Collapse is a disaster. We are the first responders.
Collapse is an on-going disaster which shatters the systems that people rely on to stay alive and safe. We must develop independent capability to protect ourselves and our communities.
"Emergency preparedness" in the context of collapse is intimidating, because the emergency is so big. The collapse of global civilization threatens all life on Earth; how can we prepare for that?
We cannot even be sure what particular hazards will arrive at our doorstep. Windstorm? Flood? Fire? Breakdown of supply chains? Lack of food, water, or medicine? Failure of electrical systems? Failure of agricultural systems? Fascists dragging people off the street? War? It seems like we face an insurmountable catalog of possible emergencies.
But let us remember this:
We are not preparing for the emergency, we are preparing for the response.
The emergency, whatever it is, is beyond our control. The response is something we build for ourselves. We can make ourselves as strong as possible — as well-supplied, as highly-skilled, and as densely connected as we can be — given the time we have to prepare. Then, no matter what happens, we will be in the best position to respond, within our households and among our local communities.
Think like a responder
I studied "emergency management" as a volunteer in the City of Seattle Emergency Operations Center (EOC), about ten years ago. I learned the official procedures used by professional responders: the national-standard "ICS (Incident Command System)," the "CERT (Community Emergency Response Team)" procedures, and even the extremely local "SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare)" procedure for securing a neighborhood block after an earthquake.
They are all basically the same thing, with different levels of formalization and detail. I have distilled the essence into an "Incident Response Procedure" which we can learn, practice, and use. There are four "phases": 1. Assessment, 2. Planning, 3. Operations, and 4. Evaluation. The sequence is repeated every "operational period," which is usually 12 hours in an on-the-ground incident. (See the complete procedure at the bottom of this post.)
A non-standard response
To be sure, our situation as collapse-conscious people learning to become volunteer first responders in our communities is a bit non-standard! After all, the "incident" to which we are responding is the collapse of global civilization. It has multiple manifestations, it is widely extended over time, and we do not expect a "return to normal."
We do, however, expect to establish areas of relative safety and order where our families and communities can live in harmonious relation with each other and with the Earth. That is the ultimate objective of "Collapse Response" as we are conceiving it here.
Using the procedure for our household
Even if we want only to achieve standard "emergency preparedness" in our home, this procedure can give us useful context.
The first question under 2. Planning is:
"What resources are available? (People & skills, supplies & equipment, lines of communication.)"
How we answer this question during a future emergency is determined by what we do now. Our current objectives must be to learn practical skills, collect useful supplies and equipment, and build relationships in our community that we can rely on in a time of trouble.
The next meeting - Saturday 1 November
Exactly how to go about achieving our objectives in a practical meeting is not clear. That is something we will have to work out together.
The next meeting of the Preparedness Support Group is Saturday 1 November at 11:00am Pacific time.
People in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand! Your time has already changed, but the time in the U.S. will not have changed before this meeting. Therefore, the meeting will be one hour earlier by the clock than you might think! Please check this link to verify the meeting time in your time zone.
A further notice with a meeting agenda will be posted before the meeting. See you soon!
❤️ DB
Incident Response Procedure
1. Assessment
- What happened?
- Who needs help?
- What help do they need?
2. Planning
- What resources are available? (People & skills, supplies & equipment, lines of communication.)
- What should we try to accomplish? (Objectives, priorities.)
- Who is going to do what? (This is the "Incident Action Plan" for the current "operational period.")
3. Operations
- Do the plan.
- Keep responders safe.
- Report results.
4. Evaluation
- Did we accomplish our objectives?
- Is the emergency over?
- 🔃 Begin again with Assessment.
