Editorial standards

This page says how articles on Be Prepared For It are put together, so you can judge them. Todd is the author of every article and is responsible for what is published. For the person behind the site, see the About page.

What this site is and is not

We gather preparedness guidance from public sources, organize it, and make it easier to use. We are not emergency professionals, doctors, lawyers or engineers, and nothing here is professional advice. In an emergency, call 911 and follow your local officials. When in doubt, don't: leave gas, electrical, generator and fuel work to trained people.

Where safety guidance comes from

• U.S. federal sources. Agencies such as the CDC, FEMA and Ready.gov, the National Weather Service, the EPA, the FDA, the USDA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission publish guidance that is in the public domain. When we use their instructions, we quote the page word for word, link to it, and name the page and the month we read it.
• Other organizations. Groups such as the American Red Cross and the National Fire Protection Association publish copyrighted material. We put their guidance in our own words and name them as the source.
• Our own experience. When something comes from what worked in our own house rather than from a named source, we label it that way and do not present it as an instruction.

If no authority says it, we cut the claim. We would rather leave a gap than invent a rule. Agencies change their pages, so check anything important against the current source.

Product picks and money

We do not test products ourselves. Buying guides start from the maker's specs, the retailer listing, buyer reviews and any official guidance that applies. Specs shown are the maker's or seller's claims, and we have not tested any safety or fire rating. Some links earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and the commission does not set our picks. The details are on the affiliate disclosure page.

Dates on our pages

Updated shows when the text of an article last changed in a real way. On safety, health, fire, water, fuel and legal-document pages, Last revised shows the last date the page itself changed, so you can see how old the guidance on it is. Older articles that have not been revised show no date rather than a misleading one.

Corrections

If something is wrong, unclear or out of date, tell us through the contact page. We check the claim against its source and fix the article. A significant fix gets a new updated date.

What we do not do

• We do not claim that any agency endorses this site.
• We do not publish medical, legal or financial advice. We point you to your doctor, pharmacist, lawyer or local official.
• We do not invent experts, quotes or reviewers.