Welcome to the Lake Chapala area! You’ve made and exciting choice to leave your home country and settle into this beautiful area. While it’s tempting to simply dive into everyday life in your new home, it’s important to think about how you will handle unexpected emergencies. Simply stated, things are different here and a bit of preparation now will help you navigate unexpected events more smoothly.

One essential aspect of emergency planning for an expat in Lake Chapala is becoming familiar with the local emergency services and procedures. At Lakeside (the catch-all name for the Lake Chapala area), we can’t simply call 911 to reach a dispatcher who will send the right service to our door. Knowing who to call (and who NOT to call) in different types of emergencies can make all the difference in getting timely help when it is needed. We also need to consider whether we have sufficient Spanish to handle an emergency or if we need help with translation.

Creating a comprehensive emergency plan that is tailored to you and your specific circumstances is the key to being prepared for the inevitable bumps in the road that come with life – and for your eventual death. I invite you to develop an emergency kit with copies of essential documents, emergency contacts, and other information that will help the people who are helping you. Bottom line, it’s better to be over-prepared than caught off guard!

There are a lot of moving parts to the emergency planning process, but I don't want you to get overwhelmed. The point of this class and the structure is specifically designed to break things up into smaller chunks that you can get through each section in just a few hours.

So, let's move on to the next section and I'll show you how we are going to work through this course over the next few weeks.