Emergency Supplies Blog

The term ‘Hygiene’ suggests set of practices associated with preservation of health and living a healthy life. Hygiene correlates with personal and professional care practices followed at every aspects of healthy living. Hygiene could be of many types such as medicinal hygiene, body hygiene, dental hygiene, domestic hygiene, occupational hygiene and sanitary hygiene. Hygiene practices widely vary based on cultural variations. Although hygiene at every level is necessary for healthy living, sanitary hygiene is something that is promoting health by avoiding human contact with the hazards of waste. The term ’sanitary’ is derived from the word ‘Sanitation’. The term sanitation is applied to a particular concept, aspect, strategy or location for basic sanitation, on-site sanitation, food sanitation, environmental sanitation and ecological sanitation.

A good sanitary habit includes following hygienic practices. Poor sanitary habits can create health problems and the spread of diseases. A good sanitary habit can only be followed if the individual is supplied with proper sanitary supplies. Sanitary supplies are necessary in a crisis situation. There are hygiene supplies available in market that support you even when you are without water as a cleansing source for several days. Hygiene and sanitary supplies are the primary tools for achieving good health where elementary cleanliness is the basic criterion. Neglect of hygiene and sanitary issues result into problems and diseases of which we sometimes were not even aware of. Every body part demands attention at regular intervals, as far as cleansing them is concerned. Hygiene and sanitation also include proper grooming routines for hair, skin, hands, teeth, nails feet and menstrual hygiene.

Sometimes we complain about conditions that disturb our daily regimen appearing as a threat to personal hygiene. Some health conditions that can be controlled by improving personal hygiene include dandruff, head lice, ear wax, bad breath, perspiration, body odor, urinary infection, athletes foot and pinworms. There are sanitary supplies readily available in market that can well be used for both in crisis situations and also in daily hygiene. A good hygiene is the only method of preventing infections. One most effective method of preventing ourselves from illness is practicing good personal hygiene. Sanitary and hygiene is a wide concept which includes practices such as bathing, washing hair, brushing teeth, and cleaning clothes.

Below are some simple tips to follow in order to practice good hygiene.

Try to bathe at least twice a day using an antibacterial soap. This helps fight germs and body odor.

Always use a deodorant with zinc or aluminum. Make sure that the deo-spray you use is capable enough of fighting odor-causing bacteria.

Launder your clothes at frequent intervals

Clean clothes at home using some odor fighting detergent.

Avoid consuming spicy or smelly food.

Hygiene is not only associated with cleanliness, it also involves following a healthy diet along with good mental health. Hygiene also means being careful to your surrounding. Only a completely hygienic person can contribute to a healthy atmosphere.  In conclusion,  you should plan for your hygiene needs during an emergency or disaster by purchasing your own personal hygiene kit.

Emergency sanitation and hygiene kits may not appear to be important to a lot of people. In a time of crisis, there are more important things to worry about, like where you are going to get your supply of clean food and water or shelter. So spending time to think about where you are going to find things to clean yourself with or where to properly dispose your wastes seem too trivial. But if you are one of the people who think this way, you can never be more wrong. During emergencies, your survival does not only depend on food and water, but also in keeping yourself clean and sanitary. Remember that many people get sick and even die in evacuation camps that do not have proper waste disposal systems. Keeping yourself clean and making sure that your wastes, such as stool and urine, are properly disposed of can prevent the spread of diseases and infections.

Aside from keeping an emergency hygiene and sanitation kit inside your home in preparation for hurricanes, earthquakes or other unwanted incidents, you also need to keep such kit inside your car, van or RV. This is particularly important if you are planning to take your family on a road or nature trip. If you are traveling with your kids, you also need to be prepared for any eventuality. You know that children cannot properly hold their urge to vomit or use the bathroom so you need to be ready or else you have to get used to having funny smell inside your car throughout the duration of the trip.

Now that you know the importance of emergency hygiene and sanitation equipment, the next step is to determine what your kit should contain. First, you ought to make sure that you all have the necessary tools to keep you and your family clean. A personal hygiene kit that contains toilet paper, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap and other cleansing products is necessary for every member of your family. Next, you also need to pay attention to your sanitation needs; you can bring an emergency toilet (especially if you are going camping), self-heating washcloths or hot water on demand, and toilet bags.

Although you can make your own emergency hygiene and sanitation kit, you really do not have to. There are a lot of kits available in the market. We can help see our “Hygiene and Sanitation” category on our web site and click on these kits on our home page. Surely, you will find one that would fit your needs and that of your family.

An emergency kit in a 5 gallon bucket that can serve as an emergency toilet is a great idea.  We were able to put additional emergency supplies in our bucket and we use a backpack were we could add additional supplies.  The toilet lid keeps everything covered, clean and dry.  The kit is ready to go, portable, and everything is nicely assembled should the need arise to fully evacuate.