Great Government Preparation document or a sinister FEMA control tool? Have you heard about the Ready Book?

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Great Government Preparation document or a sinister FEMA control tool? Have you heard about the Ready Book?

Posted on 15 October 2011 by Joshua

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Today I was at a preparedness conference in Portland, where I came upon this harmless looking and stylish “Ready Book”

I wanted to talk about it because it does tie into my previous articles about being prepared but I also wanted to look critically at it.

First off you can learn more about Ready Book by going to their website here. http://myreadybook.com/

The ready book is clearly designed to give you a few tips about being prepared. It is laid out in 8 sections referred to as Tabs.

Tab 1: gives you basic instructions for completing the book and a simple information sheet it also has a insert for putting a photo of your family I think this is great for any firefighter or first responder.

Tab 2: gives you A booklet to write down emergency phone numbers, and a in town and out of town contact list.. I think everyone should do this..

Tab 3: Gives you a insert for a list of medication’s you are taking.

Tab 4: gives you a insert for your important papers.

Tab 5: is how to make a basic go-kit

Tab 6: is got to make a basic Stay kit.

Barcoded wristbands

Tab 7: is where I start to get a little uneasy— Tab 7 consists of some very vague instructions and 5 personalized (numbered) Identification Wrist bands that you can pop out of the page and slap on yourself and your children. The book and website say that these barcode labels will help connect the information in the book to you.

“The next page contains five (5) personalized I.D. bands. Use these in the event of an emergency to help identify you and your belongings

Write your name on each band.

Detach the below I.D. bands only in the event of an emergency that requires an evacuation. Use them for the following scuggest purposes:

Around your wrist to help identify you
On your “go-kit”
On your assistive device(s)
On your pet’s collar
On your Luggage
__(write your own)__

Intake Form

Page 8 is a Medical Care Point or shelter intake assessment tool (form) from the American red cross & US Department of Health and Human Services.

So.. On 7 & 8 I think its important to note that the point of this website is to prepare yourself and your family.
And there are barcoded triage tags out there on the internet and that I do like those ones..

BUT I also this that personal freedom and security is paramount. I feel that adding this kind of tracking to a document published by the government blurs the line.. I do think the program has some potential value as a parent it would be good to be able to link my kids to me in a shelter if they ran off.. But as a parent I am not letting my kids out of my sight. overall I think the Ready book has mostly good tools and the bar-code thing its even a good idea DURING a event, to be given out AT shelters

But to hand it out to people before an event and to condition them to accept it. to accept being numbered and scanned. Well that scares the crap out of me. But
I would love to hear back from my readers. What do you think do you think this is a well put together innocent booklet that aims to prepare our citizens and make life easier for our first responders..

Does this go to far.. Barcoding and cataloging people & things and laying out directives, photos, official documents.

Does this lead to those FEMA camps?

Please comment with what you think and I will reply.

Beth

Hi Joshua,

As one of the original developers of the Ready Book I was really caught off-guard by the “sinister” slant to your blog. If you look at the book carefully you will notice that this was designed for Vulnerable Populations as the primary audience. We looked at this carefully and specifically following the footprint left by Hurricane Katrina. Remmeber all the elderly people that were air lifted out of the area? Many, many of them had no identification, they often were unable to communicate there names much less their medical history.

In short, people were lost during the evacuation and so was their stuff (eye glasses, wheelchairs, etc.). The bar coding will help responders to know something about the person and their stuff, plain and simple.

In disasters, our most vulnerablel people (the ones that experience the greatest impact with morbidity and mortality)are those that cannot shelter in place or evacuate on their own. This project was designed to improve our response to those folks and nothing more.

Finally, the DHS/Red Cross Shelter intact form allows us to further assist those people that need medical care, for example, medications or basic medical treatment.

Of course, if you want to use the book and not use the bar codes, guess what? You don’t have to.

I am happy to answer any questions you might have personally.

Warm Regards,

Beth
- Joshua
  
  You know Beth.. I really do Thank you for your reply. But the real fact is that the basis behind the barcodes was too vague.. And I KNOW that there were good intentions behind it.. But when DHS is buying MILLIONS of rounds of ammo, and bullet proof checkpoints you have to wonder what government motivations are.. I’m just bringing to light the very IDEA that people should THINK.. Encouraging people to be prepared prevents them from needing to be herded into situations that may put them out of control of their own lives. And you can’t say our government has not done this before. Internment camps. ICE holding facilities.. not too much different from then to now..
  
  If you don’t think people are concerned by things like this.. even my friends who volunteer in disaster response, just like me most of us had two views of the book. 1.. Great idea! This could really help!.. 2.. WOW.. that’s scary..
  
  Perhaps better definition of the purpose of the bar-code page and examples LIKE “during Katrina people were lost during the evacuation and so was their stuff (eye glasses, wheelchairs, etc.). The bar coding will help responders to know something about the person and their stuff, plain and simple. ”
  
  Would help people not look at it like “WOW.. That’s Scary” after getting several of the same responses in a row.. I decided to write about it.. Thanks for reading.. And Replying..