August 23, 2007

Disaster preparedness, be it wildfire, earthquake or flood, begins with individual preparedness. As human beings we have the responsibility to know how we can survive a dire situation. We cannot rely entirely on government agency representatives that are likely to be unavailable in a catastrophic event. Nor can we put them in harm’s way.

The Fire Safe Council of San Diego strives to provide education, exchange information and foster fire prevention and fire safety within the County of San Diego. Although our focus is primarily wildfire prevention, many of our programs encompass community disaster preparedness. Since we have learned of Susan Conniry and Tom Beasley’s Survival Traveling Road Show, the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County has been promoting this informative and dynamic training.

Through these survival trainings, Susan and Tom present participants with survival techniques that embrace the four basic necessities of survival: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food. Workshop participants will walk away with the techniques and tools that will enable individuals to survive any disaster. Participants will be encouraged to develop a survival kit that works best for their needs and will learn of new ways to use a variety of objects to serve as improvised shelters, containers, fire starters, water filters, and heat devices.

The content that Susan and Tom present in this survival training is of excellent quality. Their knowledge and skills are portrayed in professional and understandable manner for any age. Based on the importance of these survival skills, workshops like this should be offered more frequently, on a nationwide scale. As Susan will testify, in a dire situation, these skills will meet the basic needs of our existence. If workshop participants were to walk away and prepare themselves appropriately they would become an asset to emergency responders in a disaster because they would be better prepared to respond to their needs and the needs of their families.

With much support,

Christine Meyers and Sabrina Harder, Coordinators,

                                                   
      Fire Safe Council of                                                                                
       San Diego County