Emergency Supplies Blog

If you have a baby or very young children in your family you will need to make sure you include your childs special needs items in your emergency kits.  Food for children may be difficult to find in stores or shelters, so you will want to make sure that you have plenty of these supplies available to you.  If you need bottles and nipples the ones with the liner are especially nice to use.  If your baby has just started on baby food you will want to include a variety of foods and snacks too. 

Also, you will need to include a good supply of diapers and some garbage bags.  You should also consider using a Wag Bag to help decompose these waste products.  Don’t forget to include any medications that your baby might need.  These include infant Tylenol, etc… that have not expired.  If you have properly prepared for your baby it will make the emergency that much easier to deal with.  It should be fairly simple to gather these supplies and a few toys as well and put them in a seperate bag.  If you kids are older consider getting them their own child emergency kit  or adult emergency kit that they can customize.

When you have toddlers and young children and they are in the walking stage, it can be very easy for them to get into things that they should not be getting into.  However, in spite of that, there are ways that parents can prevent their children from getting in harm’s way.

Toddlers and young children are naturally curious.  Something would be wrong with them if they weren’t.  One thing that they like to do is open cabinet doors and look inside.  They will go so far as to take things out, not knowing the dangers that await them.

Since they are only of a certain size, they will try to open the cabinets that are closest to the floor.  For this reason, child safety cabinet latches are needed to keep them out of harm’s way.

Since children like to get to things that are within their height and reach, another thing that should be covered up are electrical outlets.  It’s easy for them to stick their tiny fingers in the holes and possibly get injured or even worse, electrocuted.

The wires and other items inside those outlets are live and if they are tampered with, it can cause some serious consequences.  Using outlet safety plugs can help keep your child’s sticky and curious fingers away from danger.

Since a child’s body is still delicate, when they bump into things, such as sharp corners, it can hurt them.  Just think about how much pain adults feel when they bump into a sharp corner.  For toddlers and small children, it can be twice as painful.  Using safety corner bumpers can help them not to feel that excruciating pain as they cut around the corner and hit that pointed area.

Using doorknob grips can prevent your toddler or young child from going into rooms that they should not be in.  Rooms such as entry to a basement or a bedroom should be off limits.  Those are rooms that should be kept under lock and key.

Using doorknob grips can help to keep them from entering.  This will prevent them from going into dangerous territory or experiencing serious injury.

It’s important that you child-proof your home as much as possible.  The more you set up barriers and precautions, the better chance you have of your child being safe and the less concerned you’ll be about your child getting hurt or seriously injured.  Get an emergency kit or child safety kit today.

Emergency lighting is as important as food and sanitation in times of disaster and other unpredictable circumstances. Just imagine how hard it is to locate mountain climbers who fall through traps or slip down deep ravines if they do not have a shake flashlight or emergency light wand. Do you think people who live in high-rise apartments will be able to properly evacuate in case of fire or disaster if their building’s stairwells do not have emergency light? Indeed, people take the importance of light or electricity for granted. They only realize its significance when they are in a tight and dark situation.

Emergency lighting devices are useless if they are just kept in places where they are inaccessible. Even if you do have a lot of flashlights lying around in your home, but you placed them inside storage boxes in the attic or, worse, you do not know where they are, then these things would not be of any help to you under urgent situations. So, aside from making sure that everyone in your family has their own handy flashlight, you also need to make sure that these lighting gadgets are located or kept in places that are accessible to every member of your household, including your five-year-old kid. Moreover, your housekeeper or babysitter should also know where emergency supplies, including flashlights, lanterns and rechargeable lamps, can be found even if you are just going away for a few hours.

Another important thing to remember is to provide extra batteries for your emergency lighting system. There is no use having a lamp or heavy-duty flashlight if they do not have power. Thus, you need to regularly check these gadgets and make sure that they are charged or they have batteries. It may also be a good idea to keep a shake flashlight or emergency light wand in your car, RV, and even in the office.

See our “Lighting and Heating” category on our web site and you will learn that emergency lighting is also an important travel device. If you love to go camping, fishing, spelunking and even when you sleep in a hotel or rent a cabin, you need to prepare yourself and your family for any eventuality. It is wise to invest in fuel tablets, solar blankets, dynamo flashlights and radio whenever you are visiting a place or area that is new to you or is located in far flung areas. While traveling overseas, bringing a small or handy flashlight or mag light is also a very good idea.

I suggest you take your pet with you and I would buy a pet emergency kit and supplement the kit with items particular to your pet.

