Welcome to GettingPrepared.Info
My name is John Galvin and I started GettingPrepared.Info to help people prepare for disasters and emergencies. I began this quest as a journalist, and as a father and husband. I’ve covered disasters for several years, and the more I learned the more I realized that anybody can be hit by a disaster. I’m not a doomsayer, I don’t think the world is coming to an end, and until very recently I was one of those people who tell themselves: you can’t worry about these things. With three children and years of research and reporting on disasters, I have come to conclusion that I do need to worry about these things–at least a little.
The truth is, most people and most families are totally unprepared for almost anything to go wrong in their lives. Hurricane Katrina brought disasters to the limelight but we’ve quickly forgotten it. A Red Cross survey conducted this summer revealed that 51 percent of the country has experienced a serious emergency, and 37 percent have even been without power, heat, or water for at least three days. Here’s the amazing thing. Only 12 percent of the country, according to the same survey, is adequately prepared for an emergency. 20 percent of Americans have done nothing to prepare!
It’s like this: Most people are aware they are in danger, few of us do anything about it, and none of us are immune.
Sleepwalking Into Disasters, And How I Came To See the Light
Until recently I was one of those unprepared people. Sure, I’d taken some steps here and there. After my first child I stored some water in the basement and bought a box of MREs. After my second child I picked up a lantern at the local camping store, and bought some extra propane for my grill. But recently when I looked for the propane I couldn’t find it, the lantern’s batteries had burned out, and the MREs had expired. So what good had I done? As I started working on my latest disaster story for Popular Mechanics (The Rules of Survival, October 2009), I realized that I was one of the people that I often criticized. More than anybody, I know that disasters are fickle, they can strike anywhere, and if a blizzard wiped out power to my house for three days, what would I tell my children? “Sorry kids! I know it’s cold in here, but I’ll be better prepared next time.” It was time for me to get serious about my family’s safety.
What Do I Mean By Disaster and Emergencies?
In my mind “disaster” means everything from hurricanes to wildfires, from floods to flu pandemics, from earthquakes to tornadoes. I include house fires in the mix too. In fact, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, 2,600 people died in house fires last year, and another 16,000 were seriously injured–more than all natural disasters combined. I also include auto accidents which, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, killed another 30,000 people last year. These auto accidents deal a devastating emotional and financial blow to any family affected by them.
Our Mission
Our job is to help you get prepared, in a reasonable way. And in an affordable way. I’ve interviewed scores of people who survived disasters, some of whom were prepared and some of whom just got lucky. My goal is to take the knowledge that we’ve learned about disaster preparedness and share it. We will learn the best way to deal with a raging wildfire, and we’ll also examine everything from critical first-aid training to dealing with insurance companies in the wake of large- and small-scale disasters.
We’ll talk to survivors, emergency management experts, research psychologists, insurance professionals, doctors, and everyone in between. That way if you’re one of the people affected by a disaster this year, you will find a valuable, trustworthy, resource you can call upon for information. Along the way I’m going to be outfitting my own house so you can learn along with me. You won’t learn how to skin and eat a wild bear–I’ll leave that to the hard-core wilderness survivalists. But you are going to learn to prepare for everything from blizzards to earthquakes and everything in between. You’ll learn what to do when a storm’s approaching, and how to sanitize water. You’ll see how to hook a generator up to your house, and what to do if the swine flu hits your neighborhood. We’ll explore everything from flood insurance to life insurance–both of which could be integral to your disaster plans. I promise that we’ll make these solutions affordable. Nothing is more annoying than reading about, say, how to hook your house up to a generator and then finding out the solution costs $20,000.
News and Information
At GettingPrepared.Info, we’ll also stay on top of disasters as they unfold, updating you on our front page with the latest news about approaching disasters and what those in the way can do to protect themselves.
Send Me Your Suggestions
You can reach me directly at John@GettingPrepared.Info. If you’ve got something you want me to investigate, or research, let me know. Also, don’t forget to post your own tips and join in the discussion on our GettingPrepared.Info Forum.
Thanks!
John.
President/Founder
GettingPrepared.Info
–
More About John
John Galvin is a journalist who has written for several national magazines, including National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, Outside, Wired, National Geographic Adventure, Popular Science, The New York Times Magazine, and others. Some of his work available online includes a 20,000-word Popular Mechanics feature on the 10 Worst Disasters to Strike the U.S. in the Last 101 Years (July 2007), and the October of 2009 Popular Mechanics story, The Rules of Survival: 4 People Who Faced Disaster–And How they Made it Out Alive.
Galvin is also a founder of One Day University, the acclaimed adult education series. One Day University brings together the country’s best professors, from the greatest schools, to create the most stimulating day of college on earth. In three years since Galvin started the company with his business partner, One Day University has put on over 125 events in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Boca Raton, Los Angeles, San Francisco and several other locations. Over 20,000 people have attended One Day University since the first event in 2007.
