WTH is UASI?
We were having dinner with our neighbors this evening when they asked if I had heard radio ads for some kind of survival training next weekend. I had not heard the ads, so they were going to listen for the details and give me a call. By the time we got home he had seen it on a billboard and called us with the website, http://www.survivorday.com/.
It seems that the region had received funding through a UASI grant from the feds to pay for the training and a "survivor starter kit" for each family that attends the training. So, back to the header for the post, what is UASI? That stands for Urban Area Security Initiative. Homeland Security identified a number of these regions around the country that are considered at high risk for terrorist attack due to their population density, critical infrastructure, or other reasons. I've used the fact that I was in a UASI region to get extra points on a federal emergency management grant at work before.
Anyway, this looks to be a very popular seminar. They are putting it on in 8 locations in the greater Richmond area next Saturday. Turns out that 6 of them are already booked solid and they are taking no more registrations. Lucky for me, one of the remaining two is in my county, just down the road at the New Kent Middle School. I've registered for it and will give a full report of the class, plus the contents of the survivor starter kit. If you have some folks in your family or circle of friends that you want to get on board for prepping, this would be a great way to introduce them to the ideas and processes.
If you are not in the Richmond area, which the vast majority of you are not, I'd suggest giving your local office of emergency management a call and asking if they plan to offer any emergency preparedness seminars. They may try to steer you toward a CERT class, but that is more geared toward building a cadre of community volunteers to assist during a disaster rather than how to prepare your own home and family.
Your tax dollars are paying for training sessions like this, you may as well take full advantage of it.
Wow, I think I'll look into that further to find out if they have one in the Raleigh area. I can't wait to hear back on what they taught and what was in the kit!
ReplyDeletethe link you have is to a cancer survivors network,
ReplyDeleteSee you there since I literally live around the corner :) wearing your T-shirt again?
ReplyDeleteJacLynn - I know there is a prepper conference in Asheville in March - not sure how far that is from Raliegh
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - got it fixed, thanks
SHTFMom - Yep, I'll wear it, find me and say hi. I didn't realize you were in the area. Look forward to meeting you
Cool! I will find you :) I will most likely have my 2 yr old with me, but I will be on the look out for you!
Delete