How prepared are you during an emergency? An emergency is an unexpected event that is often perilous and requires quick decision and action. Some examples of emergencies are disasters that are usually not known in advance such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and tsunamis. There is an emergency that is the result of an accident such as a fire. These things can happen anywhere and anytime. The question is, how can we protect ourselves against serious harm?
Here are some suggestions that may help.
- Prepare your mind in advance for the most practical solution to be safe for yourself and your family.
- Know in advance the safest place of refuge if it is necessary to evacuate.
- Prepare an emergency bag. This bag will contain the main things you need such as clothes, sleeping gear, ready-to-eat foods, your communication gadgets, a power bank, a flashlight, and batteries. If possible include an easy-to-carry and easy-to-assemble tent so that you still have privacy when you are at the evacuation site where many people gather.
These suggestions are great and have helped my family through past disasters. Undoubtedly, it is also a great help in dealing with unexpected emergencies.
My dear Hivers, I will share with you our experience when there was an unexpected bushfire that happened around us recently. It was past 9:00 in the morning when I got home from buying fish for our lunch. I heard a noise, like a cracking sound from a burning fire. I just ignored it because I thought the owner of the lot near our house was burning weeds. However, I was surprised as the noise was getting louder and the smoke was increasing. So I went out of the house to check what happened.
I was shocked by what I saw because the wide bush next to the lot surrounding our house was already burning. I felt very nervous because our house was also surrounded by the wide bush that grew in the adjacent lots of our neighbors. It's good because even though I was nervous, I didn't panic.
I immediately thought of finding a way to put out the fire that had started to consume the wide bush that surrounded our house.
Even though our neighbors called the fire station, I had to act quickly because the fire spread so fast. I observed the direction of the wind. After that, my wife and I worked together to pour water on the path of the fire to prevent it from spreading around us.
There I positioned myself in the place opposite to the direction of the wind so that I would not be suffocated from the smoke. My wife is also the one who brings me water that I can use. Then all the paths of the fire in the bushes around us become wet by our efforts using a pail of water. Now I am aiming to extinguish the fire so that it will not spread to the neighbors. I have moved to the opposite side. Since I am far away from our house, our neighbor is the one who brings me water. I poured the fire with water as far as I could reach.
I continued to do this until all the fires that were going to the neighbors' houses were extinguished. The fire was still spreading fast and went in a different direction. It's a good thing because the direction of the fire is going to the place where there is no house.
A few minutes passed and the fully equipped firemen arrived. They quickly attached the fire hose that would be used to extinguish the fire to the fire truck. They immediately worked together to put out the fire using a heavy and high-pressure fire hose.
Unfortunately, because the fire was so big, one fire truck was not enough to put it out.
They requested another firetruck to help them. After all of their efforts and cooperation, finally, the big fire was completely extinguished.
We were all very happy after the fire was extinguished. At last, we lost our nervousness and sadness. Fortunately, no lives were lost.
I learned something from this incident. Even if the situation is difficult, if we don't panic, we can still think of the best solution to protect life. This incident happened without warning but if we don't give in to nervousness and fear we can still escape from a bigger problem.
In the past super typhoons such as Haiyan called Yolanda in the Philippines, some people had sad experiences. These consequences are the result of underestimating the warning given by the government. I hope we learn a lesson from that for the next disasters. Let's heed warnings and prepare in advance for future emergencies for our safety.
My dear Hivers, that's all I can share for this blog. Thank you for your support.