“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” (Benjamin Franklin)
This quote can apply to many different situations–preparing to give a speech, preparing a meal for a large crowd, preparing a plan for sightseeing when guests come to town, preparing to lead an important meeting, preparing a lesson plan–but today I am going to apply it to preparing for an emergency situation, before that situation occurs.
On my post recent post about debt, the topic of discussion among a couple of my readers turned to emergency preparedness–specifically having a stock of food and supplies in case of disaster. That got me thinking, why don’t I create a post where everyone can share their ideas for making an In-Case-of-Emergency Kit (also known as an Emergency Preparedness Kit or Survival Kit)?
If you have such a kit, or if you know someone who does, go ahead and share your tips for creating the kit, what to put in it, where to store it, etc. I’ll see you in the comments section!
Anonymous
What sort of scenario do you want to prep for? A weather event that keeps you without power or unable to leave the house for a few days, or TEOTWAWKI? There are many levels of prepping, and many different scenarios to prep for. What you’re going to stock up on or store depends on what you think you’ll be facing.
One thing I will say is that you don’t want to be one of the people scrambling around at the last minute when a storm is approaching. You should be stocking your supplies on a sunny day when nothing is happening and most people aren’t shopping for what you need.
Anonymous
Emergency preparedness is complicated and needs to be tailored to each family’s circumstances and the threats or disruptions they could face. You must cover the basic needs of shelter, food, water, lighting, heating or cooling, cooking, medicines and first aid, sanitation, and safety. Instead of writing a book on each of those topics, I’d recommend searching online for tips. Then look at your family’s needs, category by category, and how you will cover them. Take inventory of what you already own, like camping equipment, a gas grill, or a generator. Then fill in the gaps, as your budget allows.
Having been through lots of disruptive events, I’ll warn you that it can take a long time for the supply chain to get back up and running in an impacted area. “Three days” of preps that the government recommends is a joke. Try three weeks. After one bad event, there wasn’t a bottle of water, flashlight, or D battery to be found in my area for over a month. The time to begin preparing is….last week.
Anne
I realized last week I need a first aid kit to take to the park with me for my kid as well as any others that get hurt (I’m usually the only adult on the playground since I have a 1 year old). Here’s what I’m thinking, does anyone have any more suggestions?
-bandaids
-wasp spray
-ice pack
-small Gatorade (dehydration?)
-emergency numbers
Eileen
Maybe an antiseptic type spray? Bug/mosquito spray, bandage wrap? Eileen
Anonymous
Sunglasses and umbrellas, for changing weather.
Paper first aid tape, because Band-Aids never stick to dirty or sandy or sweaty skin.
No-stick gauze pads, because with that and paper tape, you can make a big bandage for skinned knees or elbows.
Neosporin antiseptic cream with pain relief.
Tweezers and a needle, for picking out splinters. Small magnifying glass to see it (keep covered or out of sunshine).
Nail scissors or clipper for broken fingernails.
For those ice packs, you can get the dry kind that instantly activate when shaken or snapped.
Bottled water for rinsing the boo-boo’s.
A red-colored washcloth to dry them or for compression, because blood on a white washcloth is scary to kids.
A little stuffed animal or toy to distract kids while you bandage.
Mosquito repellent that’s safe for kids.
Sunscreen, ditto.
By wasp spray do you mean something like After Bite that you put on stings? A paste of water and instant meat tenderizer (from the spice section of the grocery store) works, too.
Instead of Gatorade, which might be hard to store, try Pedialyte powder packets that you’d add to your own water bottle. Watch expiration date and change out of kit as needed.
If your playground has any metal equipment, be careful that it doesn’t get burn-y hot in the sunshine. Most playgrounds have changed out equipment but some older ones are still around. Solarcaine spray will stop a burn or sunburn. Aloe gel, too.
Anne
This is awesome, thanks!
Anonymous
In Finland where I live, we have to watch out for metal in playgrounds for the totally opposite reason. In the winter it can be for example -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheits if I calculated correctly) and we still go outside with the kids. Metal is obviously freezing cold at that temperature and children somehow have the urge to try and lick it. Ask any Finnish adult, they have had their tongue frozen and stuck on to a piece of metal as a kid! The way to get it off is either just rip it, or pour warm liquid on it (not always at hand).
Ellie
Oh my! Sounds terribly painful. What are your summers like in Finalnd? How hot does it get?
Ellie
Anonymous
I always have a small first aid kit with me at the park. I keep my supplies in small quantities, as I don’t want a huge box with me.
My kit has:
· A box of Band-aids
· Two average sized bandages.
· A small bottle of antiseptic liquid.
· Antiseptic ointment.
· A few cotton balls or swaps.
· A roll of micropore (to help keep band-aids or bandages in place.
· Gloves
· Emergency numbers.
Barb
Sunscreen
Anonymous
Hi Ellie,
I live along the Alaskan coast and it seems everyday we prepare for the unexpected. We keep an emergency kit in the vehicles, an emergency kit in our backpacks, and an emergency kit next to our back door. These kits contain the fundamentals for survival. You want a water, warmth/fire, shelter, and food. So we have water filters and bottled water, emergency blankets, extra clothes, fire starter, knives, bivys, tarps, first aid kits, chicken bouillon, canned goods, and dehydrated foods. We also have secret place for important documents for safety. As a family, we hunt, fish, and gather alot of our food. We raise chickens, ducks, and rabbits for eggs and meat. We also have a huge garden and can, freeze, dehydrate, and put up as much food as we can. We fish the streams and saltwater and hunt the lands for meat as well. Our water source is an encatchment system and we have a generator if the power fails with backup fuel. I understand our situation is unique but when you live in Alaska, you have to have plans A, B, C and many other backup plans.
Ellie
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like an exciting life. How far are you from a town/city?
Ellie
Anonymous
We live on an island just outside of a small town. To get to the closest city we have to boat a few hours or take a floatplane. I forgot to mention we have an emergency kit on our boat too. Besides weather, we like to be prepared for earthquakes or tsunamis. But we also want to be prepared if a natural disaster happens in Seattle (Mt. Rainer erupting or earthquake). Seattle is the shipping hub to Alaska. We are very dependent on those barges from food to fuel. The lifestyle we live is also cheaper and healthier. Although our kids miss out on the museums and zoos of the lower 48, we love that we can give them these experiences. I think your blog topic is a great discussion!
Ellie
That’s really cool! Are there others on the island, or just your family?
Ellie
Anonymous
The island has a few other communities along the coast. I believe there is about 4000 people total on the island. The lifestyle of the rural communities in the rainforest of southeast Alaska is gathering, hunting, fishing, and putting up food. Many have gardens and small farms too. We have a different “reality” than other places in the US. This remote living has draw backs. We have small clinics but the hospitals are in the cities on different islands a boat or plane ride away. We didn’t grow up here but have lived here for nearly 20 years. We can’t imagine being anywhere else!
Ellie
4,000 is a nice size. I’m so fascinated by your lifestyle. Thank you for taking the time to share. 🙂
Ellie
anonymous
Ellie have you read the Chris McCandless story called Into the Wild?
Ellie
I haven’t, but I have heard of it. They have a movie, too.
Anonymous
The book was enough for me, after reading it felt that the movie would be too much to bear. Even though, I once tried watching, but there were some scenes I would not recommend and think were not needed, I stopped watching. Wikipedia has some good notes on this. It does generate discussion. It relates to walking into the need for emergency preparedness, so definitely
asks questions why not more prepared there? But it is challenging because the same questions have got to fall on everyone’s heads as to just general living and how we go about it and even though not walking into the wild distress can befall us anytime. This is a good question. I’m not ready either. I have a bunch of candfles matches and some blankets that’s all.
Anne
Emergency preparedness will look very different for someone in Minnesota than a Floridian. How many people in Florida keep a sleeping bag, gloves, snowsuit and extra source of heat in their vehicle from October-May?
Anonymous
Or in my case, 20 extra bags of kitty litter, several spare cases of cat food, and all feline medications. (Not in the car, but at home.) Kitty litter is like diapers for a baby. You don’t want to run out.
Eileen
I think this is a great topic to discuss and for all of us to share ideas and items. We can each look at what is listed and decide what applies to us personally. Thanks for the post Ellie. We keep bottled water, a camp stove and fuel cylinder, candles, matches, canned food, snack bars, crackers, etc, current medications, first aid kit, on hand at all times. We then have other emergency kits that are seasonal and situational. If we are travelling far in winter conditions, we prepare for that. If we are boating, we prepare for that. I am a person who tries to be prepared! Eileen
Anonymous
Does anyone here prep like the Mormons recommend? The year supply? The buckets of dry foods? The wheat and wheat grinder? All the necessary fuel to heat and cook?
Anonymous
Food banks and shelters get donations of stuff almost stale when no emergency hapoens. Unless people are into cycling newest to the back and using their emergency foods as daily groceries too. I had to give most of my stuff away and now I’m near po.
Anonymous
That’s why you stock what your family uses all the time and rotate things, as you said. You have to have a feel for how much your family will use per year and not over- or under-buy. There’s nothing wrong with donating food close to expiration to the food banks, though. They will see that it goes to someone in need before it expires. Those donated food items used to be an itemized tax deduction before the IRS upped the standard deduction.
Anonymous
I don’t prep like the Mormons, but I do have some survival food that I bought from Heaven’s Harvest for hurricanes. We live on Oahu, so it could take some time for supplies to get to us. Of course, we have battery powered lanterns and extra batteries for power outages and bottled water too.
Anonymous
The Mormons have some really good advice for emergency preparedness. Of course, it helps if you live in the Rockies where their canneries and stores are, and if you’re Mormon (for buying through church purposes). There are some good blogs on stocking up written by Mormon housewives. Houses in that part of the world usually have nice big basements that are high and dry for storage. If you live in “the jungle” or “the swamp” you need a good climate-controlled storage area.
B
Ready.gov is a great website to guide your preparedness. There are pdf’s you can use to develop your plan, it helps you to tailor your plan to your family’s needs, and it will help you involve your children in the process. Don’t stop your planning at “one gallon of water per person per day for three days.” You also should consider pets, persons with disabilities that you care for, medications, legal documents, valuables, etc.
Ready.gov
Ellie
Didn’t know about that. Thank you!
Anonymous
Ready.gov is better than nothing but I wouldn’t go strictly by their recommendations. They’re too broad. They suggest that 36 hours before a storm, you should be replenishing your emergency kit. No, 36 hours before a storm, you won’t be able to find those supplies or get them delivered in time. Look around the web for more or better sites. The ones with tips from people who have actually been through disasters are helpful. There was a guy in FL who went through Andrew (Cat 5 storm) and long ago had a super list of things to do before storms, many of which were things you might not think of unless you experienced something like that.
Anon123
Hi Anon,
I am interested in the Hurricane Andrew guy’s suggestions. Would you be able to provide a link or tell me more so I can google him?
Thanks!
Anonymous
There are lots of hurricane prep sites. I found this interesting one:
http://www.burger.com/hurcnind.htm
Anonymous
Thanks Anon who posted at Aug. 10, 2019 at 12:35pm. This is a good resource!
Anon123!
anonymous
I went into a neighbourhood store and I thought I’d be a nice customer and buy some of their stock that had been sitting on the shelf longest. At home I cooked up the noodles and realized, after draining them that they were full of little white worms. Needless to say all that went in the garbage. Later I worked part time in one of those stores and had to wash the shelves with bleach water, which was ordered by the health dept. It’s done to prevent those bugs. When working,
I’ve seen the worms swim through the food eating. Then they reform inside themselves, into a tiny bug that has wings and can fly. Left behind is the wee skin of the worm. Put your dry goods into a container that is sealed tightly and doesn’t allow such bugs to land and lay their eggs into the stored food. Also a person could routinely wash the counters, shelves and containers with very mild bleach water. In another store I helped out at, mice were a heck of a problem. They liked to chew holes in pasta bag, dry cat food and potatoes chips. They run around dribbling waste on everything, this takes time to clean. I caught many of them with sticky traps. Then got a plastic pail filled with Luke warm water and dropped the sad little thing in there to drown quickly. There were holes in the building foundation and must have been coming in from the street. Once after work, don’t ask me why I am so stupid, I bought a product thinking I’d make my family a special meal and one ingredient tasted so extremely stale that blah…everything was completely inedible, what a waste! With all plans and ideas there are foibles that can undermine our good intentions. If a person really wants to do this food storage plan they have to be quite dedicated to what they are doing. A half effort might just be a lost effort, maybe better just don’t try to do every thought you get, until, or without, thoroughly knowing what’s really going on.
Anonymous
Sounds like pantry moths. They’re annoying, but you can overcome them. First thing to do is to store incoming dry goods away from the main pantry for a week or so, so you don’t infect everything else, and then inspect packaging for signs of life. Some things (flour, cornmeal, nuts) can go in the freezer for a few days. That will kill bugs. It sounds gross, but the moths and the larvae won’t hurt you if you accidentally eat one. But you should let the store know that you brought something home with moths.
You can buy pantry moth traps from the hardware store. Cleaning pantry shelving with a vinegar-water solution will also help kill the bugs and eggs. I had moths that came in on dry pet food once, when that used to come in cardboard boxes. It made a real mess of the pantry. So I learned the hard way. Even after cleaning, I was still seeing adult moths flying around in there. So I went outside and went spider hunting! I brought 5 or 6 spiders inside, put them in the pantry, and shut the door. They did their magic -spun webs that caught the last of the moths, and they must have eaten any larvae, too. I never saw another moth after that! When their food ran out, the spiders moved on. Spiders in the house are great natural pest control. Most spiders are harmless and do a good, non-toxic job of extermination.
For mice, start asking friends to save any large metal cookie tins or popcorn tins they get for Christmas. Mice can’t chew through those, and they’re food safe. Glass jars work well, too. I store bird seed in empty kitty litter buckets and have never had a mouse get into those.
Justine Elizabeth Kessner
Hey maybe now U should change your name to Nashville Mother, LOL!!!!!!! Love U 3!!!!!
Ellie
LOL, maybe so!
anonymous
How about Nashville Family?
Ellie
That’s a good idea, but I really like the ring of Nashville Wife. 🙂
Anonymous
This is a good time of year to look for clearance sales on solar garden or pathway lights. I keep some on hand for long power outages. You can charge them outside by day, even in winter, and they will give a few hours of light at night. I take the post (that you’re supposed to stick in the ground) off the lamp part and line up the lamp heads on the stairs, like airport runway lights. Sure helps see where the steps are at night. Doesn’t waste batteries either.
Another good idea is to look for those battery-powered window candles on sale after Christmas. They make good night lights or again, on the stairs.
Benita
A camp stove was the one item I didn’t get for hurricane Michael and quickly regretted it. I was grateful to have canned food, but some of it was not pleasant. We were fortunate; our power was only off for 5 days, but those who lived in the country, their power was off for 2 weeks. I had never been through a disaster like this before, and it was so shocking. There are still some homes and businesses that still need new roofing, but no one lost their lives here. It was very difficult to get bleach and any type of candles for a long while. We had plenty of cases of bottled water and had cleaned both bath tubs and the washing machine well and filled them up with water to store. I have an old wash board hanging up on my wall by the washing machine, but I got it down to scrub clothes and hung them out on the old clothesline. We were very blessed the water/sewage plant was not affected.
Anonymous
Gas or charcoal BBQ grills, especially a gas grill with a side burner, are great after a storm.
You can wash clothes in a big tub or storage container outdoors with a clean toilet plunger as an agitator. Saves the hands. Having fresh bleach on hand before a storm is a good idea. You can even disinfect water with it. The steps are on the Clorox website. Print them out and keep them handy.
Having been through hurricanes, we expect 7-10 days of power outage on average per each category of storm. So Cat 1 means no power for a week. Cat 2, 2 weeks. Etc. We finally installed a whole-house generator because we were tired of all that nonsense. We don’t turn it on until the power’s been out awhile. We can endure a few hours without.