Critical Food Item During Crisis : Coffee

One may wonder why coffee is such important food item to be stored for disaster preparedness. Before we delve further on the importance of coffee, lets get some basic knowledge on coffee ( from the wiki )

Coffee is a drink that is mixed with hot water prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Due kafeinnya content, coffee has a stimulating effect in humans. Today, coffee is one of the most preferred beverages all over the world. [1]
Coffee was first consumed in the ninth century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia. [2] From there, it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and in the 15th century, had reached Armenia, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, and throughout Europe, and the Americas. [3]

                                     Coffer has caiffeine stimulant  with calming factor

ONE of the sweetness of life, now more 'sweet'. After many years researchers conducted a study on the effects of coffee on health, that world's favorite beverage worried increase the risk of heart disease, but large-scale study shows the results otherwise

Even in this latest study, initially found coffee drinkers are more likely to die at any time. This is because many coffee drinkers also smoke, drink more alcohol, eat lots of red meat and less exercise than non-coffee drinkers.

However, once the researchers took into account all of these things, a clear pattern emerged:One cup of coffee a day increases the chances of living longer

In short,coffee drinkers were found to have a longer life expectancy regardless of whether or decaffeinated or not. 

In the time of crisis, coffee is one of the great food item to have around. It can be shared among the survivors and it's basic yet simple preparation method makes it a luxury among the disastrous items. Yes, the caffeine content helps

Though caffeine is best known as a stimulating drug that helps you stay awake and focuses your brain if you need to concentrate on a task. This chemical also has calming effects because of the way it affects your brain. Such effects are not as noticeable as the stimulation and energy boost, but they do play a role in caffeine's addictiveness.

In the event of failure to government system, the money that you have will be worthless.  In addition to gold and other precious, coffee can become the currency of choice due to its characteristic : widely accepted, lightweight and easily partitioned. In this situation , coffee can be used for trade with other food items , medicine and gas.

With all the benefits mentioned above, it is vital to have coffee as part of your critical food item in your disaster preparedness checklist. Since coffee can only be grown in certain part of the world, it is wise to stock it early and your coffee beans would not get spoiled easily ( if you store it properly) 

Effective Disaster Preparedness Tips

You can also take advantage of the tips and knowledge available at Family survival course. It is one of the most comprehensive guide available to date. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Disaster Preparedness : 5 Good Practice Dealing with Active Shooter

Have you ever imagine yourself getting into a situation where an active shooter is present. Do you know what to do? Do you know the risk involved for any action taken by you? Should you hide or should you attempt to disable the shooter? These are the questions that would come to your mind once you get into the situation.

  Before we proceed further with the 5 good practice when dealing with active shooter , lets take a look at the profile of active shooter. From the Department of Homeland Security website (www.dhs.gov)

PROFILE OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER 

An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.

 Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically, the immediate deployment of law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to victims.

Because active shooter situations are often over within 10 to 15 minutes, before law enforcement arrives on the scene, individuals must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with an active shooter situation.


The following are  5 Good practices for coping with an active shooter situation

1 Be aware of your environment and any possible dangers

2 Take note of the two nearest exits in any facility you visit

3 If you are in an office, stay there and secure the door

4 If you are in a hallway, get into a room and secure the door

5 As a last resort, attempt to take the active shooter down. When the shooter is at close range and you cannot flee, your chance of survival is much greater if you try to incapacitate him/her.

Lets take a look on HOW TO RESPOND WHEN AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IS IN YOUR VICINITY

Quickly determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life. Remember that customers and clients are likely to follow the lead of employees and managers during an active shooter situation.

