Preparedness Principles by Barbara Salsbury

“With “Preparedness Principles” you are going to learn the solutions for practical, personal preparedness right where you are…in your own home.

“The Goal: To teach you how to be more secure in dealing with future emergencies.

“The Purpose: To provide the “know-how” for setting up a realistic, organized program of personal preparedness: suited to your circumstances, environment and budget.

“The Attitude: Begin with what you have…where you are, on your budget. One step at a time. No need for doomsday, the world is not falling apart. You don’t need to stockpile arms nor head for the hills. You can be prepared in your own home.

“The Experience: Barbara Salsbury has lived what she teaches. For the Salsburys being prepared has lessened the impact of many crisis. Barbara shares her invaluable insight.

“The Motto: If you are prepared you can cope! Or to put it another way, you will be shown how to make most crisis more bearable!”

Preparedness Principles: The Complete Personal Preparedness Resource Guide is a book I’ve looked forward to reviewing. There have been many instances in my life when whatever level of preparedness we’ve had has helped get us through a variety of difficult circumstances. Before reading this book, I already had a firm belief in the importance of being prepared. As with a lot of people, I lacked some of the practical knowledge required to put a real plan into place.

So many people believe they will never need to use their emergency supplies and fail to even have the most basic supplies. Others don’t do anything about it because they have an all or nothing attitude. Salsbury says: “Preparedness is not an all-or-nothing thing. Something is much better than nothing, even if the something is just a little bit of something.” This book is a great place to learn how to start gathering that little bit of something.

Upon receiving this book, I was first impressed with the size and amount of information packed into it. Just reading the table of contents left me feeling a little overwhelmed. But Barbara Salsbury presents the information in an easy to read format. Her writing style is entertaining and informative.

As I read through the different sections I was impressed with how thorough the book is. The author writes about food storage, what to do in a natural disaster, and having a family plan should family members be separated during a disaster. The book is divided into five sections: 1) Essential Elements, 2)Principles for Surviving Worst Case Scenarios, 3) Principles of Provident Living, 4) Principles for Dealing with Disasters, and 5) Principles for Emergency Evacuations. The book also includes a large appendix section with detailed instructions for many of the ideas suggested in the book.

Every principle is accompanied with ideas on how to put it into practice. There are charts throughout the book and many experiences shared by those who have had to put emergency preparedness to the test. There is so much information in this book, but it is vital information everyone should learn.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is: “Preparedness is being in control during out of control situations.” This book will help families take control. It’s a book every family should have and would make a great Christmas present.

Preparedness Principles can be purchased here and you can also visit Barbara Salsbury’s website for more information.