This weekend, we were reminded to be prepared for an emergency.
I'm a veteran in these matters. My family experienced many earthquakes in California, and a couple of tsunami warnings here in Oregon.
What I have in my backback, one per person, are standard supplies. If I am away from home, at work, at the grocery store, at a party, and I am stranded, my backpack will support me for a couple of days. It is portable, in case I need to abandon the car.
Here is my top ten:
1. medications
2. water
3.first aid kit
4.flashlight with extra batteries
5. blankets and tarps
6. radio and extra batteries
7. whistle
8.deodorant/toothbrush/chapstick
9.change/money in small denomination
10. snacks
You can see from the pile on the sofa, all these items will fit easily in a backpack. You can stuff the backpack; just be sure you can carry it easily if you have to walk out of danger.
We have been stuck outside, in the cold, during the January 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and what we needed most, after blankets, was a bottle of Mylanta. The local drug store didn't take checks.
If you are trapped or injured, a whistle will help you signal for help. Water is more important than snacks; and prescription medications should be the first thing on your list.
While you are assembling your car kit, double up and make a kit for an elderly relative or neighbor.
I hope you'll never have to use this kit.
36 comments:
Hi Rosaria
I was thinking along similar lines for living here in Kauai...and I would add to my pack: passport and travel docs, cheque book and phone...
Happy days
we keep a kit in the back of the car, just in case...mostly we have used the first aid (two boys, go figure) but ou never know...
This is a great idea. I have an extra change of clothes and large blankets in the back of my car, but never thought of having a backpack ready with supplies. I used to live out in the middle of nowhere (country) and always had plenty of water and canned goods...along with a radio and batteries. I have been slacking since I moved to the city. ugh! Thank you for the reminder...keep reminding us!! :)
I pray And wish each And every living being to be always safe and in peace for always forever.
Amen.
Yes, passport and other important papers!
This is a wise suggestion.
Thank you.
Rosaria, I'm working on a magazine piece on this very topic this month. We used to have the backpack in the car, after the Northridge quake, but have grown slack. I packed an emergency bin (a big plastic trash can) after Northridge too. It is in the garage. I need to go through it and change food and batteries. Not mention larger sized clothing for moi.
What excellent advice! I'm going to assemble mine asap!
I need to do this for Jane and me!
What a good idea, Rosaria. I would also like to have a couple of weeks worth of food stored up. Recently, we didn't have water coming up here in Puerto Rican mountains had to run around looking everywhere for gallon jugs. (everyone else had the same problem) It reminded me that I should have a backup supply.
i'm glad i read this. i hope i remember it. i hope i never need to. but i can assure you my list was vastly different...
I used to keep so many extra supplies in the trunk that I didn't have room for groceries. Now I've scaled back to most of the basics you listed here.
I just told my wife yesterday to start buying some water and to lay in some food. If we had an earthquake here today we would be out of water and food would be gone in no time. So I will keep reminding her until she starts to bring it home.
Sage advice LV...here in Detroit...goodness I think the tornado of '96 (thereabouts) was about as close as a natural disaster we've experienced. and that thing just came out of nowhere and flattened a lot and was gone.
thanks, Rosaria!!
I have a gallon size ziplock bag with a ziplock bag of instant coffee, a to-go cup, one of those folding stove-tops with a couple of canned heats, a fire stick, and a couple of those packaged hand-warmers. They take up surprizingly little space.
I hope you won't be needing it, Rosaria! Stay safe and well, my friend.
We learned after the Great 1000 Year Ice Storm of 2009 to prepare for emergencies.
We are prepared for emergencies in home, but we need to consider the fact we may not be home. We have blankets in the cars, and things like walking sticks and a chair which provides support for me to get up if I fall on my bionic knees.
We will be taking a trip soon to NC so I need to consider some emergency ideas. we always have extra prescription meds.
Hi folks,
Thanks for your thoughts. I left out cell phone! Who goes out without it? But, a cellphone runs out of power, so you do need a back up power source. If you already carry your i.d. and cell phone in your pockets/purse, you may want to add a spare battery, a mirror and matches. Yes, a mirror to send signals, matches to start a fire.
You see that after you start thinking you add more and more things.
There was a time, after the Northridge experience that Enchanted Oak and I remember well, when we all put together a big trashcan with supplies and kept it somewhere other than the house itself. You see, many of us had to abandon/ were forced to leave our crumbling abodes. If the supply bin was in a different part, say a garage that was accessible without electricity, we could survive.
Emergency personnel will arrive and feed you, but not immediately.
At our schools, we had bins in each classrooms, and each child had his/her own kit in a ziplock bag. And on the top of the list for a small child? A lollipop and a favorite toy!
I used to keep a survival kit when I was doing the river guide thing. Probably should revive that.
What an excellent idea! I hope you never have to use it!
Good list and I like what Delwyn has added especially if near a border. Hope you don't have to make use of your provisions. Be safe.
A really good reminder, thank you for being so thoughtful. I too hope you never have to use it. I would have to add some wool and sticks, it's the thing i turn to in stressful situations (if i couldn't be busy helping out somehow).
And yes, always my cellphone, i have a solar charger. Great for camping and emergencys.
Great reminder and list. In winter I also throw a sleeping bag into the back of my car - just in case.
Same with the Australian eastern seaboard, they were clearing the beaches; the tsunami created by the same earthquake you're feeling the effects of. But here in the village, we have very little in the way of medical; most people here know that it's an accepted thing, that if something happens, chances are you're not going to have much success in getting help for it; Calcutta is too far away....
Whistle! Yes, I never thought of that...!
YES! That's what I learned in the tsunami warning. Have the few neccessary things AT HAND, not in a pile in your trunk.
Excellent post :)
Aloha, Friend!
Comfort Spiral
Until now I've never been close to some natural disaster. I hope you'll not need your backpack! However, I would add a box of waterproof matches and a fish hook. If nothing else, you could have a picnic on the beach with fishing:)
I always had extra "supplies" and first aid when the CS was little, but now? Thanks for the great suggestions. Going to find a backpack now...
Dear Lakeviewer, thanks a lot on your visit and the words of course, I'm so proud on this.
Hope that you will not use this emergency. Regards since the next visiting. villa-loredana
Rosario,
i'm incorrible.
i'm screwed.
will a pack of gummy frogs help me?
what are you get ready for? what am i misssing?
hope all is well.
xo
erin
Such great information, thanks for listing it.
Hi folks,
I'm learning with each event around the world that preparations such as filling a backpack should be conducted with those who do not think emergencies will touch them. Talk to your children and your elders. See what special needs they might have.
Thanks for the visit and for the suggestions you listed.
Erin: We have hurricane winds in this part of Oregon that disturb life quite often. With only one route, Highway 101, we could be isolated for a long time. My house is stocked with food, medicine,and combustibles. We can sit tight for a while. If I get caught while on the road to somewhere or from somewhere, my backpack I just described will have to suffice.
Good luck to all of us.
Yikes, I hope you don't need it but it's good to be prepared. We keep suplies for power loss.
Neat kit and I hope you don't have to use it.
However you haven't packed anything for entertainment. Pocket TV? Radio? Nintendo DS? Swimming costume? Table-tennis bat?
This is a really great idea! I need to assembly one of these for my car immediately!!
Hi! I'm new to your blog and I'm so glad I stopped by, it's great! I'm your newest follower!
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