Though my most visible income stream is consulting and speaking about living the Big Life, I still get asked a lot by friends and colleagues to consult about how to stay safe during situations ranging from active shooter situations to pandemic contagions like the coronavirus.
I’d like to give you some of the same advice I give them for emergency action plans.
To recap my creds, I’ve held jobs since I was seventeen that required me to be armed, beginning with the Marine Corps. Most of that time, I served in the medical field, whether on an ambulance or serving as a combat medic. My last posting was as a founding member of the US Dept of Homeland Security where I was a member of a special team that responded to mass casualty incidents and national disasters, both man-made and weather-related.
Because of recent events, I’m focusing here on advice for staying safe in global infectious events like the viruses that seem to magically emerge from China every few years because some yahoo decided to sell stolen lab animals at the nearby market.
What I’m going to tell you will seem incredibly simple and sound like common sense. That’s because it is. It’s basic information that will keep you safe and infection free longer than most. Trust that if you follow my advice, you’ll have less reason for panic and apprehension. The advice will hold true now and if things get worse.
Let’s get into it.
1. Wash and sanitize your hands as often as possible.
For this you’ll need skinsafe chemicals. Stock up on items like hand sanitizer, bleach, and Lysol before people panic and you can’t find it anywhere. I’m already getting reports back from clients out of the country saying that stocks of these items are already depleted.
When Amazon sells out, you know people are getting scared.
I just purchased the items shown below for a client this afternoon, but only because I had a contact that called as soon as it came in. I also picked up a bunch of immune booster for them.
2. Avoid touching things and people as much as possible in public. This is good advice even when nothing is wrong, because people are generally filthy animals. I get why, but I really hate that churches still do the old school ‘hand-shaking time’.
3. Avoid mass gatherings. This is the time to stop going to concerts, festivals, and conventions that aren’t really important to you. If you do have to go for work, follow the other rules as much as possible.
4. Get healthy now. I know the vast majority of you have been wanting to get into shape or lose weight for years. Now’s the time to do it. The healthier you are, the less chance you’ll be affected. If you do get infected, you will have a better chance of surviving it.
In a grid down situation, there are going to be a lot of hardcore preppers out there that die early from heart, diabetes, or obesity-related maladies. When they do, I’ll take their stuff (unless you get to it first).
5. Assemble or buy a bug out bag. This is a smart play even when nothing is wrong.
I design personalized bags on an individual basis, but I also sell my list if you’re interested. Just click HERE for it.
That’s it.
These basic instructions will keep you and your family safe longer. Sure, there’s a million other things you could do, but don’t worry about those unless you know the basics I’ve mentioned. These rules will change your behavior and preparedness level.
Dr. Dave, the guy that wants to keep you alive without scaring you unnecessarily
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This message was written by a team of geeks, nerds, gamers, and Dr. David Powers. You can always find us at www.callsignredbeard.com. Thanks for reading!
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