Readiness

From my point of view, if someone is ready for whatever comes next, then having a readiness plan isn’t really necessary because not much will change from times of normalcy to times of crisis. Unfortunately, most of us are far from being in that state of readiness, so having a plan is a necessity.

The most effective readiness plans consist of three basic parts: immediate readiness, intermediate readiness, and long term readiness. Each of these parts take different kinds of resources and planning in order to be effective. While I will discuss each type of readiness in this post only in generalities, I will discuss them in detail in future posts.

Immediate Readiness

Immediate readiness refers to being ready for sudden changes like power outages, natural disasters, or political upheaval. Such plans usually consist of ensuring that someone has the basic resources to weather such a change for periods ranging from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the change. Immediate readiness plans tend to be specific to the kinds of changes the planner might expect to experience. generally, most immediate readiness plans involve preparing for a few days.

Intermediate Readiness

Intermediate readiness refers to being ready for changes that last longer than just a few days or weeks. Intermediate changes can last from months to years depending on the change and may require planning for relocation to places distant from the change. Intermediate readiness planning often involves establishing fall-back points, supply caches, and identifying people with whom to share such a plan.

Long Term Readiness

Long term readiness really refers to preparing for the changes to be permanent in some fashion. Long term readiness planning should be the guiding force behind all other forms of planning and should help the planners transition from a lifestyle that is not ready to one that is.

Over the next weeks and months, I will discuss aspects of each element of these kinds of plans in more detail.

DLH