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Government survival advice

I’ve looked around today to see if I could find a UK Government site with preparedness or survival type info. I can’t seem to find a UK central government one anywhere that deals with the scenarios we are looking at. At best there is the DirectGov site with the Preparing for Emergencies booklet (Right Click) which is basically only useful to someone who has not yet thought about putting in smoke alarms or a first aid kit. Basically, phone the fire brigade, ambulance or plod and wait. This leaflet was printed and posted through every door in one of the last government’s knee jerk reactions. The actual website released with great fanfare is already dead. Oh goody. It also appears each council has prepared their own separate websites on the same subject which details what that council will do for its risks. Again it appears that they are assuming that all of the risks are accidents or man made low level accidents, no terrorist dirty bombs or TEOTWAWKI scenarios. To be fair there is rarely any really bad weather in the UK so hurricanes or tsunamis are out but there are other issues. Chemical plants, nuclear power stations, airports. All these are local to where I live but the best I get is a 999 call and then wait till it is sorted. If I can hold my breath that long.

So, yet again, I am forced to look to the US for my advice. The Americans are helpful and their government really does things in style. So they have an agency for emergency management called FEMA (Federal Emergancy Management Agency) which has an excellent web site with lots of advice. Again though it steers away from TEOTWAWKI scenarios instead dealing with government resolving the issue. However, it does have procedures and lists emergency preparedness items for civilians to stock up on until help arrives. It also has lots of additional material on issues that we also want to consider. So basically it is an excellent source of material for us.

Bearing in mind that FEMA is a US government institution and that when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 it was running around like a headless chicken in the first critical few days while private corporations and individuals picked up the slack. But they write clear and informative documents and reports. There is your tax money at work.

Go to their site FEMA.gov and browse it for ideas on scenarios and some general advice. I have added some documentation to the download section under FEMA. Remember it is intended for US citizens but many of the articles, particularly in the Plan and Prepare section, are still applicable to us.

2 comments to Government survival advice

  • Skvez

    I much prefer the parody of the official UK preparedness website found at http://www.preparingforemergencies.co.uk which the UK Gov actually tried to have taken down, in case someone mistook it for the official one (!)

  • Skean Dhude

    Skvez,

    I remember the parady going up, the complains by the government and I found it yesterday on my search so it is still there. There are some smart and funny people out there.