I have been back and forth to Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, since my husband Seán took up a work contract here last September. It is a great adventure at this ‘hour’ of my life and I am relishing the opportunity to have new experiences and to engage in a very different cultural life.
Speaking of hours, 72 is both a crucial timeframe as well as a slogan for SPEK, the Finnish National Rescue Association. Yesterday morning I attended a 2-hour training session with this group, organised under the auspices of the International Women’s Club of Helsinki (IWCH).
The focus of the training session was home preparedness for disruptions, emergencies and crises. These could be political in nature (such as an invasion like took place in Ukraine), a climate or weather event (such as the floodings in Valencia or wildfires in Los Angeles) or chemical/industrial accidents.
The excellent presenter emphasised the need for healthy, mobile individuals to be prepared so they are not a burden to the state and society in the initial days of the crisis. This would allow government efforts to be focused on tending to the vulnerable members of society such as those in hospitals, the elderly, immobile and also to free up state resources to fix the problem (e.g. repairing infrastructure such as electricity and water supply).
A lot of it was common sense. The priorities are to store water and dry food, have provision made to stay warm and to a have a plastic bucket with a lid and stick! I’ll let you draw your own conclusions for that… If you have no idea, you should read more at www.72hours.fi or refer to @72tuntia.
Realistically, if the planes are still flying, I would hope to make it back to Ireland within 72 hours. But in the meantime, I will buy the bucket, the water containers and the tins of tuna. The next time I’m home, I will dig out those anti-nuclear tablets we were issued a hundred years ago, fill up the bath and hope for the best. Isn't that the Irish way of being prepared?
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