Survival 13: Your Survival Team. Preparing The Physically Challenged, Elderly and Pets

Bob Mayer
2 min readSep 20, 2024

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Pets

Preparing the physically challenged

Keep on you a list of all medications, allergies, special equipment, along with the names and contact information of doctors, pharmacists and family members.

Keep extra medications on hand.

Keep emergency supplies within reach and if in a wheelchair, have a way to take them with you.

Have a whistle to signal for help.

During an emergency situation, have at least two people who you can count on to check on you. Make sure they know your special needs, how to operate any special equipment, what meds you take and the schedule, and where your emergency supplies are.

If you evacuate your home, leave a message so those two people checking on you know you’ve left and where you are going.

Preparing the Elderly

Keep walking aids close by at all times.

Have extra medications on hand.

Put a security light in every room. These plug in and automatically go on if there is a loss of electricity.

Have a whistle on hand.

Have at least two people who will check on you.

Pets

Yes, they actually sell pet survival kits. You laugh. You won’t if you need to evacuate.

The key to pet survival is what is good for you, is good for them: water, food, and shelter being key.

If you evacuate, do not leave your pets behind. However, if you are going to a public shelter, understand that pets might not be allowed inside. Do you have an alternative for them? Check hotels in the area to which you will evacuate and find which ones will accept pets under those conditions. Check with your local animal shelter and get their advice. At the absolute very least, set them free.

Take pet food, bottled water, medications (tick and heartworm meds), vet records, cat litter/pan, can opener, food dishes, water dishes, and any other supplies as needed. We use a large plastic container for our dog food and store the dishes and all their supplies inside, on top of the food. Keeping everything in one place makes it easy to grab it and go if needed.

Make sure your pet id tags are up to date with your current cell phone number and address. If evacuating, attach the evacuation destination on their collar with paper covered with clear tape.

Make sure you have a current photo of your pet for identification purposes.

Make sure you have a leash and collar to control your pet.

This is excerpted from: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

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Bob Mayer

West Point grad; Special Ops Vet; NY Times bestseller of over 80 books; for free books and over 200 free downloadable slideshows go to www.bobmayer.com