Do you have a friend or family member who you’d love to get interested in prepping? Perhaps they’ve always sort of looked down upon the subject of disaster readiness, offering the opinion that preppers are mostly whack jobs and gun nuts? The Survival Savvy Family by Julie Sczerbinski would be an excellent introduction to preparedness for those folks.

The author bio blurb on the back cover says, Julie is “…a Coach purse carrying, Go-Bag packing wife and mom of two children living in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina.” I’ve gotten to know Julie a little bit over the last year or so as we’re both members of a few online groups. One thing I can tell you about her is she is a very genuine person. By that, I mean what you see is what you get. She never comes across as fake or as though she’s trying to be someone she’s not. That, in and of itself, speaks volumes, in my opinion.

Every one of the 224 pages in The Survival Savvy Family is packed with solid information. Here’s the Table of Contents.

Introduction
Chapter 1: Family Emergency Plan
Chapter 2: The Emergency Kit
Chapter 3: Be Ready in Your Pantry
Chapter 4: Medical Readiness
Chapter 5: Financial Readiness
Chapter 6: Away From Home
Chapter 7: Power Outages
Chapter 8: Be Ready to Stay or Go
Chapter 9: Natural Disaster Savvy
Chapter 10: House Fires
Chapter 11: Home Invasions
Chapter 12: Personal Safety
Chapter 13: Ready Kids are Safe Kids

Throughout each of those topics, the focus is on common sense solutions applicable for families. This isn’t any sort of “end of the world” survival manual but rather a great book to learn how to better navigate the more everyday sorts of emergencies.

One area where I think The Survival Savvy Family really shines is in Chapter 12 – Personal Safety. There is some great discussion there on situational awareness, including a tip or two on practicing to become more effective with it. One piece of advice Julie shares mirrors something I’ve also been saying for years — trust your gut. If something feels off about a situation, get out of there.

Another thing I really appreciate about the book is Chapter 9, which is all about natural disasters. Rather than going into a lengthy discussion about what causes various natural disasters, such as tsunamis and tornadoes, Julie cuts right to the chase and gives short lists of what to do before, during, and after each type of disaster. This is an excellent approach to the topic.

Within Chapter 1 – Family Emergency Plan, Julie has a two-page list of discussion questions to use when talking to your family about disaster planning. This is a really great tool for opening up discussions during dinner and such.

As I mentioned earlier, there is little to no discussion of “big” events like an EMP strike, pandemics, or war. That’s not a complaint or a knock against The Survival Savvy Family, though. Rather, I feel this book fills a niche in the market. It is designed and written for families who have little interest in end of the world prepping but want to be better prepared for power outages and other common sorts of emergencies. This is a great book for the suburban, soccer mom crowd.

The Survival Savvy Family is written in a rather conversational tone, much like sitting down with Julie for lunch. I highly recommend it as a great primer or introduction to disaster planning. You can pick it up here on Amazon as well as find it in all major bookstores.