I was pleased to see that some surveys have been conducted to assess the preparedness of American citizens, and I would expect similar results from Europe / Canada / Australasia.

• 53% do not have a minimum three-day supply of nonperishable food and water at home
• 44% don’t have first-aid kits
• 42% do not know the phone numbers of all of their immediate family members
• 40% could not come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose
• 49% of all Americans live in a home that currently gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government

[Source: Intellihub]

So, on average, the average person is completely unprepared.

It is all due to a recent phenomena – reliance on others. Partly due to prosperity, partly because of government social programs. We figure if water and food run out at home, we can buy some more. We feel that if we get in strife, the government will help us (which doesn’t scale well…). We rely on hospitals and we rely on our cell phone to remember the phone numbers of family members.

Self-reliance needs to improve, a lot.