Being Prepared

I don't mean to be paranoid. I'm just saying, what's the harm in being prepared? There are situations in life, from the mundane to the critical, which can be called 'unplanned emergencies'. To be able to manage them takes only a little bit of skill, but then again, only if one is properly trained for it. The funny thing is, it doesn't take much to learn these skills - in terms of investment of time or money. But how many of us make that investment?

Here's a simple test. Below is a list of situations where 'things can go wrong'.

• Flat tyre on your car/bike
• The fuse on your mains blows up
• Someone has a fall and breaks a limb / has a cardiac arrest / has seizures / has been bitten by a dog
  
• There's a small fire / gas leak
  
• There's been a road accident
• There's an intruder in your house in the middle of the night

How many of the above can you handle independently and effectively, before professional help arrives? Do you know the emergency numbers to call? Do you know what to do, and what NOT to?

I will say this again. It takes very little effort and training to be able to handle a large number of emergencies at a basic level in the preliminary stages. The key, therefore, is to get that training, in these basic "life skills", along with those fancy academic programs. These could be so much more relevant.