Photo by Annie Mole

In Boy Scouts, one of the most important things you do is work on earning your merit badges. And one of the most coveted merit badges, one required for becoming an Eagle Scout, is Emergency Preparedness.

To earn this merit badge, you need to demonstrate that you’re prepared for emergencies such as fires, explosions, car accidents, being trapped in the desert or a blizzard, food poisoning, flash floods, mountain accidents, boating accidents, gas leaks, tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, touching live electrical wires, carbon monoxide poisoning, and nuclear power plant emergencies (all of these are actually on the list).

I never earned this merit badge, but like everyone else, I’m still responsible for being prepared in the event of an emergency. And I experienced an emergency a couple of days ago, when my blog crashed.

To call this an emergency might sound like an exaggeration to some of you, but anyone who has a blog can imagine how it feels to first lose the ability to comment, and then lose the ability to log in. While I welcome technical challenges at work, it’s different when they strike where you live. I guess it’s like how a surgeon can operate on strangers with no problem, but not on their own kids.

And if something seems like an emergency to you, that’s how you’re going to treat it. Here’s a simple guide to dealing with emergencies (that aren’t really emergencies).

1. Freak out.

It’s not exactly constructive, but if you’re going to do it anyway, you might as well claim that you’re checking the first step off the list. Maybe the world really is coming to an end, and you need to react accordingly. Just get it out of your system, and then move on.

2. Realize that the problem is smaller than you.

You might overlook this truth, but your inner voice knows it. My inner voice told me that fixing my blog was not even remotely the biggest problem I’ve ever had to deal with. I said, “But I don’t know how to fix it.” My inner voice said, “But you know how to find out.”

3. Brainstorm solutions.

After you’ve calmed down a little, it’s time to actually do something. Determine specifically what the problem is, and come up with ideas of how to solve it.

4. Take action.

Pick the solution that seems most promising, and run with it. Repeat as needed.

5. Prepare for next time.

Once it’s over, decide what you’ll do to be better prepared next time. @bripblap said I inspired him to back up his blog that evening. We all know that regular backups are critical, but many of us don’t do enough of them.

John Hoff at WpBlogHost pointed me to the WordPress Exploit Scanner, a plugin that checks your blog for signs that it’s been hacked. I don’t know if I was hacked or not, but if it happens, I’ll sure want to know.

Are you prepared for emergencies?