Our sources
Where we get our information.
Every safety claim on this site is checked against a primary source before it is published. This page lists those standards and explains what happens when a source and one of our pages disagree. For the outside sites we would send you to, see Trusted Resources.
Editorial standard
How we use these sources
New World Survival is an independent resource. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or funded by any government agency, nonprofit, or institution listed on this page.
Our content is built from publicly available guidance published by these organizations, verified against their current standards, and supplemented by hands-on practice and traditional knowledge. When a source updates its guidance, we update ours. When sources disagree, we note the disagreement and explain it.
Safety-critical content (water treatment ratios, canning processing times, carbon monoxide guidance, generator placement rules) is always verified against the primary source before publication. We do not rely on secondhand summaries or training data for anything where getting it wrong could hurt someone.
The standards
What we verify against
Before a safety claim is published, it is checked against one of these. The list is short on purpose. Each is the body that sets the standard in its area, and when one of them changes its guidance, the pages that rest on it are changed too.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Foodborne illness, water disinfection in emergencies, carbon monoxide, zoonotic disease, and the higher-risk groups for each.
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Consumer Product Safety Commission
Generator placement, carbon monoxide alarms, product recalls, and portable heater safety.
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USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Safe cooking temperatures, leftovers, and how long meat, poultry, and eggs keep.
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National Center for Home Food Preservation
Tested canning, pickling, drying, and fermenting methods; the home of the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.
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Food and Drug Administration
Produce, seafood, and dairy safety, refrigerator and freezer rules after an outage, food labels, and medication storage.
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Environmental Protection Agency
Drinking water standards, emergency water disinfection ratios, well water, and indoor air.
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NSF
Certification standards for water treatment units (42, 53, 58, 401) and what a certification mark does and does not mean.
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National Fire Protection Association
Fire codes, smoke alarm placement, heating appliance clearances, and chimney care.
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Tool and equipment injury thresholds, confined spaces, and hazardous materials handling.
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ASME
Pressure vessel and boiler standards, which govern what we say about pressure canners and water heaters.
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Ready.gov
Household preparedness baselines: water quantities, kit contents, and plans.
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American Red Cross
First aid and CPR curricula, shelter operations, and family communication plans.
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Stop the Bleed
Bleeding control steps for the medical pages.
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The land-grant extension system
State extension publications on gardening, livestock, preservation, and home water, used where federal guidance stops at the farm gate.
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Library of Congress and the Internet Archive
Digitized USDA bulletins and Depression-era records behind the heritage articles.
When things do not line up
What happens when a source and a page disagree
The source is more careful than we were
We change the page. A number on this site is never allowed to be less conservative than the primary source behind it.
Two primary sources disagree
We say so on the page, name both, and explain which one we follow and why. We do not quietly pick the more convenient figure.
We cannot find a primary source
The claim is cut. It is not softened, hedged, or left in with a qualifier. If the point of a section depended on it, the section is rewritten around what can be verified.
Beyond this site
Looking for who else to trust?
This page is about how we check our own work. The outside sites, agencies, extension programs, and tools we have read and would send you to live on their own pages, one short annotated list per domain.
Trusted Resources
Every listed site was read at least three pages deep on the day it was written up, with who publishes it, how it makes its money, and whether its safety numbers hold up recorded for each one.
State and local
Your state's emergency management
Every state has an emergency management agency with localized hazard guidance, CERT programs, alert systems, and community resources. Our state pages link directly to yours.
Find your state
Each of our 51 state pages includes links to your state's emergency management office, local CERT programs, community events, and state-specific hazard information.
Browse all 50 states + D.C.Independence
We cite our sources because you deserve to verify what you read.
New World Survival is not affiliated with or endorsed by any agency or organization on this page. We are an independent resource that builds on publicly available guidance. When we reference a standard, protocol, or published finding, we link to it. When a source changes its guidance, we update ours.