Winter Safety Survival

In spite of global warming, we can still experience severe weather and this is a wake-up call toconsider how vulnerable we can be, living in the country, especially those who live alone.  Here are a few hints for survival, especially for those who have recently come here from a town.

• Keep a well stocked freezer, bags of flour and cooking fat, packets of UHT or dried milk and tins or packets of soup.
• Make sure your oil / gas /coal / wood stocks are good.
• Prepare an emergency kit of portable gas ring / torch / candles and matches / snow shovel and bring them in from the garage before it snows!
• If you have to travel in a car, take de-icer / a spade / piece of old carpet or sacking / rug or sleeping bag / thermos and biscuits etc and keep fuel tank well topped up.
• If you need to walk around in the snow, don’t be afraid to use a stick – most accidents in the snow happen within a few feet of home.
• If there is a power cut, conserve the heat you have by closing doors and curtains, putting on extra clothes and wrapping yourself in rugs, duvet or sleeping bags. Wear a hat, even indoors – you can lose 25% body heat through your uncovered head.
• If you have a cordless phone, it will not work in a power cut, so buy a cheap plug-in handset to plug into your connection when the power goes off.
• Check your neighbours are OK, especially if they live alone – whatever their age and normal state of health – illness can hit anyone and rapidly.
• If you live alone and do feel vulnerable in a power cut, call a friend and improvise a meal together.  Things don’t seem nearly as bad if there is someone else to commiserate with!