The military has a saying (they have lots of those) that has stuck with me in civilian life. It is called the 5 P's. It stands for Prior, Planning, Prevents, Poor, Performance. The purpose of the 5 P's is to get you to think about what you are trying to accomplish and how to succeed at the task. In the military sense, as they say, "failing to plan is planning to fail." Let's look at the Five P's as they relate to emergency self reliance.
- Prior - the time to have a plan in place and resources available to deal with an emergency is before it happens. An emergency, by definition, is a disruption of normal operations. You may not have access to those resources you were counting on to survive
- Planning - a written (not mental) action plan of what to do when an emergency happens. Ok, maybe if you are planning only for your own response, the plan can be mental. But consider this... in an emergency will you be able to think clearly and remember the plan? Having a written-out plan will help you focus and even remember your preparations.
- Prevents - Bad Decisions. Injury. Death. By thinking things through ahead of time, you will more likely prevent bad things from happening to yourself and others.
- Poor - Undesirable. Sub-optimal. Bad decisions can generally result in bad or dangerous situations. Emergencies have the tendency to bring out the worst in people. Don't let this happen.
- Performance - The ultimate measure of success is did you make it through another day better, worse or the same.
In order to be self reliant in an emergency situation, keep the 5 P's in mind as you start the journey of preparedness.
Until Next Time -- Be Ready!
J.R.