1. Evacuate If there is an accessible escape path, attempt to evacuate the premises.
 Be sure to:
• Have an escape route and plan in mind
• Evacuate regardless of whether others agree to follow
• Leave your belongings behind
• Help others escape, if possible

2. Hide out If evacuation is not possible, find a place to hide where the active shooter is less likely to find you. Your hiding place should:
• Be out of the active shooter’s view
• Provide protection if shots are fired in your direction (i.e., an office with a closed and locked door)
• Not trap you or restrict your options for movement

To prevent an active shooter from entering your hiding place
:• Lock the door
• Blockade the door with heavy furniture

3. Take action against the active shooter 
As a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the active shooter by:
• Acting as aggressively as possible against him/her
• Throwing items and improvising weapons

FINALLY HOW TO RESPOND WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ARRIVES

Law enforcement’s purpose is to stop the active shooter as soon as possible. Officers will proceed directly to the area in which the last shots were heard. 

• Officers usually arrive in teams of four (4)
• Officers may wear regular patrol uniforms or external bulletproof vests, Kevlar helmets, and other tactical equipment• Officers may be armed with rifles, shotguns, handguns
• Officers may use pepper spray or tear gas to control the situation
• Officers may shout commands, and may push individuals to the ground for their safety 

How to react when law enforcement arrives:

• Keep hands visible at all times

• Avoid making quick movements toward officers

 • Immediately raise hands and spread fingers

• Remain calm, and follow officers’ instructions

• Put down any items in your hands (i.e., bags, jackets)

Effective Disaster Preparedness Tips
You can also take advantage of the tips and knowledge available at Family survival course. It is one of the most comprehensive guide available to date. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Also you can Click on the link for FREE Active shooter  preparedness resource

Homeland security new ammo :1.6 Billion

Yesterday it was reported that Homeland security is buying more than 1.6 billion of ammo, that is 5 bullets  for every citizen in our country. Why is our government  buying bullets for our "protection"?  Don't  we have sufficient protection already? Or our government is in the "arm race against the American people" , as mentioned by Alex Jones. If we look from one perspective, it seems the government is gearing for total collapse and they are getting ready with war. They are ticking their own disaster preparation checklist.. ammo, checked !!!. But war against who? is Homeland security is preparing for war against all of us? which make it very sad.

Detail of the news is here 

Homeland Security and its cache of bullets

ICE's ammunition requests in the last year included:

—450 million rounds of .40-caliber duty ammunition

—40 million rounds of rifle ammunition a year for as many as five years, for a total bullet-buy of 200 million rounds

—176,000 rifle rounds on a separate contract

—25,000 blank rounds

Should we be worried with all these preparation? I for one don't think we should take their explanation fully. We know they meant well but their method could hurt as along the way.

During the crisis with the collapse of social order, government view all of us as objects that need to be controlled. I for sure do not want my family to fall into the mercy of the government agencies, not when their plan of social order includes 1.6 billion of bullets

These type of news makes me more determined with my disaster preparedness checklist. I pray the day will never come when the social order breaks down, but at the same time I need to be prepared. just in case the threat level goes higher.

Preparation tips

Fellow citizen may take advantage of the tips and knowledge available at Family survival course. It is one of the most comprehensive guide available to date. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Alex Top 10 Critical FOOD items for disaster

In our country, we can only live as civil as long as  there is enough food to go around, once there is food shortage, riots will break out. It is so sad to realize that citizen in our country will fight and horde food while citizen in some other countries ever ready to share the food during the crisis. As part of  the "Disaster Preparedness Checklist" I am going to list down Alex Critical FOOD items for the disaster. Note that this is customized  to my needs and dietary preference. 

Please remember that there is difference between immediate  food needs and medium to long term food needs.  I am storing 2 weeks supply  for immediate supply needs. For your preparation, you can store 2-4 weeks worth of food. I strongly encourage you to customized your own critical food list to your needs, if you are too worried that you may miss something important, you can refer to the "expert" advise at  37 critical food for disaster

The method that I use to prepare the list is straight forward, go though my grocery receipt for the 2-3 month, the idea is to store what we consume. There is no point in storing items that we do not normally used. They I did a quick check if the food items meets the recommended food pyramid. You can refer the Food Pyramid at wiki for more info about them

Below is my list :

Alex Top Ten List of Critical food item

1- Pasta , dried noodles ,instant noodle 
Pack the carb, the most important food items for energy

2- Wheat flour , rice , yeast , salt
Pls pack the yeast to bake bread. Freshly baked warm loaf is a treat to the whole family 

3-Canned food , selection of chicken, meat , sardines and tuna , tomatoes, corn ,nuts
Get the food that you use. I would like to remind the benefit of nuts, it is highly nutritional, full of energy , making it a wise choice for food.