Make sure your pet’s vacinations are current and you have a copy of their records.  You will need them especially if you do decide to use a boarding facility.

Also, make sure that your pet’s collar has your cell phone number listed on it.  This will prove especially important in rescuing your pet quickly should you become seperated during your emergency evacuation trip.

With respect to emergeny evacuations for pets you will need to have a place to stay that will welcome you and your pet too.  Your relatives or friends may be able to help you.  I would suggest that you check out dogfriendly.com as they recommend places that have pet friendly accomodations and bring your prepacked pet emergency kit.

I live way up north in Minnesota.  It makes sense to me to keep some Canadian bills in my emergency cash, along with my passport.  If I had to move fast changing currency is only going to slow you down.  Really there are not too many scenarios that would require you to leave the county, but why close that option.  Having the extra cash is the important thing for most people to remember in their emergency plans.

As you plan and review your emergency supplies, take a look around your home for a few tools that you can include.  If your only going to add one tool to your emergency kit add a multi-tool.  Leatherman makes great multitools.  You can find these at most good camping supply stores on the web.  It is important to have a basic tool kit at home and in the trunk of your car so you can make basic repairs. A few good screwdrivers like a flat head and philips in different sizes, a hammer, a sharp knife, a hatchet, and some basic tools to shut off the water and gas.  It is important that you have the tools and knowledge to protect your family.

I would recommend at a minimum you have one gallon of water for each person included in your emergency kit.  I saw a FEMA web site that recommended two.  I think one is more than enough for clean up and drinking.  Its the most important thing you can do.  You can use one gallon containers or small pouches or bottles.

After the water then you need three days of emergency food for each person in your party.  One great option is to use food bars or military MRE’s (Meals ready to eat).

After you have the food and water covered, I would just buy a good emergency kit and supplement the kit with the following items, if they are not in your emergency kit.  You may need a mess kit or disposable bowels and silverware; a good flashlight; hand sanitizers; garbage bags; emergency blankets; a hygiene kit; supplies for baby or kids; and some extra cash.

Building a useful and prepared trauma kit requires attention to detail and forethought. Will you need ice packs and burn cream and splints and pain relievers? How many people do you expect this trauma kit to provide? Luckily, trauma kits and supplies are available in pre-prepared kits. Whether you need a one person, a fifty-four person, or a one hundred person trauma kit, you can get one fully supplied and ready for use. There are even OSHA approved medical kits available that meet all workplace safety standards.

When someone is injured, the type of first response they receive can be the difference between life and death. Loss of blood and infection are just two of the traumas that can befall someone who has been injured and is not tended to correctly. This is just one of the many reasons it is wise to have a well stocked trauma kit and supplies. Being able to properly respond to a workplace injury, in the field injury, or home injury can provide relief from pain and set the victim on their way to proper care and healing. Be prepared to deal with burns and head trauma and you’re ensuring the safety of your family and/or coworkers. From basic first aid kits to deluxe medical emergency kits capable of attending to one thousand people, trauma kits and supplies are out there that meet your specific situation and conditions.

Perhaps you have the need for a portable stretcher. If so, there is one available that folds up in a roll and stores nicely in the case alongside the rest of your medical supplies. Most of us will have no need to perform complicated field surgery in our lifetimes. But being prepared to splint and wrap a sprained ankle or treat a spider bite can save someone’s day, not to mention life. The first step to building your trauma kit and supplies is to assess your needs. Is this going in your home or office? Does your workplace contain heavy machinery or work with tools such as in the construction industry? If so, you’ll need a more heavy duty medical emergency kit than perhaps you’d need in a law office. From a first aid kit for your automobile to a deluxe first aid kit they are available and ready to ship. Check the First Aid Kits and Trauma Kits section of our website for more information.

#1.  Packing for an emergency and/or emergency evacuation is just like packing and prepared for a camping trip.  The hard part is getting the food and water supplies ready, unless you are using freeze dried foods or food bars and pre-packaged water.  I would add in a few kitchen canned items along with a can opener, knife, fork, and spoon combination and a emergency can opener too.

#2.  Thereafter, you should have all of your camping gear and supplies in clean and dry bags, buckets, backpacks, etc… ready to go on a moment notice, just like you should do with your emergency preparedness gear and emergency kits.

#3.  Finally, with camping trips you have your travel plans and destination just like you need to do with your emergency evacuation plans.  Only with a emergency evacuation consider out of neighborhood, out of town, and possible out of state.

Basically, thinking ahead is the key to a succesful camping trip and/or emergency preparedness.