HazAdapt Alternative: Guides vs Guided Practice
Looking for a HazAdapt alternative? See how a hazard guide differs from short lessons that build a routine, and which one suits your household.
If you use HazAdapt and wonder whether there is a good HazAdapt alternative, the first question is what you want it to do. A hazard guide helps you in the moment, when something is happening and you need the next step. Short lessons help you before, so the next step is already in your head. They are different jobs. Many households are better off with a bit of both.
What HazAdapt does
HazAdapt is a hazard preparedness app. According to its own website, it offers a Hazard Guide with step-by-step guides for emergencies and disasters, and a user can adjust the guides. It also has an Emergency Assistant, and the site says both the guide and the assistant are free. There are "Prep Checks", which are a self-check of how ready you are for a hazard. It links local safety information and community resources. It runs on the web, on iPhone and on Android.
For a person who wants one place to look things up, that is a useful design. You open it, pick the hazard, and read the steps. If you want to know what to do about a flood, a heatwave or a storm, a guide gives you an answer fast.
If that is all you need, keep using it. We do not think you must replace it.
A guide in the moment versus a skill in advance
A guide is a reference. A reference works best when you are calm, when you can read, and when you have light, power and a signal. In a real event, those three things are often the first to go.
Take a power cut as an example. Say the lights go out at dinner time on a winter evening. Your phone has some battery left. You could open a guide and read the steps. Or you could already know them: torches are in the drawer by the door, the fridge stays shut, the kettle will not work, and you keep one room warm. Knowing it ahead of time means you spend the battery on calling your neighbour, not on reading.
This is the difference. A guide tells you what to do. Practice means you did it already, at least once, in your head. A plan you have already gone through once is easier to start, because the situation is not new to you.
A guide also cannot make you do the preparing. It sits there until you open it. Lessons arrive in small pieces, one idea at a time, and ask a question at the end. That pushes you to finish the thing you meant to do.
What lessons add
ReadyCiv is built for ordinary households. The tone is that of a neighbour who has done the civil-defence course and is explaining it plainly. The track "Power Outages" has lessons of about five minutes each, covering:
- Get through the first hour of a blackout calmly.
- Keep medicines and medical devices working without mains power.
- Use generators and alternative heat without poisoning yourself.
- Manage a multi-day outage in winter and in summer.
- Report faults and follow rolling blackout schedules.
Each lesson is one scenario and finishes with a short question. You can do one in a queue or on a break, and you can revisit any lesson in a few minutes.
The lessons also keep pointing you to official channels. In an event, your national or local civil-defence agency, your electricity provider and the emergency services set the rules. We teach you how to find and follow them, rather than putting our own words in place of theirs. If you want the full picture of the topic, our guide to power and water outage preparedness goes through every part. For the first sixty minutes in particular, read what to do when the power goes out in the first hour.
Side by side
| Hazard guide such as HazAdapt | ReadyCiv lessons | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Step-by-step guides you look up, plus self-checks | Short lessons, one scenario each, with a question at the end |
| Best moment to use | When something is happening or about to | Before anything happens, and for refreshers |
| Time per session | As long as you need to read | About five minutes |
| Device | Web, iPhone and Android | Web, iPhone and Android |
| Language level | Written reference | Plain language for readers of all ages and backgrounds |
| Builds a routine | Through checks you choose to run | Through a path of lessons in order |
| Price model | Guide and assistant described as free on its site | See the ReadyCiv site for the current plans |
| Local information | Local safety information and community resources | Points you to your own official channels |
Who should pick which
Pick a guide if you like to look things up and you are happy to read when the event is happening. It is also useful for hazards you did not expect, because you can search for them.
Pick lessons if you know you will not read a long guide in the dark, if you share your home with people who need a plan, or if you tend to put off preparing. A path of short lessons is easier to finish than a page of instructions.
Use both if you can. Keep a guide on your phone for the unusual cases. Use lessons to make the common cases automatic. Neither one needs to push the other out.
Whatever you choose, remember that no app is an official source. When there is an event, follow your civil-defence agency, your local emergency services and your electricity provider.
Questions people ask
Is ReadyCiv a replacement for a hazard guide?
Not exactly. A guide is a reference you open when you need it. ReadyCiv is a set of lessons you do in advance. Many people keep both.
Which is better for a power cut?
If you want to be calm in the first hour, rehearsing helps. Do the Power Outages track once, and keep a guide for questions you did not think of.
Does a hazard guide work without a signal?
It depends on the app and on what is saved on your phone. Check this before you need it, and keep a printed copy of your most important steps and contacts.
How long will the lessons take?
Each lesson is about five minutes, so most people can fit them in without setting aside special time.
Learn this in five minutes
The ReadyCiv track "Power Outages" teaches the first hour of a blackout, keeping medicines working, safe use of generators and heat, long outages in winter and summer, and how to report faults. Open the first lesson and see whether five minutes is enough to change what you would do tonight.