Write a skills plan by priority and by person, including teenagers
Turn the gaps into a dated plan. Spread skills across people so no single person holds the estate together.
How
- Order by risk: life-safety skills first (first aid, fire, safe isolation awareness, water treatment), then systems (plumbing, engines, power monitoring), then food and household skills.
- Assign a primary and a backup person to each critical skill. Give teenagers real backup roles: many first aid and CERT programmes take teens (Teen CERT is about 20 hours; see skills-20).
- Match people to interest and ability. A teenager who likes machines may be the best second person for the generator; an adult who cooks may lead preservation.
- Estimate the hours for each course or self-study block and run the training time calculator to see how many weeks the plan really takes.
- Put course dates, renewal dates and practice sessions in the maintenance calendar (living-16) so they are not forgotten.
- Review progress every three months and move dates rather than drop skills.
Do these first
Sources
- Teen CERT brochure. Ready.gov (FEMA), accessed 2026-11
- Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED (class page). American Red Cross, accessed 2026-11