Preparedness & Safety

Be prepared. Protect yourself. Protect others.

Practical knowledge for civilians preparing for emergencies, armed conflict, infrastructure disruption, natural disasters and other crises.

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Why preparedness matters

In the first hours of any emergency, the people who help are the ones already there. Emergency services arrive; they do not arrive instantly, and in a widespread event they cannot arrive everywhere at once. Several European governments now ask households to manage alone for a set period — 72 hours in Finland and Lithuania, a week in Norway. Preparedness is not pessimism. It is the difference between being one more person who needs help and being one who can give it.

Before

What to settle while nothing is happening — which is the only time it can be settled calmly.

A family plan: where you meet, who calls whom
Emergency contacts on paper as well as in a phone
Identity documents, and copies kept somewhere else
Water, food and medicines for the period your country names
Light, batteries and a way to charge a phone
A radio that works without the internet
An evacuation bag, packed before it is needed
Children, elderly relatives, pets and anyone with mobility needs
Some cash: card payments fail with the power

During

What to do while it is happening, in the order it matters.

Find the official warning and read it, not the group chat
Shelter or move as your authorities instruct
Tell one person outside the area that you are safe
Keep the line free: send a message rather than calling
Help whoever is nearest before looking further
Expect the power, the water and the network to fail together
Do not repeat what you have not checked

After

What is still dangerous once it appears to be over.

A damaged building can fall long after the impact
Do not touch or move anything that could be unexploded ordnance
Report suspicious objects to the authorities and stay away
Fire, gas and contaminated water follow many incidents
Photograph damage before clearing it, if it is safe to do so
Register missing people with the authorities, not only online
Ask for humanitarian help early rather than when it runs out

Start here, free

These courses are open to anybody, with no account and no payment — like everything else in the Academy. They are what a person needs before they have decided anything about this association.

01 Free

The first hours of a crisis

What to do in the first hours of an emergency, in the order it matters: find out what is actually happening, tell the people who need to know you are safe, and decide whether to stay or go.

10 lessons Watch the course as a film

02 Free

Family emergency preparedness

The plan, the supplies and the conversations to have before anything happens — including the ones about children, elderly relatives, pets and anyone who cannot simply walk out.

12 lessons Watch the course as a film

03 Free

Alerts, shelter, and what is left afterwards

Understanding official warnings, protecting yourself from blast and glass, and the hazards that remain once it appears to be over — including why you never touch what might be unexploded ordnance.

10 lessons Watch the course as a film

04 Free

First aid: what the reading covers

Educational material only. It does not replace accredited first-aid training and must not be used in its place.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

05 Free

At a road collision

What to do on arriving at a crash, in order — and the several things that make it worse.

2 lessons Watch the course as a film

06 Free

Drowning and rescue in water

Why drowning is the one emergency where breaths come before compressions, and why most rescuers should stay dry.

2 lessons Watch the course as a film

07 Free

Severe bleeding

The single intervention by which an untrained bystander most reliably prevents a death.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

08 Free

Unresponsive

Recognising that a heart has stopped is the step most often missed, and it is the step everything else depends on.

3 lessons Watch the course as a film

09 Free

Burns

Twenty minutes of cool running water, and a list of the things people do instead that make it worse.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

10 Free

Heart attack and stroke

Two conditions where the treatment exists, works, and stops working with every minute of delay.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

11 Free

Seizures and collapse

Including the mistake that gets people arrested instead of treated.

2 lessons Watch the course as a film

12 Free

Anaphylaxis and overdose

Two emergencies with a specific antidote, and two ways of killing somebody by standing them up or by leaving.

2 lessons Watch the course as a film

13 Free

Heat and cold

Confusion is the sign that turns both of these from uncomfortable into an emergency.

2 lessons Watch the course as a film

14 Free

Psychological first aid

What to do for somebody in acute distress or suicidal crisis, what never to do, and what to do afterwards for yourself.

3 lessons Watch the course as a film

15 Free

Earthquake

What to do during the shaking, and the more dangerous minutes after it stops.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

16 Free

Flood

Why the rule about water depth is the one to remember, and what to do before, during and after.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

17 Free

Fire and evacuation

Smoke kills before fire does, and almost every rule follows from that.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

18 Free

A chemical release

Uphill, upwind, away — and why an untrained rescuer who runs in becomes a casualty who also needs decontaminating.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

19 Free

An attack in a public place

Run, hide, tell — in that order, and what to expect from armed police when they arrive.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

20 Free

Unexploded ordnance and mines

The rule is one sentence long, and the whole lesson is the reasons people break it anyway.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

21 Free

A radiological incident

Time, distance, shielding — and why taking iodine tablets on your own initiative is a mistake.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

22 Free

Evacuating people who cannot leave on their own

The plan that forgets the people who need it most is the plan almost everybody writes.

1 lesson Watch the course as a film

23 Free

Plague: recognising it early and protecting yourself

What plague is, its forms and incubation periods, the first signs, what a person can and cannot detect alone, how it is found and treated, and how to protect yourself against each form.

12 lessons Watch the course as a film

Country guidance

Emergency numbers, warning systems and shelter rules differ between countries, and following the wrong country’s advice is worse than following none. These pages link to each state’s own authority rather than restating it.

Finland 112 Sweden 112 Norway 112 Latvia 112 Poland 112

The rest of the Academy

Everything else the association teaches is in the Academy, free in exactly the same way: no account, no payment. Investigation and evidence, digital safety, open-source research and verification, alongside the first-aid and preparedness material here.

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UPA educational materials are intended for general preparedness and educational purposes. In an emergency, always follow current instructions from local authorities and emergency services. Country-specific procedures may differ.