Online Education: Udacity

In addition to Coursera, Khan Academy and MIT online that I've blogged about, I'm near the end of two free online classes from a company called Udacity. The format for both was the same so I don't know if it's a company standard or just chance?

What I liked about the Udacity classes is that lesson topics are 3-6 minutes long with a quiz or exercise associated with most topics to ensure you get the point. There are many topics with about 2 hours of video per week, plus weekly homework assignments. It has been VERY hands-on, you learn by doing and end the class with a working program like a web browser or a blogging website.

Free Preparedness Training

If you don't know where you are going, how can you expect to get there?
-Basil S. Walsh

Where there is no vision, the people perish.
-Proverbs 29:18

I recently got an e-mail from a person asking about Preparedness training.

Where to begin? There are so many different things to consider and it all depends on what you are Preparing for.

The FEMA site covering preparation for natural disasters is at http://www.ready.gov/
See also http://allreadystl.com/types-of-emergencies/ for a list of emergency prep documents by disaster type.

The LDS church has an excellent introduction to the basics at http://www.providentliving.org/

If you're worried about TEOTWAWKI (The end of the world as we know it) see http://www.survivalblog.com/ which covers surviving on your own - raising your own food, caring for medical needs, protecting yourself, etc.

You can receive free training by volunteering for the American Red Cross or a local CERT team:
http://www.redcross.org/  (drill down to Preparing & Training, then Preparedness Fast Facts).
http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/

FEMA offers free online training which are required for emergency workers, in particular IS100 and IS700:
http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp

To learn more about 72-hour kits see my blog, 72-hour Kits, with links to resources.

Bottom Line

There is no shortage of information online. The hard part is knowing where to begin. Both the Red Cross and FEMA endorse:

Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed.

Which translates to

• make or buy 72-hour kits for your home, office and car. (see 72-hour Kits and Pet Go-Kits )
• make family plans for how you will respond to house fire and other emergencies. Where to evacuate to, whom to call, etc. (see Family Communication Plan)
• follow blogs like mine and check out the resources above. (see also FEMA tip of the week) 

Where to get Free Stuff

“The truth shall make you free, but first it shall make you angry”
-unknown

Is money tight? Are you living on a limited budget? Then I suggest Where to Get Free Stuff: Mega Guide to freebies at
http://www.wealthinformatics.com/2011/08/19/where-to-get-free-stuff-freebie-guide/

It includes

• Free travel resources like free bike rentals, free tour guides, free lodging and free showers.
• Free entertainment: movies, TV, music, and museums
• Free samples of health and beauty supplies
• Free items on your birthday
• Free information: books, magazines, online courses, etc.
• Free technology
• Free financial advice
• and more

Bottom Line

As a teen I loved buying books (soft cover - I'm not crazy enough to pay hard cover prices). My dad said, why not use the public library, it's free. But I liked the idea of owning books I wanted to read and reread. This changed mid-way through college when my book collection was stolen from the dorm's summer storage area. I was not going to buy the books a second time and now use the library instead.

Online College Courses

"If you were going to create a college from scratch, what would you do?"

Last Sunday at church an old friend was staring raptly at a bulletin board. "Is there something new posted?", I asked. He pointed to a poster for independent study courses at a church university. "Have you looked at the MIT online courses?", I suggested. To my surprise he had no idea what I was talking about.

MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is one of the leading Universities in America (and in the World). When I was applying to colleges back in the 80's, I read that one-third of the freshmen admitted to MIT had a perfect 800 score on the SAT mathematics test. The college store proudly sells T-shirts that say, "Harvard is for students who couldn't get into MIT".

Given the elite status of the school and the very high cost of tuition, it is very surprising that MIT offers over 1900 courses online for free at
http://ocw.mit.edu/. You can watch entire courses on your computer, buy the text book and do the homework assignments. Some courses include lecture notes and exams. It's a great way to learn science, business, economics, art, history, philosophy, political science, etc. This will take some time however - these are complete college lectures for an hour or more, several times a week, over many months. And your brain may melt if you watch too many in a row without a break.

I bring this up because I learned today of another online education series that has become very popular on YouTube and rivals MIT online for the number of students. It's called the Khan Academy.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Salman Khan is a 33-year-old who quit his job as a financial analyst to make homemade lecture videos for his friends and relatives. "My single biggest goal," he says, "is to try to deliver things the way I wish they were delivered to me." He now has 1200+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology, finance, and history. Lectures are 10 to 20 minutes long and what you see is a digital blackboard upon which Khan draws as he lectures. I recommend starting at his website to see what's available rather than surfing YouTube for them. I've listened to two of his lectures so far and found both to be entertaining and well-done.

Bottom Line

There are many opportunities to learn online. Expand your brain!

Learning Survival Skills

I am the very model of a modern Major-General
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical ...
- From the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan

To continue a theme from yesterday, part of emergency planning is skills assessment. When the worst occurs, how will YOU be able to help? The following is quoted from Survival FAQ which was cited yesterday as a great resource for planning:

"The kinds of skills and materials you need can be very widespread. Depending on the threat you're planning for, you might want the ability to recreate civilization as we know it. This is almost certainly impossible for one person, or even one family ... to be competent at them all. This is why survival groups or small communities are almost always preferable ...

