Emergency Supplies Blog

   Many people make the mistake  of thinking that emergencies happpen to other folks.  Being prepared should be a part of your normal daily living.  Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

Establish a modest preparedness budget.  Get a three day emergency kit, emergency candles, a couple of solar blankets, some emergency food and water, and a first aid kit.  These are the basics.  Once you have the basics you can add additional supplies as needed.

Get reliable emergency preparedness information for your specific area from reliable sources governmental sources. 

Don’t think that everything has to be done all at once.  Gathering your supplies and applicable information is a process that should be reviewed every six months or so.   The main thing is to be consistent. 

Within a short period of time you will have the necessary emergency supplies to take care of yourself, your significant other, and/or your family. 

Don’t forget make a bring up in your planner or mark your calander to review your emergency supplies and preparedness plan every six months.

I looked at your printable emergency forms on your web site in the free information.  They are good and a lot of people will use them.  Nevertheless, I would suggest putting all of your emergency contact information, checklists, and plans on a zip drive.  Thats my preference since I travel with a lap top most of the time.

I agree.  All good stuff.  Many people do not realize or consider the importance of emergency preparaedness or food storage to be a part of their financial plan, but it is.  Being prepared to financially handle whatever life throws at you makes emergency preparedness and aquiring emergency tools a good investment, like life insurance.  I could probable keep my family of 5 fed for about 6 months. I still need to get a emergency backup generator since we live in the country and are on a well, so no power, no water.  I was also glad to see the discussion on keeping some extra cash at home. Imagine a day if there was no natural disaster to be found, but your credit cards don’t work.  That’s why I would say keep a $1,000 of cash on hand just for emergencies.  Finally your emergency plan will be ever evolving as member of your family mature and health conditions change.

If you were forced to rough it in an emergency situation or evacuate from your home how portable are your emergency supplies?   If the emergency shelters are full, you will quickly discover that you will need to provide a shelter for your family.  You can pack a tent or pack several tarps and a rope to rig up a temporary shelter.  Your shelter should be able to withstand the wind and rain.   Also, make sure that you have portable cooking equipment and a good lighter or matches. 

You should store your emergency gear and supplies in buckets, sealed bags and/or backpacks.  For many families this would mean hiking backpacks are best.  If you are evacuating by car you will want to be sure your emergency gear and your families emergency kits fit nicely in your car and don’t forget to consider the special needs of your family members.   Pre-planning is the key to your emergency plan and gear.

I live by a hazardous waste disposal plant.  It recently caught fiew and we had to evacuate.   Fortunately my family was too far away to be in any danger from the fire and the pollutants. However, I do know people who were evacuated from their homes as a result of the chemical fire. Below are four things you should do to prepare for this type of emergency.

#1.  Call your local government office to find out if there are chemical plants and hazardous waste facilities near your home.  If you at a very high risk of a disaster you may consider purchasing gas masks or smoke masks for your family.

#2.  You should prepare an emergency evacuation plan with the members of your family and prepare to meet out of the area with your basic emergency kit and cash.

#3.  You should be aware of your surrounding.  In this casepeople were asked to go door to door by the Police and turn off all air conditioners to limit the exposure to the chemicals in the smoke.  You will want to know which way the wind is blowing and drive away from the smoke to a safe meeting place.

#4. When you are allowed to go back to your home you most likely will be given specific cleaning instruction.  You may consider having an expert test your home for chemicals as some building may not reopen due to dangerous chemical levels.

When there is a blackout the first thing one needs is a good hand crank emergency radio/flashlight combination.  With a hand crank system you will not have to worry about batteries.   When we lost power we were left in the dark, but the worst part was we didn’t know why.  The not knowing part is the worst part.  If we would have been able to tune into our local radio station or an emergency station then our family would not have felt so stressed.  The emergency radio flashlight is the first item I would buy and then build my emergency supplies from here.   

When you leave for work in the morning, you never know what the day is going to bring. Maybe they’ll be a freak ice storm, and you find yourself stuck on the freeway and unable to get home. Maybe you’ll be involved in a car accident, and you’ll be in need of emergency gear. We want to believe these kinds of things aren’t possible, because they’re unpleasant to think about. But the truth is that they do happen every day, and the best way we can deal with that is by being prepared.

That’s why you shouldn’t get in your car unless you’re stocked with any number of auto emergency kits. These can contain a variety of products, but the most extensive will have a first aid kit as well as a survival blanket, flashlight, batteries, spare food, and water. Whatever they possess, they might just prove a tremendous help if you ever do find yourself stuck in an unexpected and unpleasant situation.

In the circumstance of a of fire, the first and the foremost step to be taken by the occupants are to immediately evacuate the place. Every building should follow an evacuation plan that includes both primary and a secondary evacuation passage. Sometimes the life of the occupants is at stake and it completely depends on the rescue team on how to implement the entire operation while fire engulfs an area or building. But in the case of the initial absence of a rescue team, you need to be abreast with the basics of evacuating an entire building, establish a designated area to meet outside the building and maintain the primary safety procedures. Be sure the safe spot selected is familiar with everyone and is far away from the affected zone.

