Likely × low impact
Monitor and cover through daily routines.
Emergency preparedness · 16 min
Build a personal risk profile
Not every hazard is equally likely everywhere—but the consequences often overlap.
Begin by listing the disruptions that can affect your location and household. Record the building, season, health and mobility needs, and every essential service that depends on electricity, water, communications or transport. Use this list to decide what must keep working and for how long.
Your learning progressSaved on this device.
Decision compass
Decide safely
Four questions lead from observation to a clear, safer action.
What needs to be clarified now?
What must I notice first?
- Record household needs, dependencies, current official information and available safe locations.
- Agree responsibilities, communication rules and a fallback before time pressure develops.
Remember: Observe → assess → choose a safer option → act.
For each hazard, record who or what is exposed, what already protects them and what is still missing.
EXPLANATORY GRAPHIC · PRACTICAL GUIDE
FIGHTandSURVIVEPrioritise risks consistently
Assess likelihood, impact and personal dependency—not the headline.
Likely × severe impact
Priority 1: prepare and practise now.
Rare × low impact
Record it without overinvesting.
Rare × severe impact
Plan a fallback and clear triggers.
RESULT / SAFETY CHECKCheck: connect the top three risks to water, information, heat, medication or mobility.
Learning goals
- Separate hazards from their consequences
- Make personal dependencies visible
- Prioritise by impact rather than fear
From event to consequence
A storm, technical failure or cyberattack may have different causes but create the same household effects: loss of electricity, communications, water, shops or transport. Secure basic functions such as light, information, water, warmth, medication and communication first.
Check location and building
Record flood, heavy-rain, wildfire, slope and heat exposure as well as dependence on lifts or electric doors. Identify safe rooms, escape routes and authorised shut-offs. Ask the landlord, utility or a qualified contractor how they may be operated; do not test gas or electrical equipment when responsibility is unclear.
Include people and capability
Record medication, refrigeration needs, mobility, communication aids, allergies, animals and care duties. Add useful skills and reliable neighbourhood contacts. List the supplies, skills, responsible person and reliable contact needed for each essential task.
Practical check
- Note three locally relevant disruptions
- Record dependencies on electricity, water, heat and mobility
- Check safer rooms and escape routes
- Record support needs and household skills
- Review priorities annually
Important
- Do not confuse probability with personal anxiety
- Do not examine one hazard in isolation
- Prefer official hazard maps and local guidance to speculation
Decision training
Which preparation helps across the widest range of events?
- ABuy specialist equipment for every imaginable event
- BSecure basic functions such as water, information, warmth, medication and communication
- CPrepare only for the latest news story
Show answer
Correct: B. Different emergencies often produce the same household disruptions.