The European Commission recommends that residents of EU Member States be prepared to function independently for at least 72 hours in the event of a crisis. This means not only gathering basic supplies, but also acquiring the skills needed to take care of oneself and loved ones until help arrives. According to Paweł Mateńczuk, a veteran of Poland’s GROM special forces unit, people should not rely too heavily on emergency services, but should instead prepare themselves for crisis situations.
“Emergency services usually arrive some time after an incident, and everything depends on how extensive the need for assistance is. We have to remember that the better prepared we are to act in crisis situations, the more effectively the services will be able to focus on people who truly need help,” Paweł Mateńczuk, author of Extreme Survival Guide and Plenipotentiary of the Minister of National Defence for Military Service Conditions, told Newseria. “The time for saying ‘I would like to’ or ‘someone should’ ought to be over. We should get to work ourselves, because personal safety is a highly individual matter.”
In its Preparedness Union Strategy, published in March 2025, the European Commission recommends that residents of Member States be prepared to function independently for at least 72 hours in the event of war, a natural disaster or a major infrastructure failure.
However, a 2024 Eurobarometer survey showed that the level of preparedness among EU residents left much to be desired. Only 37 percent of respondents believed they were well prepared for crisis situations. Fewer than half, 46 percent, said they knew how to behave in the event of a disaster or another crisis situation, while 48 percent did not have such knowledge. In Poland, the figures were 55 percent and 39 percent, respectively. Respondents also declared that they would rely heavily on assistance from emergency services — 81 percent of Europeans and 77 percent of Poles.
At the same time, 75 percent of EU respondents believed that prior preparation would help them cope better during a crisis, while 65 percent said they needed more information on how to prepare for such events. In Poland, the figures were similar, at 68 percent and 65 percent, respectively.
“The comfort in which we live today means that many of us have food supplies in the fridge for only 24 to 48 hours. In the past, when autumn came, every household had a pantry with preserves, stored coal and potatoes. Today, in an era of comfortable living — because we are in a country where life is quite good — we need to prepare ourselves for difficult times,” Mateńczuk points out.
The Eurobarometer survey showed that basic emergency equipment is still not standard in European homes. A flashlight or candles were owned by 47 percent of respondents, a first-aid kit by 36 percent, food and drink supplies by 29 percent, water supplies by 20 percent, and a battery-powered radio by a similar share. Responses from Polish respondents were even weaker. Thirty percent said they had a flashlight or candle, 14 percent had a first-aid kit, 11 percent had food and drink supplies, 10 percent had water supplies, and 9 percent had a battery-powered radio.
“We should pay attention to what is happening around us, because we are a frontline country, and we should think about how we would cope if the power suddenly went out. Everyone should ask themselves whether they have candles and matches at home. In the 1980s, that was normal, because power outages were common. Today, not necessarily,” the expert emphasises.
The importance of such preparations was demonstrated by the blackout that affected Spain and Portugal in April 2025. In parts of the Iberian Peninsula, payment terminals, ATMs, traffic lights and telephone networks were out of service for many hours, and access to information was also difficult. One of the most frequently repeated recommendations after that event was to have cash, as well as alternative sources of light and information.
Since the beginning of 2025, Poland has had a new Act on Civil Protection and Civil Defence, which provides, among other things, for the development of public education in responding to threats and preparing for crisis situations. The Government Centre for Security recommends that every household have supplies of water and food, a first-aid kit, a flashlight, a battery-powered radio, a power bank, hygiene products, cash and copies of the most important documents. It also recommends preparing an evacuation backpack that can be taken immediately if it becomes necessary to leave home.
“We have mentally disarmed ourselves when it comes to preparing for difficult times. An evacuation backpack is just a phrase. The point is to gather your belongings in times of peace, in times of comfort, so that when leaving a house that is burning or being flooded, you can grab in one second the items that will help you survive until the state provides assistance,” explains the former GROM soldier.
Experts stress that practical skills are equally important, as they help people maintain a sense of agency and reduce stress in the first hours of a crisis.
“If I prepare a professional evacuation backpack, I gain experience and skills in using my hands not only on a smartphone or computer keyboard, but also in chopping wood, slicing bread, working with a map and navigating in the field. Then, in difficult situations, when I am deprived of my safety bubble, I am prepared for something. It shows that I can organise things in my own head and know that I will manage in difficult times,” says Paweł “Naval” Mateńczuk. “Another issue is giving our children tools. Let’s not leave everything to school. The easiest thing is to give a child sliced bread, but there was a time when bread did not come sliced. A young rascal would come home and cut that bread himself. Today, I could run great training sessions on cutting tomatoes, bread and all those things that, when I was a small child, were completely natural.”
