Are you ready for Y3K ?

Emergency Preparedness

"Be Prepared" the Boy Scouts motto, "Semper Paratus" (Always Ready) the Coast Guard slogan. There are two reasons for Emergency Preparedness, so you can survive an emergency, and so you can help others during an emergency. Helping others is best done as a volunteer for the Red Cross, your state or local Emergency Managament Agency (EMA), or similar organization. Helping yourself helps you survive without being an added burden on emergency response personnel. The most important thing to have in an emergency is a plan.

No emergency preparedness plan anticipates everything, and you would probably be a bit obsessed if you tried to make one which did. But a little bit of preparedness goes a long way. During a crisis, its much better to modify your existing plan than to try to come up with one from scratch.

Civil Disasters

Y2K was the most popular disaster in 1999, speculation on Y2K effects range from "a little hiccup in business" to "the end of civilization as we know it". A lot of folks woke up in 2000 with a hangover and a lot of extra bills, so lets keep everything in perspective. Terrorism is the war of the future, as evidenced by the attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001. Most civil disasters involve shortages of food, fuel and other necessities. Cash often loses its value during protracted civil or geopolitical disasters. Durable goods with intrinsic value like gold or silver coin, tobacco, chocolate or condoms are negotiable under disaster conditions.

Plan : Stock water, food and fuel at home, along with an advance supply of any medications you depend on. (Ironically, there seems to be a Federal law against stockpiling food) Have a reserve of cash or barter goods. Stay near home or somewhere you can remain a while. Keep your jump kit ready in case you have to move suddenly.

Natural Disasters

Flooding is by far the biggest natural disaster killer. Plan: Have at least two rehearsed evacuation routes. Get weather alert radio which operates without utility power. Keep a Jump Kit handy.

Storms, especially tornadoes, also kill by high winds and lightning. Plan: Learn to recognize approaching tornadoes by taking a "Storm Spotter" class. Have a prearranged storm shelter location in your home, and a rehearsed procedure for using it. Monitor your weather alert radio.

Earthquakes can happen anywhere. The only one I've ever experienced was in Merritt Island, FL, a location which has never recorded an earthquake before or since. There is still no reliable early warning, so your only preparedness is to know and rehearse the plan: If outdoors get clear of falling structures. If indoors, get out or take cover under a doorway, or beside a strong appliance or furniture which might form a pocket should the building collapse.

I dont know anybody who lives near a volcano, but the plan is similar to a flood plan.

Evacuation - Your Jump Kit

Your Jump Kit should be easily carried by hand and should contain Everything you need to survive for 72 hours. Seal clothes, toilet paper, etc inside waterproof plastic bags. Dont forget plenty of dry socks. Take care of your feet and your feet will take care of you. (Army Rangers) Include all essential perscription or special medications, eyewear, etc you need, identification, phone numbers, money. Pack high density food (dried fruit, jerky, GORP, candy, hi-energy bars) and as much drinking water as you may need, at least a liter per day. Drinking water is usually in short supply during natural disasters, local utility water is often contaminated in floods. You can pack water purification tablets or Clorox (six drops per gallon) in case you run out of drinking water. My food is packed inside a half gallon plastic jar which can be used to hold water being purified and to make a batch of instant tea. The tea masks the taste of the halazone purification and makes it taste more like lousy diet sweetener.

Emergency Volunteers should pack a separate Jump Kit or "Mission Kit" of all equipment required to support the emergency plan of their organization.

My mission Jump Kit as a communications volunteer for the local EMA has a 2-way radio, spare batteries, antennas cables and connectors, small tarp, strong dacron cord, frequency directories, pens, paper, matches, a few hand tools, duct tape, ty-raps, etc. Medical people call their Mission Kit a "Trauma Bag", typically containing BP cuff, stethoscope, splints, bandages, antiseptics, airways, etc. Whatever your mission or skill is, your Mission Kit contains the basics you need to function autonomously as a volunteer.

