: The Power of Community. https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/survival-mentality-the-psychology-of-staying-alive
Since emergencies don’t always happen at the most convenient times, an under-the-bed stash of a few things is recommended (like something to protect your feet etc if things have crashed on the floor). Here’s a game for a fun family activity:
-Introduce the idea that if an emergency happens, you may not be able to think as quickly and clearly as you would like or need. Having things ready and easily accessible, as well as practicing, will make the experience less traumatic for all. Emergencies don’t always happen in daylight hours, so it is recommended having a few things under the bed . . .
-Play “Ready Relay”: For each bedroom in the house, have an under-the-bed bin with: sturdy shoes and work gloves (in case of broken glass, etc.), hard hat/helmet to protect against things falling, flashlight/light sticks, We’re OK/Need Help signs, tape or band-aids to put the signs in the front window. Occupants of each bedroom are a team. Set the bins at one end of the room or house. At the blow of a whistle, one person from each team puts on the shoes, gloves, and hat.; Takes the light, sign, and tape/bandaids, runs to put the sign in the front window, and returns to teammate(s). Teammate takes over shoes, gloves, hat, and light, runs to retrieve the sign from the window, and puts all back in the bin. At the end of the game, put the bins under the beds in the bedrooms.
-options to add to under bed emergency bins: binder/folder/manila envelope with important docs; water bottle, snack or meal replacement bar or can; small 1st aid kit, sewing kit, TP, hand sanitizer, whistle, small notebook & pen; pair of sox, undies, sweatshirt and pants; bag or backpack to carry all and a couple plastic shopping bags for garbage or whatever.
What’s up ahead, around the bend? Can we pull through?
Emergencies don’t always happen in 3-day (72 hour) sprints to the finish line. What if disaster becomes a marathon of days? Are we trained for it, and do we have the steam to power up the hills that inevitably show up? Can we bridge the troubles that come flooding, overflowing the bank?
Here’s a game or two to help your family think about strategies for an extended emergency event:
Make a card game with the following 6 “suits” (titles):
Light
Cooking
Shelter
Safe Food
Sanitation
Pets
Each suit will have 5 cards (not an exhaustive list, but a starting point). Write the title on each of the 5 cards for each suit. Then pass out the 5 cards of each suit to family members to illustrate:
Light
candles not recommended (for instance, draw a candle with an x through it)
flashlight & batteries
camp lantern & supplies
light sticks
game ideas to play in the dark (stories, singing, etc. Don’t use up your power/batteries trying to keep the lights on.)
full frig is safe 6 hours (if kept closed–draw a closed frig and write “6 hours” on it)
full freezer is safe 2 days (if kept closed)
toss food that is over 40 degrees (draw food with 40 degrees being tossed in garbage)
if in doubt, toss it out (question mark over stick figure tossing out bad food)
Sanitation
don’t dig a hole for waste (contaminates)
lotsa strong bags
disinfectants (liquid, sprays, wipes, soap)
camp toilet/commode
store plenty TP
Pets
food for a week (draw pet food, write 7 days)
water for a week
toilet water is ok for pets
ID with owners/address (pet collar)
labeled picture of pet (picture of pet with its name)
Game for younger children: choose 2 cards of each title/suit to play Concentration.
Game for older kids: “Endure”– similar to other card games where you try to gather 2, 3, or 4 of a kind (suit or title), a “full house”, or a “straight” (one card of each suit).
Treat: cook something everyone likes using an alternate cooking method, such as a camp stove, sterno, or look online for how to make Buddy Burners.
Assignment: assess what you have in each category, and gradually acquire at least something in each. Keep information on Safe Food in a convenient, memorable place where it can be easily accessed.
Does everyone in the family have a recent family photo to help you find one another if separated?
Do you have a copy of the paperwork you need to get your life back on track?
Here are some ideas for family activities to help you be ready:
-Divide into two teams:
–Team One makes a video/takes pictures of all the valuables you have, for insurance claims (electronics, bikes & recreational equipment/vehicles, collections…), as well as pictures of each member of the family and/or the whole family.
–Team Two gathers all the important family documents and makes copies (at home, or take a field trip to the copy shop). Store copies on a thumbdrive in your Go Bag/72-hr kit, in a ziploc bag disguised in a pizza box in the freezer, or in a safe deposit box.
—Here’s what to gather and copy:
home/renters/vehicle insurance
health insurance (medical, dental providers, life insurance, extended care, etc.)
wills/power of attorney/estate papers/advance directives
proof of ID (birth & marriage certificates, proof of citizenship, military service records, social security & medicare cards, passports, etc.)
Keep a recent photo of each member of the family with your copies of important papers.
-A game for younger children: Silly-Face Simon Says (try different facial expressions, body poses, body language . . .), and take pictures. Little ones will love looking at them later, if you keep them in an inexpensive album.
-A literary extension could be the Cheshire Cat, from Alice in Wonderland. Older kids might enjoy a discussion about the nuances/meanings of the story, younger ones might like to watch the Disney version.
-As an extension for older children, you may want to hold a family counsel about Insurance, Finances, parents’ end of life choices.
-treat ideas:
picture purrrfect party food
pretend kitty chow made with cold cereal/mini marshmallows or candies/nuts/dried fruit
or, google “kitty theme party food”
Here are some picture cards you can use for Bingo, Concentration, Go Fish, or just as reminders of what to collect. If using for games, make more than one copy.
When an emergency happens, you need to know who to call. Sometimes local lines might be jammed, so your family needs to choose an out-of-area contact that everyone can call to stay in touch (texting is even better). Type the contact information for this person and give everyone in the family a copy for their purse/wallet/backpack/vehicle. You may want to give school or work this emergency information.
Everyone needs to know how and when to call 911, parents and alternate adults, and schools/workplaces where people in the family might be when something happens.
Game #1: Brainstorm emergencies that might happen, and write them on small slips of paper (such as, “You are lost …”, “An earthquake occurs …”, “There’s a fire …”, “Someone is choking/had a heart attack/stroke …”, etc.) Put the slips of paper in a bag or bowl. Take turns pulling the slips out. Read each slip. After each slip, everyone calls out together, “Who ya gonna call?!” The person or team that pulled out the slip gives the appropriate answer.
Game #2: “Who do you know … (that lives here)?” Get a map or puzzle of the US, or your state/area. Similar to playing Scattergories (rules for play on wikipedia.org), each person or team tries to list everyone they know that lives in each state/place (choose the places alphabetically, pulled from a bag/bowl, or toss a die/poker chip/coin onto the map).
Treat: Call and exchange recipes with someone you know who lives far away. Or get creative in the kitchen and craft food telephones by teams.
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:
Brainstorm the kinds of disasters that might occur in our area, and write them on slips of paper.
Put the slips of paper in a bag, bowl, hat, or similar.
Choose two teams if you like.
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.
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.
Treat: Rocky Road
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.
What you do can help you become a Washington #ShakeOut Champion! You can survive the big one IF you get prepared. Visit mil.wa.gov/shakeout to learn more and to enter the 2019 Youth Video Contest (cash prize of up to $1,500), courtesy of the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup.
Remember too that September is always National Preparedness Month. Be sure to involve people of all ages and backgrounds, think about all the hazards that can affect you, and ultimately: take action BEFORE the next disaster strikes. Be prepared, not scared.
Emergency Prep--some ideas and options 