4-Water : No brainer on this item, you need water to survive .. period.

5- Cigarettes  & tobacco - I am not advocating smoking but you will be surprised the number of doors / opportunity opens up with the simple offer of cigarettes and smoke. Our forefather smoked pipe together for peace and the tradition has not really dies off.  You should also be wise in offering this item for gesture as it is also very useful trade tools in the coming days.

6- Coffee tea and sugar ( and creamer if you like ) - Having coffee  and tea makes you fell a bit more civilized and has the calming effect on your body, even in the dire condition. It is good to stock them up and you can also use them for trade later on.







7- Chocolate bars (and energy bars?) , I personally prefers chocolate bars and ignore the energy bars. Energy bars is nothing more than a carb+fibre glazed with sugar. 

6- Infant Formula and baby food - for my kids . You do not want be short on this during crisis period. The worst thing could happen is to have you child going hungry while in the middle of the crisis  So better stock up a bit more than 2 weeks. Some people suggest on soy milk as substitute but I still prefer the real thing



8-  Dried meet & fish and herbs- for quick and meal in case of real real emergency
Dried meet and fish are very versatile, they are lighter compared to the canned cousin and they do not get spoil easily. These items are good for packing if you need to travel light for few days where cooking is not an option.

9- Spirits
Consider putting this as part of the critical items list even if you do not drink. Spirit is good for washing wounds and sterilizing items.  It could be the body warmer in the harsh living condition.

10 - Cannabis : Some people prefer to put popcorn on their list but I prefer weed. The benefit of weed has been well documented for centuries, even The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does acknowledge that "there has been considerable interest in its use for the treatment of a number of conditions, including glaucoma, AIDS wasting, neuropathic pain, treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea,". It may sound harsh, but the pain-killer property of weed could make it highly desirable during the crisis, which makes it a good trading currency as well.


There you have it , Alex top 10 critical food item from Alex Disaster Preparedness Checklist .

Effective Disaster Preparedness Tips

You can also take advantage of the tips and knowledge available at Family survival course. It is one of the most comprehensive guide available to date. It covers broad topics in addition to food preparedness. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Preparing the MINDSET for the disaster

I choose to blog about disaster mindset preparation from my disaster preparedness checklist. because I believe mindset preparation is the biggest and most important preparation we could ever try to do. Of course, there is no way to exactly predict how the mind will act/behave during the disaster, but it is going to be worse if we never ever try to condition or simulation our mind to it. A lot of people do not put the focus on the mind preparation while preparing for the disaster , most focus on the physical preparation

We must realize that during disaster, we could be the worst person being hit by the major disaster. We could not postulate that we will be the least person impacted by the disaster. The chance of you,  your spouse , child, parents, lover , friends to be impact by the crisis is just as  ,  equal as other people.  You could be get injured or even worse , lost some of your loved one in the disaster. 

If you witness traumatic event, most likely you will fall into acute stress disorder, the impact of acute stress disorder varies t typically include an initial state of "daze", with some constriction of the field of consciousness and narrowing of attention, inability to comprehend stimuli, and disorientation. This state may be quickly followed by either further withdrawal from the surrounding situation (to the extent of a dissociative stupor), or by agitation and overactivity, anxiety, impaired judgement, confusion, detachment, and depression. Autonomic signs of panic anxiety (tachycardia, sweating, flushing) are also commonly present. The symptoms usually appear within minutes of the impact of the stressful stimulus or event, and disappear within 2–3 days (source wiki)

 In order to able to get through the disaster as a productive member, not wasting the critical 2-3 days after the main disaster , your mind need to conditioned to these possibilities . Conditioning with the possibilities does not mean you are hoping for it happen , but it your mind must be prepared , as much as you can for the probability.

What can you do about this , as part of disaster preparedness checklist?

