Articles on Emergencies | Topics: emergencies, emergency, disasters, disaster
by Keith Perry
Planning ahead is essential if you live in an area that might possibly either be devastated or isolated by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, rock slides, landslides, mudslides, volcanic eruptions, winter storms, etc.. In such an event you and your family might be running for your lives or might be trapped in your home, you should plan for both eventualities.
Listed below are the twenty essential categories of items everyone should have set aside and ready to either take or use in an emergency. The standard always used for emergency planning like this is a "three-day supply;" if that sounds unreasonable in your particular location or circumstance it would be wise to expand the basic list to meet your needs.
One other list, a supplemental list of 'travel items' is also provided here. The travel list is assuming that the disaster in question forces you to travel to safety in your car and is supplemental to the basic necessities list.
Important Note: Check and replace (as necessary) all supplies every six to eight months.
Twenty Essential Disaster Survival Items (for short-term use, at home, until help arrives)
A first aid kit (including a first-aid guide) that everyone knows how to use.
Prepared (ready to eat) foods (meat, jerky, dried fruit and vegetables) in cans or plastic bags and any food that stores well without refrigeration and can be warmed up on a sterno stove. Store enough food for a minimum of three days (don't forget to include a can opener if your cans are not the e-z open type).
Bottled water (one gallon per person per day - allow for a minimum of three days). Half of each gallon of water is intended for drinking and the other half for sanitary purposes.
Candles and matches (keep matches in a waterproof container).
Drinks: Fruit juices, vegetable juices, powdered milk, Ovaltine, instant coffee, tea bags.
A Sterno stove (for warming up water and foods) plus extra cans of Sterno. Cans of Sterno should be checked and possibly replaced every six to eight months (they evaporate) but one can can be used multiple times. Sterno is safe for indoor use but it does use some oxygen so make sure you have adequate ventilation. (A Propane camping stove is also an option and can also be used indoors with adequate ventilation.)
Paper plates, plastic utensils, plastic cups, Styrofoam cups, pots and pans appropriate for use on the Sterno stove.
Essential prescription medications and extra eye glasses.
Sanitary supplies such as hand soap, feminine napkins, toilet paper, tooth brushes, tooth paste, mouthwash, paper towels, spray disinfectant,
Sleeping bags and thermal blankets.
Clothes: Protective outer clothing plus at least two complete changes of clothes for each person; also disposable diapers for infants if required.
Shoes, boots and gloves: Sturdy shoes are very important, after an earthquake there will be no safe place to walk without strong shoes. Boots may be required if you live in a flood zone or near water. Heavy-duty rubber gloves may be required for handling debris.
Flashlights or battery-powered lanterns (one for every member of the family.
A battery-powered radio.
Extra batteries for everything in your emergency supply cabinet and for anything a member of your family might consider essential, e.g., hearing aids, cell phones. Also, extra bulbs for the flashlights/lanterns.
Hunting or self-defense equipment (whatever you are capable of using and are prepared to use)
| Bit of History |
Athletes have studied how to leap and how to survive the leap some of the time and return to the ground. They don’t always do it well. But they are our philosophers of actual moments and the body and soul in them, and of our manoeuvres in our emergencies and longings.
| —Harold Brodkey (b. 1930) |
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A small set of essential tools including: a sharp pocket knife, razor-blade knife, axe, shovel, broom, adjustable-wrenches, hammer, assorted screwdrivers, adjustable pliers and channel-locks, rope, twine and bailing wire, duct tape and electrical tape.
Plastic bags for trash and smaller sealable bags for keeping things dry or just keeping things together (coffee cans with plastic lids also work good for some things).
Wind-up alarm clock
Comfort/entertainment items like books, games, paper and pens or crayons, hand-held video games, etc.
Travel Items
In addition to the twenty categories of items listed above, if an emergency forces you to leave your home and travel to safety, these are some things you may need:
Maps (already marked-up) that show all your possible escape routes and destinations.
Emergency cash (depending on the situation, credit cards and checks may be useless).
An extra gallon (or two) of gas (you should never allow your gas tank to get less than 1/2-full).
Emergency road flares
A can of "flat fix"
Any special tools required for the car
A ground cloth
Extra blankets (blankets can be used for warmth or for shade)
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