My daughter and I are big fans of apocalypse entertainment. In particular, I’m drawn to stories of how “regular” people have to overcome the loss of those little, implicit dependencies we rarely think about --- what happens when your glasses break, or you run out of bipolar meds?

Fun when it’s on the big screen, but cripplingly dangerous when it happens in real life --- as it did during Katrina, and could again at any time. It’s impossible to know if Sandy is going to be the hundred-year event that’s being predicted, or just another media overreaction. But does it really make sense to take a chance?

First, make sure you’ve got water, food and shelter taken care of. After that --- use a free HealthVault account to make sure important family information and documents are safe and protected:

1. Record medications, allergies and conditions for each member of your family using our quick emergency prep workflow. Print out cards and put them into your wallet, glove compartment and kids’ backpacks (putting the card in a ziplock bag adds an extra layer of protection).
2. Scan or use your phone’s camera to take pictures of important documents (drivers’ licenses and passports, insurance and social security cards, medication and eyeglass prescriptions, etc.) and upload them to your record.  
3. Pick somebody you trust and send them a sharing invitation for each record so they have access to your information. That way if you aren’t there to sign in --- they can still help your family. You don’t have to give them full control; “read only” is enough to get the job done.

This stuff only takes a few minutes, but the potential value is immeasurable. And remember, the privacy story for HealthVault is pretty simple: it’s your record; you control what goes in and out; and nobody gets to look at it without your consent. Not even Microsoft.

We’ll be thinking of everyone in the path of Sandy for the next few days --- be safe and help each other!