My family is very lucky to withstand different disasters that occurs in the past. I think the worst that we got was when the flood eaten almost half of the house where you would be seeing us clinging to our lives at the rooftop. I was still a kid back then and floods where like a huge pool that I consider. So just imagine my excitement whenever there’s a flood in our area.
But of course as we grow older we realizes the grave cost of a disaster. We tend to hope for it not to ever happen again. And we realizes the importance of disaster preparedness. You will never know when one will hit and disaster or emergencies can always happen to anyone.
Working on a TV station, I think I got an advantage of knonwing forecast firsthand. I was able to undergo first aid training as well (which I would need to really review and practice), which I can consider a must kind of life skills.I also learn the imporatance of having a GO-BAG, which is a bag packed with essential items, kept ready for use in the event of an emergency evacuation of one’s home.
What’s inside a GO-BAG:
Since we cannot predict the future, you never really know when a disaster or medical emergency will hit. Does being ready at all times is a must and having a Go bag could save your day. Remember to put these bags on a safe place, accessible and near the exit points. Here are the things you should include inside your Go Bag.
- Water and food (bring canned foods and nuts also one to two bottles of water per person)
- Flashlight
- Whistle
- Dust mask
- Emergency cash in small denominations
- Battery-operated radio
- Extra batteries
- Pocket knife
- Lighter and/or matches
- Sturdy shoes, a change of clothes, and a warmer
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Permanent marker, paper and tape
- Photos of family members for identification purposes
- List of emergency point-of-contact phone numbers
- Copy of health insurance and identification cards
- Prescription medications and first-aid supplies
- Extra keys to your house and vehicle
- Other special items needed by family members
Read: Why I always pack another luggage?
Remember to pack as lightly as possible and tag your bag with your name and address. Also update the bag twice a year or maybe quarterly or whenever you are going to change contact details and such. This is actually very useful for each household and I can say the more that you needed to be prepared if you are a business owner or small entrepreneur.
This is what I’ve learned from the recent forum I attended. Cebuana Lhuillier gathered stakeholders to push for disaster preparedness among Filipinos. With a mission to equip society‟s most vulnerable sectors against the onslaught of calamities, the nation‟s biggest names in disaster management, risk reduction, and post-disaster rehabilitation convened on August 9 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel for the ‘2017 READY Disaster Resilience Forum – All Sectors In: Making Everyone Disaster-Resilient’.
In partnership with the Insurance Commission, the Climate Change Commission, and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the event was organized to serve as a platform to discuss measures on disaster resiliency for MSMEs, the agriculture sector, and high-risk communities. It is also a venue to educate the public about the role of microinsurance in disaster preparedness. The convenors and partners of this year‟s forum see microinsurance as a vital preparedness tool, which helps protect Filipinos from the harsh effects brought by calamities.
Cebuana Lhuillier also introduced a new product called the Alagang Cebuana Plus (ACP) Gold. The introduction of the ACP Gold coincided with the launch of another project called “National Pilipino Protektado Day‟ (NPPD), which provided free microinsurance coverage to one million Filipinos across the country. Other initiatives rolled out under Cebuana Lhuillier‟s disaster resilience campaign include the launch of Cebuana Alerto, an Android app that provides real-time disaster-related information, the formation of the Microinsurance Agents Association of the Philippines (MIAAP), an organization founded to promote the interest and welfare of microinsurance agents nationwide, and the introduction of Claims Rapid Action in a Disaster-Stricken Area Operations (RAPIDO), an initiative that enables Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions (CLIS) to immediately process and settle claims right at the site where a disaster had just occurred.
There are other companies you can also rely on to when it comes to disaster preparedness, but if you are already a Cebuana Lhuillier consumer, might as well avail this new services.
Being prepared is something we all should need to do and having the necessary knowledge and equipment could probably save your day.
