Tools for emergency communication.

Guess when is the worst time to begin thinking about communicating to family or loved ones during an emergency? After the emergency has begun! You can avoid the worry and terror of wondering about the safety of others by taking just a smidgin of time to prepare. Here are some ideas.

1. House Phone – Cordless telephones have been all the rage for many years. Who even uses a rotary dial any more? You! Well, you don’t actually have to use it but keep one around in case of power failure. Cordless phones run off your house power. Rotary phones are powered by the phone company’s electricity. With a rotary, your grid could be down but you could still place calls.

2. Cell phones – this might seem like a good option. You can use them when your power fails. They have incredible range. The problem comes in when you realize that reception in each cell is powered by a tower that runs on, you guessed it, electricity. When tower power is down, you can’t make calls.

3. Satellite Phone – a satellite phone communicates directly with orbiting satellites and can cover either the entire earth or just specific regions. The great part is the satellites themselves are powered by the sun. The phones run on batteries that can be recharged either in your house or in the car with an adapter. You can always make calls – unless you’re trying to call a cell phone with power failure.

Is your emergency communication plan starting to coalesce? A cell phone, rotary dial phone, set of walkie talkies, a CB radio in the car and at home, plus a set of satellite phones if you have the money to spend.

The Holistic Survival Team

Flickr / Geomangio