Before the ball dropped and we rang in the New Year, I’m sure many of you had made New Year’s resolutions for 2019. Many seem to make the same resolution year in and year out, like adding exercise to our daily routines, being more organized, eating healthy or possibly donating more often to charitable causes. This year I have a New Year’s resolution idea that could prove to be priceless. Let’s ‘Resolve to be Ready’ and commit to making our family, home or business better prepared for an emergency.
The hardest part of keeping a resolution is sustaining momentum after the first few weeks of the New Year. So here are some ideas for how you can phase in your resolutions to be ready for an emergency in 2019:
- Set a monthly reminder in your calendar to test your home’s smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms – the first of every month in your personal or work calendar can serve as a great reminder to test your smoke and CO alarms. Or I tell the kids that I teach, to test on the day they were born every month. Whatever you choose, find a day you’ll remember and make it stick.
- Pick up one item for your emergency kit on each of your shopping runs – building your family’s emergency kit doesn’t need to happen all at once. Pick up canned food, bottled water, a battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, and other recommended emergency items over the first month or two of the year (it will also spread the cost of building your emergency supply kit).
- Set attainable preparedness goals for each month of 2019 – learning your home’s fire escape routes or remembering your family’s emergency communication plan is easier with regular practice. So during each month of the year, set small goals like finishing your emergency kit, practicing your fire escape plan, reviewing family emergency meeting locations, bookmarking useful websites and mobile websites and learning about local resources in your area.
I sincerely hope you will ‘Resolve to be Ready’ in 2019. It’s a resolution we can keep, and one that will definitely prove its worth, should disaster strike.
Cheers to a happy, healthy and safe 2019!
