Just as Haiti had a large earthquake, we could have an even larger one.  The islands that are off our shore were at one time attached to the main land.  California is moving one way and  Nevada and Arizona are moving the opposite way.  This is how it has been since the beginning of earth.  At one time the US was part of Europe and as the pressure builds to move even an inch a year, the longer it takes for it to move, the greater the pressure.  The greater the pressure the greater the energy, the greater the big bang.

If we have the “big one” in our life time, do you know how to give CPR?  Do we know how to put a splint on a broken leg or arm?  Do we know how to put a tourniquet on and how long to leave it on?  Do we know how to perform an emergency tracheotomy?  Do we know how to move a large slab of cement?  Do we know how to lift a cement slab by ourselves?  Do we know if any of our neighbors are a doctor or veterinarian? Or where is the nearest nurse or paramedic?  Is there a nurse in the neighborhood? Do we know where to go to get away from a wall of fire?  Do we know where the closest back hoe or tractor is?  Do we know how to drive a tractor or back hoe?  I think you by now get the jest of what I am saying. Every neighborhood should have some working knowledge and training to know where all of the above is and how to perform.  If the “big one” hits, the only people that will get to you are the people who can climb and walk.  They have to know you are there and what you need.  Are our dogs trained to help us find a living child or person in the rubble? We should all have a stash of food, water, clothing, and emergency first aid in every house and a large storage in every neighborhood and some type of safe house that may roll, may even fall, but the equipment, and material will be there.  We have to know how to take the gasoline out of our cars and put it in the tractor or back hoe.  We have to have pumps that will pump us water and gasoline to keep the tractors in the backhoes running to save lives.  Every neighborhood should have a pre-assigned group for leadership and anti-­looting and riot control, with an arm band and badge for recognition and a revolver and holster for safety.  When people are panicked they do strange things.  It must be controlled for the good of all man.  Hard decisions will have to be made.  Who do you save first?  Who do you give medical aid to and who do you not give medical aid to?  I would like to put in place a 90-day training course every three years, retraining and certification, with an arm band indicating that person’s specialty.  In this way, instead of waiting for days for somebody to come and help each neighborhood knows what it has to do to help themselves.  Once they have all they can do in that neighborhood, they can move to a neighborhood that is worse off then they are and help.  It is a sad thing in Haiti, because they were not trained.  They walked up and down the streets looking for relatives and not knowing what is the best thing to do or how to do it .  NO, we are not ready for the “big one”.  It’s amazing what one little old women could do if she were trained, or a young child, if he was trained.  But when the “big one” comes, lets pray that we know more than to walk around in a daze.  We know what we have to do and how to do it, we take stock of what we have to work with and what we have not and we all work together for the common cause, save as many lives as you can, steal nothing, and treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself.