Emergency Preparedness: Are You Prepared?
It’s near the end of Hurricane season (although Sandy is going strong) and we are heading into colder weather which means snow and ice storms. Are you prepared for power outages or for roads to be closed due to the weather? Have you thought I’ll get ready tomorrow? Today is YOUR tomorrow! Get ready today and save yourself some headaches later!
Maybe you aren’t even sure where to begin or what to do to “Be Ready.” First you need to decide what type of emergency you need to prepare for: hurricane/evacuation, earthquake, snowstorm, windstorm/power outages.
Will you be traveling or most likely at home? Do you have small children or pets to be concerned about? Do you have anyone on special medication that requires electricity or refrigeration? How will you provide the electricity or refrigeration? solar power or back-up generator? Does your neighbor have an alternate heat or power source you can use?
If you were without power for 24 hours, could you “survive” with temps in the 40’s? What about 48 hours or more? Do you own a can opener that DOES NOT require electric? Do you know how to make a simple cook stove from things around your house? Does your gas grill have gas? Does your charcoal grill have charcoal and lighter fluid?
The first thing I would do is take a quick stock of what you DO HAVE and make a shopping list from there.
MUST HAVES:
Photos of entire family together or each family member separately (easier to locate)
Toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, baby wipes, feminine products
Baby food, pet food, specialty diet foods
Heat Source and alternative heat source
Foods that can be easily prepared with little or no heat
Cooking Source- gas grill, backyard firepit, fireplace, hobo stove, or homemade alternatives
Water- lots and lots of water (buckets filled for your toilets and baths)
Flashlights, batteries, candles, matches, canned heat (Sterno), firestarters
Layers of clothing, blankets/sleeping bags
Waterproof place for important documents or copies of documents (SS, ID’s, insurance)
Car Chargers for cell phones
FOOD LIST:
Soups-Ramen Noodles, Chunky Campbell’s
Peanut Butter and Crackers
Nuts, Canned Fruit, Fruit Leathers, Dried fruit, Jerky
EMERGENCY KIT IDEAS:
There are 24 hr. kits, First Aid Kits, Mini Car Kits, and 72 hr. kits. I found tons on the web and will share some of my favorites that I found and pinned onto pinterest.
ACTIVITY KIT or Busy Bags to keep the kids occupied in an emergency!
BABY 72 HR. KIT– be sure to stock up on diapers, wipes, and baby meds.
10 DAY CAR SURVIVAL KIT- this is for one person or 2 days for family of 5.
I really like this 10 day survival pack for the car since it is all contained in a hard cased cooler and will fit into most small car trunks with a few blankets or a tent!
The list of supplies in this emergency kit are very doable if you add a couple of things to your grocery list a week or keep an eye out for sales and coupons. You can substitute similar items from his list and still have a very usable kit in the car.
FAVORITE 24 Hr. KIT
SURVIVAL SKILLS YOUR CHILD SHOULD KNOW
Many more miscellaneous Emergency Ideas like emergency stretcher, pocket-sized survival kit, free printable lists, emergency binder ideas and other first aid kit ideas are all on my Emergency Preparedness board!
Wow, going through all these ideas and kits makes me realize how unprepared we are. YIKES! I think we will be working on some of this in our homeschool over the next few weeks. I will try to add some of our own pictures of what we come up with to help you get some more ideas.
Hope you have learned a little and it gets you excited to get ready and not scared! Maybe I’m one for the adventure and like all the campy/backwoods ideas:) I was a Girl Scout growing up and we made Buddy Burner stoves with large coffee cans and tuna cans. Was sad to find out my parents had recycled them. Finding real 10# cans is getting more and more difficult!