Moreover, your evacuation plan should incorporate a warning call announcing the initiation or completion of evacuation procedure. Following a proper evacuation plan and/or search and rescue plan and having a reliable fire extinguisher, some smoke marks, a couple fire blankets, flashlights, communication devices, trauma kits, an a few search and rescue items to back you up. These rescue emergency supplies do not cost a lot but can certainly save a priceless life.

Evacuation Tips: Immediately leave the building after the call or alarm is sounded. Do not take risk of an immediate investigation if you are not trained enough. While leaving close all doors preventing the smoke, flames or choking odor to spread out. Never run, but walk swiftly to the closest exit out of the building. Do not re-enter into the fire-affected area before it is subdued. Assemble at the designated area. Never use the elevator in a hurry to exit the building as that may prove even more disastrous. Once the all residents leave the place the entire responsibility turns over to the first responders.

Nevertheless, proper training on the part of your team is highly commendable. The training should include fire safety basics along with a detailed knowledge on the types of fire extinguishers and their proper use. The training should also include the discretionary use of extinguishers with a controlled fire. The building owners and managers should go through the emergency evacuation and safety measures making sure that a safe escape has been provided to all. It depends on individual discretion on how efficiently we meet a challenging situation. It is also true that only a smart thought out process cannot help every time unless there is adequate safety equipment available to you.
 

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are in charge of educating people about disaster preparedness for hazards that occur all of a sudden. They educate people about how to survive when disaster strikes. Basic skills like light search and rescue, fire safety, disaster medical operations and team organization are taught to the people. The instructions are formally given in classroom training schedules. Having acquired the necessary skills, the CERT members become efficient enough to offer a helping hand during any crisis or disaster, irrespective of its place or magnitude. Their important service helps when professional rescue takes time to reach.

In 1985, the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) had developed and implemented the CERT concept. It was in the year 1987 when a major earthquake hit the Whittier Narrows area in Los Angeles County, California, that the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs was felt. As a result of which, the LAFD created a disaster preparedness bench with the intention of training citizens along with private and government employees. CERT plays a responsible role in preparing citizens against any kind of disaster. It also helps them in understanding how efficiently they can help their friends and family even in the absence of emergency supplies.

In case of emergency crises, professional CERT training and emergency CERT products can come in real handy. CERT products such a emergency response kit combined with the CERT Field Manual can help save lives when professional medical assistance or emergency help are not at hand. In order to have a global reach, CERT offers a number of allied non-technical products too, and these may include the famed CERT Logo Baseball Hat or the Bull Horn 10 Watt, each of which are as good as the core CERT products.

Community Emergency Response Teams need a large number of emergency products including a 3 day – 72 hour emergency kit.   CERT emergency supplies include first aid kits, first aid cabinets, medical emergency kits and supplies, and trauma kits and supplies. It is not that you can only buy CERT products if you belong to a local response team. You can have the products for your personal safety too and may be able to help your neighbor in times of crisis.

You can buy the CERT supplies and first aid kits by either visiting a store or from online retailers. Getting the CERT colors and logo’s on your teams gear is important and helps the public know your on a CERT team. CERT logo and colors can be found on products like survival kit backpacks, bull horns, C.E.R.T. embroidered patches, C.E.R.T. field manuals, C.E.R.T. form books, polo shirts, action response units, hard hats, emergency ponchos, EVAC (Emergency Volunteer Air Corps) roll stretchers, etc.  Its always best to have your emergency kits and emergency supplies ready to go and/or to help others that you may need help in a crisis situations.
 

Both natural and man-made disasters result in emotional and physical injury. Most of the survivors of natural disasters, war, and terror attacks suffer from acute trauma and emotional turbulence. They may have come out unscathed from a hurricane, earthquake or a bomb blast, but the traumatic experience often paralyses them and deters them from recuperating completely. Physical and emotional trauma, if not handled immediately with first aid kit and emergency supplies, can go horribly out-of-hand and wreak havoc in the life of the victim. This is why a trauma kit with a complete set of emergency preparedness supplies should be made available for employees in a workplace as well as in public domains.

Most of these trauma kit should be attached on walls or should be strung up in plain sight so that in case of emergency people do not have to exert themselves to reach, find,  or access the the first aid kit. Acquiring a trauma kit has become all the more simple as they can be purchased online. Whether you need a trauma kit as a personal safeguard, or need a large one that is part of medical first aid kits for 10-200 strong workforce, availing one today is as easy as buying a hat from a street vendor.

Building a trauma kit needs much more caution and homework than packing a simple medical emergency kit. You need to survey the kind of situations you may experience trauma from as well as the environs around. You may need a foldable stretcher or quick splint and bandage wraps or ointment for a spider bite – all of which, if untreated or unattended to, can cause the injuries to turn into more severe ones. A trauma kit may contain everything – from a simple burn ointment to complete rolls of bandages and foldable stretcher units

Trauma kits have helped hundreds save themselves – right from the scene of the London Subway bombings to Hurricane Katrina victims. And as far as buying such trauma kits or emergency supplies are concerned, right from small personal kits to deluxe emergency bulk-heads for a 1,000 strong crowd is easily available online. The importance of trauma kits are one of the most important first aid supplies to have in emergency situations, this cannot be stressed enough. Injuries may heal, but without trauma treatment with the help of medical first aid kits complete recuperation may take a long time!