When packing your mission Jump Kit, imagine you are going to do your assinged task alone on a desert island. Radio Amateurs world wide hold an annual field day contest, where points are earned for contacts made from a previously unprepared field location. Not only is it a good excuse for camping with your buddies and doing the radio contest thing, but its a good way to rehearse emergency preparedness. Non-radio people are always welcome. If youre not an emergency volunteer, rehearse with your personal Jump Kit the next time you take a car trip to see granny. Rather than packing luggage, just grab your jump kit, sleep in your car or a motel, and eat, wear, and use ONLY whats in your Jump Kit. The first time you rehearse, you will discover several things you should have brought but didnt, and a few you brought but didnt need. But thats the reason for rehearsing.

Spring Forward, Fall Back.

Twice a year, check your jump kit, rotate batteries and food, etc. the same day you check home smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and change alarm clock and TV remote batteries.

Supplies and Storage

The doctrine of the Mormons includes having a year's supply of food and essentials on hand at all times. Even most Mormons dont strictly follow this, but its always good to keep some stock at hand.

Your most vital need beyond oxygen is water. You can live without food for months but only a few days without drinking water.

Your next need is food.

Your need for fuel depends on your heating needs, your cooking needs, plus any fuel you require for generator, chainsaw, vehicle, etc. A vegetarian in a tropical climate could survive indefinitely without any fuel.

Why Altair Has No Generator

Altair does have a long term autonomous electrical power system. Some alternative energy homes use expensive wind or solar power plants to produce household electricity, but a simple DC-only system can be very inexpensive and is more efficient, although limited in its capacity. Converting AC to DC wastes a bit. Coverting DC to AC wastes even more. Consider the following example, running a laptop PC from a generator.

Step	Energy Conversion Process	Efficiency
1	Engine converts fuel to shaft power	60% efficiency
2	Generator converts shaft power to 120 V AC	80% efficiency
3	PC, Switchmode power supply converts AC to 185 VDC	98% efficiency
4	PC, Switchmode PS converts DC to 40 kHz AC	85% efficiency
5	PC, Switchmode PS converts 40 kHz to +5V DC	90% efficiency
TOTAL	Fuel to CPU	36% efficiency

If we instead use 12 V DC as our primary power source, we bypass several steps:

1	PC, Switchmode PS converts 12VDC to 40 kHz AC	80% efficiency
2	PC, Switchmode PS converts 40 kHz to +5V DC	90% efficiency
TOTAL	Fuel to CPU	72% efficiency

Of course, we still have the question of where to get the 12 V DC. I use a large battery floating across a carefully regulated 12 V DC power supply. A dropout relay lights some 12 V flourescent lights when the power fails, and my shortwave and ham radios, scanner, etc is always on the 12 V bus. I maintain all my noraml 2 way voice and video capability for about a day, and can shed non-essential loads to extend the life of the battery. I have two small solar panels which can provide a small light or radio receiver a few hours a day indefinitely. For short term outages I can replenish additional charge via my Bronco or my Harley, or remove a 12 V vehicle alternator and run it from a lawnmower engine.

The art of living without utility power is to live on LESS power. Forget the hair dryer and microwave, save your electricity for a radio or small light ! Cook on your grill and sun dry your hair. Heres a table of common electrical applications and the time to recover the energy with a 5 W solar panel, which gathers about 0.03 kWH per day.

Application	Electrical Load	Conversion Factor	Time Used	Total Energy Consumed	Time to Recover Energy Consumed
Microwave Oven, hot meal	1500 W	Inverter 75%	6 min	0.2 kWH	6 1/2 days
Blow Dryer, dry hair	1500 W	Inverter 75%	5 min	0.17 kWH	5 1/2 days
Refrigerator, one day	500 W	Inverter 75%	6 hr	4 kWH	133 days
Shortwave radio	5 W	Direct 95%	2 hr	0.01 kWH	1/3 day
table lamp	60 W	Inverter 75%	2 hr	0.16 kWH	5 1/3 days
12 V flourescent lamp	4 W	Direct 95%	2 hr	0.0084 kWH	1/4 day

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