Quick cards
Every scenario reduced to what you do first and what you must never do. Built to be printed: use your browser's print option, cut them up, and put them somewhere that does not need a battery.
Power is out. Fridge and freezer discipline, safe cooking, one warm room.
Do now
- Fill the bath and every spare container at the first flicker, before mains water can fail too.
- Shut the fridge and keep it shut. It stays safe for about 4 hours.
- Shut the freezer and keep it shut. It holds 24 to 48 hours unopened.
- Move into one room you can keep warm.
- Put the CO alarm somewhere you will hear it.
Never
- Never run the camp stove, a generator, a BBQ or a heater indoors or anywhere unventilated. Carbon monoxide kills silently. Keep a generator outdoors, 6 m from windows, full stop.
- Related: B1 (Water), B3 (Food), B4 (Energy and light), P2 (Everyday threats)
Cold and the power is out. Everyone in one room, doorways blanketed, watch for hypothermia signs.
Do now
- Bring everyone into one room.
- Blanket the doorways and windows.
- Pitch a tent inside the room for sleeping. It is a huge gain in warmth.
- Get everyone into sleeping bags.
- Fill hot water bottles from the rocket stove.
Never
- Never fuel heaters while running.
- Related: B2 (Fire), B4 (Energy and light)
Serious heat with no cooling. Coolest room, shutters by day, check on elderly neighbours twice daily.
Do now
- Move to the coolest room in the house: lowest floor, north-facing if you have one.
- Shut the windows and put the blinds down for the day.
- Start wet-cloth evaporative cooling.
Never
- Never skip checking on elderly neighbours, twice daily. In most countries, heat kills more people than storms do.
- Related: B5 (Medical, sanitation, hygiene), P9 (Community)
Water is rising. Power off at the mains, never walk or drive through moving water, go up early.
Do now
- Go up early. Do not wait to go out late.
- Power off at the mains before water reaches the house.
- Move valuables and preps up high, if you have not already.
Never
- Never walk through moving water. Just 15 cm is enough to knock you off your feet. Never drive through it either.
- Related: B1 (Water), P2 (Everyday threats), P4 (Tripwires and stay-or-go)
Smoke or dust in the air. FFP2 or FFP3 masks, one sealed room, evacuate early rather than late.
Do now
- Evacuate immediately if an evacuation warning has been issued. Fire outruns cars.
- Put on FFP2 or FFP3 respirator masks (B5).
- Seal yourselves into one room.
Never
- Never wait once a warning is issued. Fire outruns cars.
- Related: B5 (Medical, sanitation, hygiene), P4 (Tripwires and stay-or-go)
Illness is spreading. The three-month pantry means no shopping at the peak, plus a sick-room plan.
Do now
- If someone in the household falls ill, set up the sick room straight away.
- Assign one caregiver only. Both of you mask up.
- Give the sick room its own dishes and a bucket toilet.
- Treat the doorway as the airlock: mask on before you go in, only take it off once you are back out.
Never
- Never go out to shop once things peak. The 3-month pantry means you do not have to.
- Never let the sick room share dishes, cups or the toilet with the rest of the household.
- Related: B3 (Food), B5 (Medical, sanitation, hygiene)
Distance, shielding, time. Get inside a solid building and stay there for at least a day.
Do now
- Get inside the most central or below-ground space of a solid building, within minutes.
- If you were outside, strip off your outer clothes and bag them.
- Shower or wipe down your skin and hair. No conditioner.
- Seal the gaps in the room.
Never
- Potassium iodide (B5) protects ONLY the thyroid, ONLY against radioiodine, and is taken ONLY when authorities instruct it. It is not a radiation cure. In the UK it is issued by the site operator or local authority to households near a licensed nuclear site; it is not something you buy.
- Never leave shelter to go looking for food. Unprepared people flee into the fallout for exactly that reason; your stores mean you do not have to.
- Related: B1 (Water), B5 (Medical, sanitation, hygiene), B6 (Comms, info, navigation)
Stay home, stay unnoticed, and never risk yourself over property. It passes.
Do now
- Stay home. Stay off the streets.
- Keep the car off-street.
- Reinforce the doors. Get the cameras recording.
Never
- Never risk yourself over property.
- Related: P3 (Home defence), P4 (Tripwires and stay-or-go)
Drop, cover, hold. Then check the gas valve and keep clear of any damaged building.
Do now
- Drop, cover and hold.
- Once the shaking stops, put your shoes on. There will be broken glass.
- Check the gas valve. The wrench for it lives zip-tied at the meter (B7).
Never
- Never go back into a building the earthquake has damaged.
- Related: B7 (Tools and the workshop)