You'll find that certain things are needed for many different threats. First aid skills and materials are always useful, you may find that they show up for every category. ... You might decide that you need to be proficient in emergency first aid, food preservation (drying, smoking, canning, pickling) , animal husbandry, engine mechanic, construction (design and building), fire fighting, sailing, fishing, computer programming, ham radios, weaving cloth, sewing, tanning leathers, bee keeping, accounting, trading, cabinetmaking, farming, dentistry, childbirth, small military unit tactics, advanced emergency medical treatment, improvised explosives, hunting, trapping, welding, metal working, power production and generation, telephone systems, and almost anything else you can think of.

Where to get trained:
... your local community probably offers a wide variety of courses that will help you in your quest. Check with your local community college, high school adult program, community center, or other educational programs. Just don't expect to see a category called "Survivalist Training". Your local fire department probably offers training in CPR and first aid, and if you can join, they'll offer you more and better training. The local law enforcement agency may offer training as well as your county's civil defense / emergency preparedness office.

Where to get experience:
The best way to learn some skills is to do it. ... you can offer your services as a volunteer to any one of a number of organizations. For example, if you're not sure how to cook for large groups of people, volunteer at a food bank, meals-on-wheels, or church group, and learn! If you want to learn how to build houses (and fix them, and how to use tools), organizations like Habitat for Humanity are available, just looking for helpers. You'll learn some skills, but more importantly, meet people who can show you more tips and tricks. Organizations like the American Red Cross usually need disaster workers, first aid instructors, etc., and they'll train you.

It may not be practical to study your specific area of interest, but can learn something that's closely related. If you don't have a field to farm, how about a back yard you can start growing a few vegetables in? If you're an apartment dweller, and don't have a yard at all, you can grow some vegetables, or even just flowers, in window boxes. You probably can't provide all your food needs from a window box (unless it's a huge window), but you can start finding out what it's like, what works, and what doesn't.

Bottom Line

My wife and I follow the advice given above. We have been trained by the Red Cross and by our county disaster program (WEVR) for free as volunteer disaster workers. We've attended low cost classes at a local community college and with community outreach programs.

The knowledge is out there. Go get it.

First Aid

First Aid – There’s a reason why it’s called “first” aid. It has to come first. Threatening injuries have to be stabilized before food and shelter will do any good.

Research has found that most U.S. households are deplorably unprepared to administer first aid. Most households have band aids, some Tylenol, and maybe rubbing alcohol. However, most are lacking in supplies to treat larger wounds like open wounds, burns, or broken bones. Relatively few have CPR training. - - Classes and Careers

This month the theme in our Cub Scout pack is "Be Prepared" with an emphasis on first aid. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the 8-10 year-olds did when tested with first aid questions. Do you know how to treat the following?

o Serious bleeding
o Stopped breathing/Choking
o Internal poisoning
o Heart attack
o Cuts and scratches
o Burns and scalds
o Blisters on the hand and foot
o Tick bites
o Bites and stings of other insects
o Poisonous snakebite
o Nosebleed
o Frostbite
o Sunburn

Bottom Line

If you are not 100% confident with first aid then get some training ASAP. Since Red Cross classes are very expensive one advantage of being a CERT volunteer responder is free training in First Aid and CPR/AED. Other options include - online videos and websites, Scouts, and first aid books.

My favorite book is the American College of Emergency Physicians "First Aid Manual". It has pictures on every page and covers everything.

While books and website are great for review, you really should take a class at least once. Books and web will not test you on tying slings, give feedback on your CPR technique, or hands on with an AED heart stimulator, etc.

UPDATE

See http://chilechews.blogspot.com/2008/10/be-prepared-for-medical-emergencies.html written by someone who attended a Red Cross First Aid class and what was learned.

ARC Disaster Action Team

"Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a
triviality as if it were a disaster." - Quentin Crisp

While my wife and I have been Disaster Action Team members of the American Red Cross for many years, it was only yesterday that I saw a "job description" of the role. I thought this might be interesting to share...

DAT members assist the Red Cross in its mission to provide relief to victims of disaster and help prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. Disaster Action Team members respond to disaster scenes during assigned times, provide relief (shelter, money & toiletry kit) by completing all ARC forms at disaster sites and provide referrals to other agencies. DAT volunteers must be able to respond at all hours or as scheduled with own transportation, be aware and conversant with diversity issues, and able to maintain confidentiality with clients.

Team members will learn: “Mass Care Overview”, “Fundamentals of Disaster Assessment”, “Shelter Operations”, and “Client Casework Providing Emergency Assistance”.

DAT volunteers are valued members of Red Cross relief services who make an impact on clients' lives. You will have the opportunity to enhance your personal organizational and leadership skills and to be trained in Red Cross emergency response skills. We ask volunteers to commit a minimum of six months. Once trained you may remain active as long as required training is up-to-date.

Bottom Line

If this sounds like something you'd like to do contact your local Red Cross. In addition to the Disaster Action Team there is also a need for volunteers to process the paper work and type it into computers, to organize blood drives, staff ARC tables at events, and give presentations to the community.