Chile and Haiti: Preparedness lessons for you and me

Chile and Haiti: Preparedness lessons for you and me, By Doc Gurley

1) Know thy neighbors as thyself. People survive the loss of government, buildings and infrastructure by banding together.

2) Now what? First, the almighty cell. It's amazing how cell phones have kept working, especially the text function, even in Haiti.

3) Next, know your resources. Is there a doctor living on your block? A nurse? An engineer? Are there any other special skills nearby?

4) Now, get a tent. Whether we're talking about Katrina, or traditional earthquake preparedness advice, the assumption has always been that there would be a place for survivors to shelter. We're discovering over and over that assumption just doesn't hold true.

5) Next, get a shovel, a bucket, and a bundle of nylon cord. And a lever/crowbar. Again, while these items are not the typical part of an earthquake kit, you'd be surprised how rare, and life-saving they can rapidly become. Moving walls and timber off trapped people was the one act (more than any Gupta-like surgery) that saved limbs and lives in Haiti. After the initial crash, your bucket, with a roll of garbage bags, can act as your toilet until you get a chance to dig a latrine with that shovel.

6) The water thing.

7) Fire and power. Clearly, waterproof matches are a part of many recommended earthquake kits. Take things a bit further, and you're talking about a camp stove.

8) Beef up your medical supplies. Check out these advanced medical preparedness tips. Make sure you include those, as well as extra bandage rolls, tape, and gobs of hand sanitizer, for days-weeks of post-potty use.

9) Location, location, location. Depending on your choices, you've probably spent somewhere between $100-$500, total. Compared to the price of earthquake insurance, what a deal! Now where do you put all this stuff? If you're living in a high-rise apartment building studio, this may all look (and sound) ridiculously impractical. For you, that may be the brutal truth - in which case you'll be looking for micro-versions of all these items and putting them in a rectangular storage box. But what about your work? Or your car? You can't know where you'll be - and one of those may be a good place to stock and store your supplies.