Talk about it at the dinner table with your spouse and family. Make it one of the topics to discuss at the dinner table for a few times in a year to make sure everybody in the family talks about it. Most people will shy away from the topic the 1st time it is brought up.  It is a common response when unpleasant topic is discussed . Listen carefully to what everybody has to say and acknowledge their fears and concern. Try as much to allay their fear by focusing on the survival aspect instead of the lost aspect.

Run you own mind simulation on action plan in case one or some of you family member is injured or incapacitated. You disaster action plan must be flexible to handle the situation.  Improvise the plan if needed. Most people do not think it could happen to them , well there is no need to deny that anymore.

Review and share your disaster preparedness checklist with you family member. Make sure they know exactly what the plans are , in case you do not survive the initial disaster ( well that is another possibility ). Make sure they are aware of their role and responsibilities until certain norms return to their life.

Talk about post traumatic stress , their symptom and root cause with the family. Recognizing that some of us will be impacted by this could help the family member to deal with it.

   .

 Pray, if you are a believer. It will help to articulate your darkest fear and find some solace it in.

Effective Disaster Preparedness Tips

You can also take advantage of the tips and knowledge available at Family survival course. It is one of the most comprehensive guide available to date. Trust me, you will not regret it.

A bit about my disaster preparedness checklist

I have seen and experienced enough events in my life to be one of the people who thinks disaster will only happen to other people but me. To be frank,  I am just an average Joe who love a cup of joe in the morning, noon , afternoon and night  ( &*# !! .. sounds like l am having  Joe’s addiction and more story about a cup of joe in the future .. if I ever find the time to write it) and greasy chicken and steak for dinner. I could continue to lead my life as like other “non-prepared” public and hope for the govt agencies , marines , army , FEMA and etc to come to help during the crisis . I can happily send my kids to school, go to work, hope for my wife to have pleasant trip to  her favorite K-Mart and pretend to believe that our country will take care of us .. well , ignorance is a bliss.

The lack of knowlege to a situation. Usually once the whole truth is revealed you realize you were happier being clueless..

In the aftermath of Katrina Hurricane it took the marines multiple days to reach New Orleans superdome. At that time I was thinking to myself, what has happened to my country, we should be better than the rest of the world. as we all have seen and heard on  News, the images from dome were disturbing and the reality was even more dire. Deaths from thirst, exhaustion, and violence, days after the storm had passed were well documented

Survivor at Super Dome

The Japan Tsunami was a huge disaster, I think a lot of people we caught off-guard as well, but did we see similar situation to Superdome in Japan. Apparently not , the news headline on The Examiner  was .. "The is no looting in Japan"

Survivor Lining up to get food

It did not take an expert to point out that  in both scenario, survivors suffers equally a lot from the disaster, but their behavior after the disaster were completely different. We need to understand the culture and community at the place where we lived. The community could be our greatest asset and could also be our greatest threat during the crisis. The difference in cultural value means that the  disaster preparedness checklist need to be personalized. You can't use the checklist that is drawn by others since they live in different region with different community dynamics. 

You can find millions of wesite out there dedicating to disaster preparedness checklist, what to do before the disaster and how to horde food and how to behave during the disaster aftermath . I am not interested to proliferate their views, at the same time I am trying to present a different perspective to preparing for disaster. It is entirely based on my experience , observation and research on events that happen to all of us. Sorry to say that I am not in the liberty to discuss my specific experience due to limitation imposed by my previous employer.

My personal disaster preparedness checklist are as below. The list is drawn specifically for me, but I am sharing it with everyone with the hope that this could inspire your own checklist

1. Mental preparation
2. Essential food preparation 
3. Water source
4. Currency for trade - not $ 
5. Tools - hardware for survival
6. Energy and Power
7. Security and defense arrangement - personal and community
8. Communication
9. Survival guide for digital data
10. Medium term food supply
11. Evacuation action plan : in the scenario of serious environmental contamination
12. First Aid knowledge

I am going to blog more about these topics and others in the future. In the mean time, you are more than welcomed to leave comments, at least I know someone is reading.