Emergency Preparedness Kit (part 1)

An emergency preparedness kit is something that I have wanted to put together since we bought our house. Having a baby made me realize that if we did have an emergency we are totally unprepared (with extra "stuff" like bottled water, soup, etc). And I am REALLY bad about getting my pantry to the point of e.m.p.t.y. I hit pinterest to find some inspiration. I found these ideas from numerous blogs, and an article in "Parent's" magazine. I wanted alot of ideas. I picked through the lists to design a list that is perfect for us.

I have been working on this kit since January, and it's still a work in progress. I haven't bought everything off the list, but I am going to share what we have so far. 

Before creating this we discussed where we would meet in case there was an emergency. Somewhere right outside our home in case of a fire, and somewhere other than our home in case we aren't able to get home (and we didn't have cell service).

I'm not going to insult your intelligence and take a picture of everything in the kit, but I did include the homemade first aid kit.

Supplies in the kit:

✔masks

-bleach (I'm thinking a bleach laundry pen)

-AA batteries

✔candles

✔matches/lighter

✔dawn

-1 whistle per person

✔cloth gloves

✔sun block

✔bugspray

✔rope (parachute cable)

✔garbage bags

-pocketknife

✔flashlight (I didn't actually put this in the box- it is always plugged in so when the power goes out it is fully charged)

✔diapers

✔wipes

✔deodorant x2

✔shampoo

✔bar of soap

✔toothbrush/ toothpaste

✔razor

✔hair ties

✔pads/tampons

✔glasses (perfect solution for my old ones that I didn't know what to do with!)

✔contact solution/contact case

✔3 rolls of toilet paper

✔ roll of paper towels

-gum 

-plastic utensils
✔Bible
✔blanket x3 (one for each of us)
✔change of clothes for each person
✔notebook and pens (there are 3 notebooks and 3 pens, one for each of us)
-cash (inc. coins)
-pictures of each family member (laminated)
-card with phone numbers laminated (police dept. fire dept. poison control)
-copy of identification cards (copied and laminated)
-deck of cards/uno

✔first aid kit: I made my own according to the Red Cross website:

               ✔box of Bandaids

               ✔tylenol/benadryl

               ✔alcohol pads

               ✔antibiotic ointment

               ✔rubber gloves (We have 2 pairs- so 4 total)

               ✔gauze 

               ✔ace roll/wrap 

               ✔hydrocortizone cream

               ✔thermometer

               ✔cold compress (I used the peri pads they gave us at the hospital. After my c-section they                   weren't really needed. You bust them like a cold pack and they stay cold for an hour)

**I really like the idea of putting medicine in plastic baggies and labeling them with the mgs. It seems silly to put an entire bottle of tylenol in the kit when the chances of us really using it are slim. That way if we don't use it, we can use these closer to their expiration date- or just toss them and it's not a huge expense. 

Another thought that went through my head was that the medicine isn't childproofed. The kit resides in a closet with a babylock on the door (it's the closet we keep paint, tools, and other things not toddler friendly). The box weighs a ton, and is under a shelf, so the chances of him being able to get it out is slim. Also the first aid kit is at the bottom- so very slim chance that little fingers will be messing with this!


3 days of food: 

-soup

✔ramen

✔granola bars

✔crackers

-peanutbutter

✔3 days of water: I bought a bottle that is 3 quarts, and then 12 1 pint bottles. 

This list is very extensive and some of that stuff will probably never be needed. I was thinking worst case scenario. It's also going to be a work in progress with making sure things don't go bad. I'll have to freshen it every year or so with new granola bars, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.  


I think back to some of the events we've had here- We were snowed in for over 4 days in Jan of 2011, and we had a flood which broke a water main in Sept of 2009 (so we didn't have water for 5 days) . We had no bottled water on hand during the flood and had to rush out with hundreds of others to get more, and before the snow storm we had no food in storage (only what we had for the week)- granted the snow was predicted and we stocked up just a day before, but this kit would have cut down that stress ALOT.


Even something as simple as having matches/lighter and candles in the same place that can be found quickly can make life so much easier when the power goes out. This is also something that we could "grab" in case we had to leave the house quickly (evacuation, or if part of our house were damaged and we needed to stay in a hotel- we'd have our basic needs- toothbrush, toothpaste, etc in one place ready to go).

Since I haven't bought everything yet, I will update in part 2. I will also share in part 2 about how I created a kit for our car and what we will do with Sadie dog. She's part of the family too!