Why I Started Prepared
Today’s briefing is a little different.
No lesson.
No checklist.
No gear recommendations.
Before I ask you to trust me with your family’s safety, I think it’s only fair that you know who’s writing these emails.
After all, preparedness isn’t something I learned from YouTube.
It’s something I’ve lived.
For more than 30 years, my job has been showing up on some of people’s worst days.
Natural disasters.
Medical emergencies.
War zones.
Terrorist attacks.
Communities where everything had gone wrong.
Over time I noticed something…
The people who handled chaos the best usually weren’t the strongest.
They weren’t the richest.
They weren’t the ones with the biggest stockpile.
They were simply the people who had prepared before the emergency happened.
That’s the entire philosophy behind Prepared.
Not fear.
Not paranoia.
Preparation.
This is me today.
Most people know me as Dr. Dave.
Author.
Teacher.
Homeschool dad.
Small-town guy.
The one who always seems to have the weird piece of gear someone suddenly needs.
But this wasn’t always my life…
At seventeen I joined the United States Marine Corps while I was still in high school.
Later I became an Army combat medic.
After 9/11 I was recruited to help stand up the Department of Homeland Security.
Along the way I worked as a paramedic, deployed to disaster zones, helped operate emergency medical facilities after hurricanes, and spent decades training people whose lives depended on making good decisions under pressure.
For over thirty years, my workplace often included body armor, helicopters, disaster shelters, and places where bad decisions had very real consequences.
What I Learned
One lesson kept repeating itself.
Preparedness isn’t about surviving zombies.
It’s about surviving Tuesday.
The flat tire.
The kitchen fire.
The tornado warning.
The unexpected hospital visit.
The power outage.
The missing child.
The hurricane.
The job loss.
Most emergencies aren’t Hollywood disasters.
They’re ordinary problems that become extraordinary because nobody was ready for them.
That’s why I’m here.
After Action Report
One of the clearest memories I have came after Hurricane Katrina.
Imagine a medical tent packed with people waiting to see a doctor.
Most expected medicine.
Instead, many received a lesson.
We talked about drinking water safely.
Avoiding contaminated floodwater.
Protecting themselves from looters.
Staying away from aggressive stray dogs.
Finding loved ones.
Preventing infections.
Sometimes the best medicine wasn’t something I handed someone.
It was knowledge they could use before the next problem arrived.
That experience has stayed with me ever since.
Dr. Dave’s Field Notes
People sometimes ask why I spend so much time teaching preparedness.
The answer is simple.
I’ve seen enough preventable tragedy to know that a little preparation changes lives.
I’ve also seen ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things because someone took the time to teach them one small skill before they needed it.
That’s what these emails are about.
One skill.
One lesson.
One step closer to becoming the calmest person in the room when something goes wrong.
This Week’s Assignment
Think back over the last five years.
What emergency caught you completely off guard?
A medical issue?
A storm?
A vehicle breakdown?
A financial setback?
Write it down.
Keep a list.
Over the coming months, we’re going to build the skills and systems that would have made that emergency much easier to handle.
Transmission
You’ll occasionally hear me reference old field notes, archived reports, and something called Detachment 793.
Those references aren’t there by accident.
For now, just know this:
Every lesson has a story behind it.
Some stories are still classified.
See you in the next briefing.
Dr. Dave