People may be suprised to know that the most common disaster in the USA are house fires, as of today.
This is one of the reasons why a fire escape plan, a fire extinguisher, a smoke and carbon dixoide detector, an emergency evacuation plan, and secure fire document storage on and/or off site is important for every home.
With respect to weather related disasters, floods and flash floods are the number one disaster related killer of people, as of today, in the USA.
Whether it’s an earthquake, fire, flood, or other natural disaster, it’s important to be prepared if things go bad. Keeping extra water, food, and medical supplies on hand is always a good idea. You should have at least two first aid kits or medical supply boxes. We suggest one in your car and one in your house at all times. It’s hard to prepare for a disaster, after all, you can’t know all the minute details until the disaster is upon you. But it’s a good idea to have your supplies readily accessible and/or even have extra supplies outside your home, like in your car. You should also set a meeting point with family and friends.
If you prepare for an emergency or disaster beforehand, you will be much calmer and able to address the situation should the unthinkable occur. Being prepared is not just about having the right planning and supplies, it’s about abstaining from fear.
Its smart to find ways to protect your data before an emergency. Its a good idea to have a copy of your important emergency contact information in your emergency kit.
Also, your important pictures , financial information, etc… should be secured as well and be portable and/or secured in a second location.
Below are a few of the most common ways to back up and store your data.
Use a USB flash drive to store your important data.
Put your important dats and pictures on a CD/DVD
Buy an external hard drive and put your data on there.
Use an online backup service.
Update your hand written lists, forms, etc…
After nearly 5 days without power due to the devastating ice storm last winter a simple emergency kit would have make things easier. Simple things like a flashlight and an emergency crank radio. I did not have a portable radio but it sure would really have helped us understand what was going on. You always want to have some drinking water and some food and some simple things that make sense like a first aid kit. Don’t learn the hard way get some emergency supplies today.
Bird flue emergency kits should also be a part of the home survival kits of every household in the US and the rest of the world. Although you are probably more likely to experience disasters due to hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding, it does not mean that you should not prepare for whatever might endanger your health. The threat of bird flue becoming a global pandemic is still very much likely, especially now that traveling to different parts of the world can be very easy and fast. Just recently, a representative of the United Nations warned that the threat of bird flue is real and a pandemic might have a bigger impact on the country and the world than the present financial crisis. In the 14th century, the black plague claimed millions of lives all around the globe. This can still happen if the virus responsible for avian flue mutates into something that can enable man-to-man transmission.
The bird flue emergency kits you should keep must contain a particulate respirator because this is your first line of defense against contracting the disease. But studies have shown that not all masks or respirators can be effective in filtering the avian flue virus; thus, you need to make sure that your kit has at least an N95 particulate mask, which can filter at least 95% of airborne particulates. Other important components of an avian flue kit are antiseptic hand sanitizer, to stop the spread of microorganisms, and anti-microbial wipes, which are vital in keeping everything more sanitary and hygienic.
You also need to consider adding to your bird flue emergency kits items like safety goggles, in case there is defogging in your community; hooded coveralls, to cover your entire body; plastic sheeting, which can prevent contaminants from entering your room or home; and nitrile gloves, which helps prevent the spread of diseases. But aside from making sure that you have bird flue emergency kits for every member of your family, you also have to remember that a healthy and strong immune system is necessary to make you more resistant to the avian flue virus.
If you do not know what items to include in your emergency kit, you can use our free information and you can click on these flu kits on our home. Always remember that even if the threat of a bird flue epidemic in the country is low, you need to prepare your body physically and emotionally for such a possibility.
The thing we found out when we did a practice complete building evacuate was that we were missing proper traffic control people and tools, both in the building and out in the parking lot. If it had been dark the sitauation would have been even worse. People tend to panic in an emergency situation and proper crowd control in the building and in the parking lots is key in a total evacuation situation.
What we did was to enlist more floor captains and we supplied each floor with emergency wands and lantern flashlights. The wands work great for directing people and cars and really what you want to get is the biggest flashlight or lanters you can find. Get your emergency lighting before you need them.
People that live in wooded areas should be prepared for a evacuation due to forest fires. Most people don’t expect to experience this or anything like this. In a forest fire most houses burn down from the roof, due to flying sparks hitting the asphalt shingled roof. I have to ask, how many people are prepared for an emergency evacuation and have their emergency kits packed and ready to go and also know where all their important documents are? I would start be getting all of your importand document into a document fire bag or fire box.
Then each member of your family should have there own basic 3 day personalized emergency kit , fire document system, and clothing bag. You will feel so much better, especially if you never need to evacuate your home due to a fire and/or any other emergency.
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.
I live on the Florida West coast and have an area in my home for emergency hurricane supplies. Most of you the items you mentioned are in my kit with the exception of cash which is an excellant idea and I will now keep $500 in small denominations in my safe labeled “Emergency Cash Only.” Emergency preparedness planning for your unique situation is like a cheap insurance policy.
I would recommend that the first thing you will need in a major emergency evacuation, like the Katrina event would be $100 - $500 in cash. As people were leaving and had to fill up their car with gas they found out the stations were not taking credit cards and you had to have cash only. Lines at the ATM’s were long and the machines ran out of cash quickly. Emergency preparedness planning is the key.
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