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France preparing ‘survival manual’ for every household, report says

www.theguardian.com France preparing ‘survival manual’ for every household, report says

Booklet to give guidance on preparing for ‘imminent threats’ including armed conflict and natural disaster

The French government is reportedly planning to send a “survival manual” to every household in the country with instructions on how to prepare for an “imminent threat” including armed conflict, a health crisis or a natural disaster.

If approved by François Bayrou, the prime minister, the 20-page booklet will be sent to households before the summer, French media reported.

It will be divided into three parts with advice on how to protect “yourself and those around you”, what to do if a threat is imminent – with a list of emergency numbers, radio channels and a reminder to close doors and windows if the threat is nuclear – and details of how to get involved in defending your community, including signing up for reserve units or firefighting groups.

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France preparing ‘survival manual’ for every household, report says

www.theguardian.com /world/2025/mar/18/france-preparing-survival-manual-for-every-household-report-says

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Ahh we got those in sweden a few months ago

PDF please 🥺
- The french version is awaiting approval, but the swedish version is available in english here - https://www.msb.se/sv/publikationer/om-krisen-eller-kriget-kommer-pa-engelska/
  
  There’s also a Dutch version of this (in English): https://english.denkvooruit.nl/
- What if the power goes out though?

The entire world is preparing for war. As bad as these past few years have been, I fear that most of us haven't seen anything close to how bad it will get.
- The sad part is that young people are sent to die, civilian suffer, for the ego of old farts. It's heart breaking. Everytime I see a comment like yours I remember the movie all quiet on the western front and I feel for the pointlessness of war.
- Hopefully, we can stop it

This is just a good idea. Survival tips in various scenarios shouldn't be limited to the Boy Scouts

That's because the whole of Europe is in undeclared war with Russia.
- We have a lot of undeclared stuff going on, unfortunately.

Japan has various info on its website and, at least in Tokyo Metro, they send (or at least sent) a big disaster prep book to every household. However, we get earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, mudslides, and volcanic eruptions fairly regularly so we kinda need to be on top of at least the known/common threats.

It's surprising that it's not standard in any country and that it's not managed at the municipal level.
Where do I evacuate in case of natural disaster? Is there a dangerous factory which may explode/ release toxic products nearby? How high is the flood risk? What about forest fire
These info should be easy to get for everyone. Statistically speaking some citizen will (unfortunately) need it this year
- In france about the factory stuff it's already managed at the local scale
- I think most risks are managed at the municipal level.
  Here in South West of Western Australia bush fires are a real risk. The risk is very well managed with properties in fire prone areas inspected for preparedness and penalties for those who aren't prepared. You need portable water pumps and cleared fire breaks et cetera.
  We don't have cyclones / hurricanes here so we don't prepare for that.
  There's not presently a significant risk of military action, but if that were to change I guess the govt would help people prepare, as is happening in France I guess.
  
  And here I was thinking I must be the only Lemmy user in South West WA.
  I agree that Fire risk in rural properties is taken seriously, though not many people I know who live down here actually have the pump and water infrastructure available to them if they had to fight a fire and the power goes out. I wish it was one of those things we took even more seriously.

This should be standard, and very good on France for doing it. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
And I say this as someone who lives on a highly seismic region, where I used to see more awareness years ago. Pretty sure if nowadays we had a major earthquake or volcanic eruption most people would just panic, cause chaos and not have anything prepared for such an event. That's the unnecessarily scary part.
We should always acknowledge the uncomfortable possibilities, not stick our heads in the sand and hope trouble never comes knocking at the door.

I have 3 and a half thousand hours in DayZ. I’m golden.
- What did it teach you ? I.e you’re walking in our post apocalyptic world and there are two people a few hundred meters ahead of you. They look like unarmed civilians. What will you do according to DayZ experience ? I’m a bit afraid of the answer ;)

In this context the Dutch government advised per 6th of March " Dutch government recommends citizens get 72-hour emergency kits: 'civil defence must increase'"
The French version sounds more comprehensive.
Some weeks ago, there was an interview with the Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs, and he admitted to have been properly prepared for over a year.
When asked why he had, he answered that since he was now more involved in the Government as a Minister, he had more knowledge of events, so to speak . Admittedly saying something without saying anything.

Sweden has one. Om krisen eller kriget kommer.
- And in more languages than just Swedish too.
  English version of the brochure.
  More in English here: https://www.msb.se/en/advice-for-individuals/

That seems like a lot of paper, energy , and trash for something that should be downloadable.
- If you're truely in a survival situation, where are you going to charge your phone after the first 24 hours of emergency?
  
  Joke's on you, the online survival manual can tell you how to do that!
  
  Let alone the demonstrable reality that cell towers get massively overloaded when shit goes down. And that is assuming the infrastructure is even still up to be accessed.
  No. There is some stuff you keep physical copies of. This is (presumably) one of those things.
  
  Okay but why not both? They didn’t say “exclusively available online”.
  
  I have a solar cell charging station, but I suspect a lot of people don’t.
  
  You would download it and read it today and then maybe just refer to it later if you need it? It's only 20 pages.
- You forget a large part of the population doesn't understand how to download anything, and out of those who do, getting them to comply is still a challenge. Give them a pamphlet and your chances of the info getting read will skyrocket exponentially
- And what about an emergency where you lose internet and/or electricity?
  
  In an emergency, i don't think people would grab the 20 page book and all huddle around it. You would read it when it arrives, note the location of your nearest emergency resource, toss it in a drawer, probably forget it's there.

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