Just In Case by Kathy Harrison:Book Review

Book Review — “Just In Case – How To Be Self-Sufficient When The Unexpected Happens” by Kathy Harrison (Storey Publishing)

Just In Case by Kathy Harrison

Two suggestions seem appropriate before beginning to read Kathy Harrison’s book:

1. Begin reading her book by reading the Epilogue first and you’ll then be a reader who is assured from the beginning that the author clearly understands the world context in which her book is written
2. Read the whole book. Not just the sections or chapters you have immediate interest in as this text has great value for family preparedness throughout.

An appropriate analogy for reviewing this book might be that of a river journey. The river itself is the world in which we live. The family is our boat and it is propelled by OAR; a preparedness system. The boat’s compass, manifest, and ships log is enclosed in The Preparedness Notebook. Our map will be the four-part table of contents which gives us directions to final destination: family preparedness.

Our journey begins by establishing The Preparedness Notebook. Kathy describes it as “The most valuable tool you can have for assessing your needs … a dedicated preparedness notebook. Hers is a “ … three ring binder divided into categories such as food, home systems …first-aid … and evacuation kits. ” Each section contains “… a list of items my family needs; the lists make up an inventory of what I have on hand and what I need to locate. I also have a section dedicated to skills I want to have such as canning food, CPR, …”

The map, the four-part table of contents, provides for four essential stops along the journey:

1.The OAR System (Organize, Acquire and Rotate),

2. Preparedness (Getting Your home And Family Ready To Handle Crisis) covering Personal Preparedness through Evacuation,

3. Dealing With Disaster (What To Do In An Emergency) covering Loss of Power through Terrorism

4. Doing It Yourself (The Arts Of Self-Sufficiency) covering Skills for Independence through The Stored Food Cookbook.

Each part of the table contains from two to seven chapters of important/vital preparedness information.

We’ll discuss only Part 1 as the OAR System is our brief example because it is the propulsion system for our journey. OAR is the acronym for Organize, Acquire and Rotate.

It is essentially “… the process of organizing, acquiring, and rotating supplies.” It is organizing that permit’s the determination of what one already has and what future needs might be. This is done via The preparedness Notebook enabling the acquisition of future supplies to be done in a systematic and orderly way.

Rotation refers primarily to using the oldest items first ( a first-in-first-out/FIFO system) especially where expendables, such as food and water, are concerned. Suggested items for a number of “Kits” ( first-aid, sewing, etc ) are provided as well as lists for essential supplies (laundry, kitchen, etc.).

The OAR System allows for the customizing of family preparedness to meet the unique needs of your family.

Kathy describes the goal of preparedness this way “…taking care of the family in good times and bad is what preparedness is all about.” We couldn’t agree more.

‘Just In Case’ is a family preparedness book designed and written with the welfare of the family in mind. With financial crisis, wars, and pandemics on the horizon, this comprehensive text is a “must have” for families today.