Supply & Support
Action: Make your own supply list, and leave space to include new items if you ever experience that particular type of emergency and find there is something you left off. Plan your own supply rotation system to keep things like food, medication, and batteries fresh and usable. Find a local, socially distanced blood drive if you can donate. And remember, not everyone has the capacity to plan and supply beforehand, so find a local food bank to use or donate to depending on your circumstances, and help out our undocumented (1, 2), indigenous (1, 2), and trans friends through mutual aid programs as they face this virus with fewer resources and less government support than should be the case.
Educate: Look into the wide variety of different emergency supply lists that exist out there – what you need for a hurricane, a pandemic, a zombie apocalypse. Think critically about whether or not you have the capacity to use all of those supplies and tailor your supply list to your needs and capabilities. Watch these videos (1, 2) on rotating your stocked supplies, and do research if you find these techniques don’t work for you.
Source Material: Click through the links to the source material we used to research this week – take a deep dive into what was most interesting to you!
- Strategic and Operational Planning from FEMA
- Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise from US Department of Health and Human Services
- Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and Federal Facilities from EPA
- Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness from FEMA
- Plan Ahead for Disasters and Emergencies on Ready.gov
- Strategic National Stockpile from ScienceDirect
- The sneaky language today’s politicians use to get away with racism and sexism from Vox
- The history behind the racist ‘looting’ narrative from Think Progress
- Plans and Specs at Northwest Shelter Systems
