You must become proficient at first aid and CPR. Take a quality CPR class. Take a Stop the Bleed class. Be ready to manage big and small medical emergencies at your home, assuming it may take longer for EMS to arrive at your home.
Program the best hospitals into your smart phone mapping apps. I have them programmed in Waze as favorites in the event I am having to take myself or a family member to the hospital on an emergency basis. It may be faster to self-transport than to wait on an ambulance. Do you know which hospitals are best for your family and which ones enjoy the best reputation? Ask your doctor and friends in EMS where they would want to be taken in the event of an emergency. Speaking of doctors…
Determine if your current physician is still a good choice for you. I’ve recently joined a direct primary care program which, for a monthly fee, gives me unlimited access to a physician to help me with both minor and major medical issues. And even if such a program isn’t an option for you, set up a CVS virtual care visit – from creating an online account to speaking with a nurse practitioner about my flu symptoms back in November, the entire process took less than 10 minutes. I highly recommend you consider setting up an account with them. There’s no charge to do so until you utilize their service, and they take insurance. The pandemic really advanced the ball on telehealth. Being able to troubleshoot health issues and get solutions from your home is a gamechanger in how we can stay healthy.
Stock up on medications, both OTC and prescription. I tell you how to do it here. Again, telemedicine and programs like GoodRx have made this much easier to do, even for prescription medications. While you’re at it, stock up on band aids, dressing and bandages, a good blood pressure machine, oral thermometers, and the other accessories you can use to help diagnose and monitor your family’s health. Being able to manage medical issues at home without calling an ambulance will free up resources for more critical calls.
Buy more fire extinguishers and train with them. Let your family practice with the older ones in your home – take them out in the backyard and shoot them off on a cardboard box to give them something to aim for when doing it. Don’t let the first time they use one be during an actual fire – that happened at our house as a kid, and while the fire was quickly extinguished, it made a much larger mess than was necessary. Keep fire extinguishers in your car. I keep these in my truck – as well as two of these in the driver’s side door for both firefighting and car jacking deterrence.
Be ready to deal with violent crime, on your own, with no help from law enforcement until it’s over. APD has not been responding to certain 911 calls for quite some time now, in large part due to lack of available officers. Response times continue to to go up. Some 18 months ago, the top priority calls to 911 had an average response time of ten minutes, 41 seconds. To put that in perspective, in FY 2011 the APD’s average response time for these calls was six minutes, 45 seconds. That’s a four minute increase in ten years. Which means if you find yourself in a violent situation, and you get an average response time from the police, you and your family will be dealing with the violence and any aftermath for 641 excruciatingly long seconds. The incident is likely over long before the police arrive. What is your plan for those 641 seconds? Get the life safety equipment and training you need to use it now. And by life safety equipment, I mean a reliable firearm, OC spray and a Stop the Bleed kit. Add a quality pocket sized flashlight to this as well (I am a fan of SureFire flashlights.) And let me repeat – you must get quality training on how to use these items safely, effectively and legally. If you’re in Austin, contact Karl Rehn at KR Training and get started. You having a gun in your house “just in case” isn’t a plan, and it can be a huge liability if you’re not taking steps to secure it properly in your home. And learn how to de-escalate potentially volatile situations. All of this is covered in the Texas License to Carry course.
Secure the necessary financial and legal protection you need in the unfortunate event you must defend yourself. I talk about that in detail here.
Look for ways to make your home more secure. Lock your doors. Ask your police department to do a survey of your home to point out weak points in your security plan. Park your cars in the garage at night. Upgrade locks. Have your alarm system monitored.
Pay attention to possible problems when you drive, and be ready to navigate around them. Avoiding the problem is always the best option. There’s no need in driving through an area where there is reckless behavior or violence taking place. Be ready to pivot to a new course so that you’re not caught up in it.
Rehearse what you’re going to do in a medical emergency, a fire or a potentially violent situation. Do your kids know where to go in the event of a severe weather event? Or if someone is trying to break in to your home? Or if someone is having a heart attack in your home? What is your plan to deal with those situations? Do yourself a favor and start planning for – and drilling – these scenarios. Don’t try to make it up as you go. Your family needs to know that if mom or dad have a medical emergency, each family member has a role to play – calling 911, administering aid, getting the interior and exterior lights on at night for the first responders who are going to show up at your house.
Be a model citizen. Much of our societal problems cannot be fixed by first responders or government programs. Organizations which help people – food banks, Meals on Wheels, youth programs, houses of worship, community centers, after school programs – are far better at meeting the needs of citizens. These organizations need our help. Donate and participate in them in a meaningful fashion. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t engage in road rage. Don’t litter. Help others. Be the kind of citizen that first responders appreciate and are motivated to help – one worthy of the sacrifices and risks they make and take to help keep us safe.
