Emergency Supplies Blog

It is the time of year to transition rotate your emergency kits and gear for colder weather. This is important since there are different survival requirements for cold weather. It is also a great opportunity to out your supplies and make sure that you keep your food fresh and ready to eat. You should switch out your clothes from summer clothes to winter clothes. Be sure to include several pairs of heavy socks, a heavy sweatshirt, warm pants and a coat. It is easier to stay warm if you dress in several layers of clothing, so you may want to plan to do that. winter clothes take up more room than summer ones, so you may need to adjust accordingly.  You may want to blankets to your emergency kits. This includes your car kit as well. You can buy blankets, which are stored in plastic zipper bags to keep them safe from the wear and tear.  Take a quick stock of your cooking and heating resources. Many winter emergencies involve a loss of power, so it is important to have a plan to keep your family warm. Eating warm food is also more appealing the winter so you will want to have cooking resources available as well. Here is more information on alternative heating and cooking sources.  You should teach yourself and your family how to survive out in winter weather. One fun way to do this is take a winter survival course as a family. This can be a fun family activity, and you will learn important skills to protect yourself.      Be prepared to deal with the first aid emergencies that can come with winter weather. Frostbite, chapped lips, and hypothermia are all conditions that can occur in cold weather. Know how to deal with these and when to get help.

Every home and building owner should have a gas and water shut off tool and know how to use it.  Also, others in your home should be trained on how to shut off the gas and water.  In an emergency, like an earthquake, fire, flood, or evacuation, you’ll need to shut off your gas and water service to your building.  I work in a real estate office and these emergency gas and water shut off tools make great gifts for our new home owners.

It is important to remember to rotate the following items in your emergency kit.

#1.  Check your food and water to see if it has expired.  If your food and water is going to expire within 6 months just use it up and replace it.  Be sure to check your iodine tablets or other methods of water purification to make sure thy have not expired as well.

#3.  Check any medications that you keep in stock.

#4.  Check your batteries and make sure all the things that use batteries are in working order, like flashlights and radios.

#5.  Also, check your activities bag and the activities bag of your children to make sure thy are up to date.

#6.  Make sure you check your emergency contact list and also revise your emergency plans if need be.

#7. Finally, go through all items in your emergency kit adding additional items like solar blankets, etc… as you become better prepared.

When you think about emergencies, diving into your toolbox for help may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But when it comes to tools that may be needed in an emergency situation, you likely have them sitting in your toolbox in your garage already. Take a look around your home and office. That can opener in your kitchen is essential in the event you find yourself without power and needing to open a can.  And that is just one example of tools you probably have laying around your home and office that can be helpful in an emergency situation.

Keeping a wrench in an easily accessible space is a good idea. When a natural disaster such as an earthquake happens, a wrench is needed to turn off the gas to protect yourself and your family against a possible gas leak from damaged gas lines. Wrenches can also be used to turn off water lines in the event of a breakage or other emergency. Tools that may be needed in an emergency situation also include screwdrivers and pry bars. It is not only your own family that may need help, but your neighbors as well. Should disaster befall your neighborhood, your tool kit can be of great use. Make sure it is stocked well. Depending on your unique situation, tools that may be needed in an emergency situation can include traffic cones and flares useful for cordoning off areas where a car accident has happened. In the event of fire or a tree falling or other disaster, you may find a fireman’s ax to be very useful. Likewise, a saw is a necessary tool that can help you out in many emergency situations.  As you can see, there are many tools and utensils commonly found in your home and / or office that can make a world of difference when you find yourself in the unusual circumstances of an emergency situation. As is the case with the rest of your emergency tools and supplies, it is important to have your tools properly stored and marked so that they are easy to find in that moment of need. Tools that may be needed in an emergency situation include adjustable wrenches in several sizes, a pipe wrench, pry bar, bolt cutters, saw, sledge hammer, can opener, pliers, fireman’s ax and screwdrivers; just to name a few.

Everyone’s situation is different.  Different medical, physical, pet, and family needs, besides the basic emergency kit, with some extra food and water.  Our family has a meeting place where family members can gather in case of an emergency. Then we have another meeting place outside of town.  You maybe could use a relative’s house in another state in case of a statewide emergency plan like a dirty bomb or hurricane.  Your own emergency plan is the key and once you have the plan built adding your supplies and updating your supplies and plan every yeear is easy.

Earthquake Preparedness and Kits

Earthquake preparedness and kits can save your life when you least expect it. Since there is no way of predicting when an earthquake will strike, having earthquake emergency kits handy can spell the difference between life and death. Remember that in times of calamities and disasters, paramedics, cops and even firefighters cannot always arrive when you needed them so you have to be responsible for the safety and survival of yourself and your family until help arrives.

The staples of every earthquake emergency kit are first aid supplies, medicines, and several gallons of drinking water and enough food for your whole family that will last for at least three days. You should also include gadgets and tools such as battery operated lights and lamps, transistor radio, and mobile phone or other types of communication device that will help you survive even when there is no electricity and gas. Some people even recommend buying furniture-fastening straps, safety adhesive fasteners, and other implements that can keep your furniture, drawers, cupboards and other fixtures from falling off. Cutting tools and fire extinguishers must also be within easy reach so that you can cut off water and gas pipes and extinguish fire when it happens after the earthquake.

In order to increase survival rate, each member of your family should know where to get your earthquake preparedness and kits and what to do when earthquake strikes and since nobody can be sure what time an earthquake will hit, it is also advisable to designate a meeting place for your family in case it is no longer safe to stay in your home.  Even if you have dozens of earthquake emergency kits scattered in your house, you need to know how protect yourself from falling objects and other things that can harm you during and a earthquake.  Disastrous seismic activities are quite rare, but your earthquake preparedness supplies and kits can also be used during other emergency situations.  Just make sure that you immediately replenish your supplies and update your gear.