SIGNAL READY

When the power, the phones and the shops fail, will your family know what to do?

Most of us assume that the power, the water, the shops and the phones will keep working, and most of the time they do. Signal Ready is for the times they stop: a winter blackout that runs for days, a flood that cuts the road out, a regional crisis that empties the shelves, or something that lasts far longer. It is a calm, practical manual for families who would rather be organised than frightened, and by the last page your household has a written plan everyone can follow.

The author fled war with his family as a child and grew up to protect people for a living. The book's 43 chapters move outward in rings, from your own body and mind to your family, your street, your village and your country, because the households that come through long crises are usually the ones connected to something larger than themselves.

What is inside

• Foundations: what stress does to the body and mind, how to resist propaganda and manipulation, and the Signal POST model for planning across four horizons
• Know the threat: score the real risks to your household, set family alert levels with written triggers, and understand nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological basics
• Ground and shelter: harden your home, plan safe rooms and caches, and decide in advance when to stay and when to leave
• Sustainment: water, food, heat, medicine, trauma care and money for the long haul
• Protect: communications that do not depend on the internet, family codes, documents, the law on the use of force, and a neighbourhood night watch
• The people who get left out: chapters for single mothers and fathers, women alone, the elderly, the disabled, children and animals
• From family to country: meet your neighbours, build a village network, write your family operational plan and test it in a seven-day exercise

Also included: 17 fill-in templates, a quantified kit standard in four layers, a guide to training and courses, a glossary, official sources and further reading.

Who it is for

Mothers and fathers, single parents, grandparents, carers and anyone who keeps a household going, in a city flat or on a country road. You need no experience and no special equipment to begin. The book starts from one plain question: if the power goes out tonight and the phones stop working, what do we do first? Every chapter then ends with the kit to own, the skills to learn, where to learn them, and a drill to practise together.

Signal Ready takes no political side and names no enemy. It is about survival, family and union, and about going far together. It is general information for preparedness and education, not medical, legal or financial advice. Local law always comes first, and the book points you to accredited training for any skill that could cause injury.

About the author

AJ Signal survived war as a child, was internally displaced, and became a Canadian, a Canadian soldier and a Canadian diplomat. He studied law in Ottawa and police foundations in Hamilton, attended the Canadian Police College and the Canadian Forces Military Police Academy, and became a corporate security executive at multibillion-dollar American, British and Canadian companies. His analysis has been cited in a US Congressional Research Service report. He writes SIGNAL, Not Noise! and is the author of The Arena.

Individualism kills. Families endure. Communities flourish.