Safe and Sane: What to Consider When Planning for the Worst-Case Scenarios

We don’t want to be thinking about the worst of every situation, but there are so few people who are self-reliant and prepared for any worst-case scenario. Lots of people struggle to get by from day to day in a financial sense, and therefore, it’s easy to see why they’re not so thrilled about the idea of preparing for any negative outcome. But it’s so important for us to have some basic grasp of what we can do based on the most common worst-case scenarios. Here are a few things that you can do to ensure that your home and your family can stay ready and relatively relaxed.

 

Have an Emergency Kit

An emergency kit is a very simple cure-all in a lot of situations. The most common problem we tend to have is a power cut. We spend a lot of time on our devices and have become increasingly reliant on the internet to do everything for us over the last 10 years. Therefore, an emergency kit should help the home to function in the event of a power cut. You could have a backup generator but also ensure that you have the basics, including torches and candles.

 

Know What You Need to Prepare for

Depending on where you live, you could find that certain types of issues occur more often than others. When you know what you need to prepare for, you will be able to get the most effective solution. A good example is when you experience something like a power cut. Having a lithium battery that stores power can ensure that you can provide electricity to your home during those blackouts, but you can also find ways to give your home a bit more energy for free. Something like a Growatt portable solar panel can be invaluable in these situations because it can give you peace of mind, knowing you’ve always got some backup power ready. As obvious as it sounds, when you know what you need to prepare for, it gives you a far better understanding of the things you need to put in place, ensuring you are mentally ready.

 

Having an Appropriate Plan

Preparing yourself for the worst-case scenario is not just about having an emergency kit ready, but it’s also about being ready for the situation itself. Depending on the emergency, you will need to have a plan that you and your family can follow. For example, if a thief were to break into the house, you would need to know exactly what to do so you can contact the emergency services quietly without alerting attention to yourself and ensuring that the children do not panic. 

In these situations, it’s best to not try and confront the thieves because this could result in a very devastating outcome. Burglars who prey on homes at night assume that people are asleep, and therefore, ensuring you have a plan in place doesn’t just mean that you can get through this situation as quickly as possible, but it also means that you don’t succumb to panic. It’s always a good idea to communicate with your family what you should do in these situations because fear of the unknown is something that can overwhelm us. Instead of feeling like you are helpless, the most important thing to remember is to mentally prepare for these moments and know exactly what you will do.

 

Keeping the Lines of Communication Open

When it comes to making a plan, it’s not just about your immediate family that needs to know exactly what to do, but you also need to remember that communication lines can get knocked out during something like a natural disaster, so it’s worthwhile factoring this into your plan. 

Having another family member in another location as the person that everybody can check in and communicate through will ensure that if you and the children get separated, they will always know what to do. When you have young children, it’s important to ensure they know the telephone number of a relative and know how to use a telephone in these emergencies. It’s also worth pointing out the members of the authorities whom they can rely on if they were to get separated from you, for example, firefighters, police officers, and emergency workers. We can spend a lot of time teaching our children about stranger danger, but in these situations, they need to be able to approach the right people so they can be safe and secure.

 

Prepare Based on Your Unique Needs

Everybody’s needs change over time, and when you are preparing an emergency kit, it should be customized to the most likely type of emergency in your local area. While preparing for a power cut will mean having emergency lighting, you also need to ensure that everybody is comfortable. For example, if you’ve got a young baby that needs formula every few hours, you need to find ways to heat your baby’s formula.

If you have children, you should not underestimate the importance of comfortable items that will ensure that everybody can feel far more secure. You never know what type of emergency is going to come up, and therefore, when you have the emergency provisions as well as the things that will keep your family safe and sane in any season, it will guarantee that this emergency situation won’t feel so stressful.

 

Preparing for those worst-case scenarios is not an easy thing, but it is critical that we all spend some time considering what would happen based on where we are and ensuring that everybody is mentally prepared. Those worst-case scenarios are very unlikely to happen, and while many people may not think it’s worth even considering preparing for these things, when it comes to those emergency situations, it’s not just about having the practical solutions, but it’s about ensuring that you are mentally ready. There is an expression that “we don’t rise to the occasion, but we fall to our training.” If you are prepared for any unrealistic solution, you won’t have any regrets later on that you could have done something differently.