Emergency Preparedness

[Holiday_Mom]

In light of the wildfire smoke I experienced for several days last week and the week before, I realized that I haven’t done much emergency preparedness updating since 2020. In a couple of weeks, I want to work on reorganizing my emergency binder and the emergency storage bins. Based on our location, we are prepared for winter storm and hurricane short-term power outages. Wildfires has never really been an issue for us. Now I'm rethinking everything.

I know a number of you have had real life experiences with fire, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, etc. I thought this thread could be a place where we can learn from one another.

 

[Lori K]

Annually, as part of my HGP work, I go through my medical stash and check expiration dates, etc. I was floored when I first did this -- cough syrups and cold meds that were 5+ years past prime. I don't want to find myself in a situation in the middle of the winter with wind chills below freezing, to have to go out to replace over-the-counter meds. I now make it a practice to do this once a year. Although I"m now in a metropolitan area, I grew up in a more rural setting. I still don't like driving in the winter, even on salted roads. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Here is an old thread with a little info too.

ICE (in case of emergency) Car Tote

We are in the dog days of summer, but with all of my Christmas planning I thought maybe I should I make an emergency car tote to keep in my car this winter. I drive 45 minutes, each way, to work every day on a major highway and back roads. Pennsylvania can get some pretty nasty storms, and...

magicalholidayhome.com

 

[Myron's Mom]

Great thread!
I go through all our meds and other emergency health supplies twice a year. It was so nice to have cold supplies etc on hand when we were sick last summer. And our freezer meals were a life saver.
When our son was young we would have fire drills. His room was on the 2nd floor and he had a fire ladder so he could go out the window if needed. We had an emergency plan where we would meet up if we couldn’t leave our house together. He had explicit instructions where to go and that daddy would take care of our pets. We practiced different times of day including at night going out the window and running to the neighbors house. We still have the fire ladder upstairs incase we would need it here.

 

[AnnieClaus]

Katrina has quite a comprehensive list.
Maybe she can copy and paste here?

Here is what I wrote:

I have heard to have a person who is a "contact point" for all family members in case of emergency/evacuation.
It should be a person outside of the area that you live in.
This way, each person in the "emergency" area calls and checks in with the contact person.
Then when other family members call the contact person, that person can let the family members know who they have heard from.

We had an emergency stash in each of the buildings I worked in up on the Army base.
When 9/11 happened a lot of people got stuck at work since it was a military base.
We all kept sneakers in the stash because some people on 9/11 walked off the base to get picked up by a family member in a car.

Annie

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

This is what we have packed and is ready to go at all times. This tote is stored in my closet just near the safe where we have hard copies of important papers, passports and jewelry. We also have photos of our insurance papers etc on our phones.
All of this information is in my household binder which I update as part of the HGP.

It seems like a lot to pack but it is all packed in 3 totes and 1 overnight bag/backpack. Easy to grab and pack in our car which we always ensure is full of fuel. My car is also generally empty of items so that I have room to pack if needed. I check these totes once or twice a year. DH and I discuss where we will meet if we are not together.

I like Annie's idea of a contact person. I think I will ask DSIL mother as she lives in another city to us and should not be involved in our emergency if that makes sense.

People think that I am a bit out there with all this but I would prefer to be organised just in case and never have to use it then to be caught out.

Our tote includes
Towel x2
Blanket x2
Emergency blanket x2 (the foil reflective sort)
Garbage bags
Wind up torch/radio (plus the torch on our phone)
Emergency poncho x2
Goggles x2
Heavy gloves x2
Hand sanitiser x2
Entertainment (book crossword book and pen)
Hand warmers
Masks x2
Knife/Fork/Spoon x2
Pain medicine ( I check this every year, it is the only item that has an expiry date)
Toilet paper x2
Emergency whistles x2
Multitool (Leatherman)
Phone charger cord (a generic one that can charge all phones)
Charging station.
First aid kit.

In another area we have (in a sturdy shopping bag)
2 litre water jug (also 4x 1.5 litre bottles of water stored on top of tote)
Water additive
Muesli bars
Tinned fruits
Fruit bars
Baked beans
Dried soup mix
Oat satchets
Shelf stable milk
Sunblock
Insect repellant

We have a overnight bag packed with
Underwear/socks/bra
Sturdy boots plus a pair of thongs (flip flops?)
A full change of clothes
Hat or beanie
Warm jumper (even in Summer)
Toothbrush and paste
Deodorant
Medications and copies of scripts (take photos of scripts and keep them on your phone)

And finally for the dogs (in a sturdy shopping bag)
Water and food bowls
Treats
Water
Tinned food and opener (I try to look for tinned food with the ring pull)
Dried food
Blanket
Toys
Lead and harness
I have pictures of the dogs and their details on my phone in case we get separated

.

 

[halimer]

We also have a code word - actually a phrase - that we would use to warn our DS and DDIL if they needed to get to our house so we could "get out of Dodge".

Fortunately we've never had to use it.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Y'all got my wheels turning! There are some great ideas here.

 

[homemade4me]

Both my kids and my niece are getting a solar phone charger for their birthdays. Last summer I bought a small desk fan that can be charged at home or in the car. I keep a bag of ice cubes in the back of the freezer and when power went out here several years ago, my husband went to the corner store and was able to buy a bag of ice.....only because he had cash.... I do need to work on a big out bag though....thanks for all the great ideas above!!
Laurie

 

[Lori K]

We also have a code word - actually a phrase - that we would use to warn our DS and DDIL if they needed to get to our house so we could "get out of Dodge".

We also had that for our DD when she was in high school, in case she found herself in a situation where she needed to make an exit. She'd call and ask "How is Grandma doing?" or "Is Grandma doing OK?" If anyone ovrerheard, she could say that her elderly Grandma was not doing well and she needed to leave, and either DH or I would pick her up.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

my husband went to the corner store and was able to buy a bag of ice.....only because he had cash....

This is a good reminder to always have a little cash on hand in case the power goes out. I will do that for sure. TFS

 

[halimer]

We also had that for our DD when she was in high school, in case she found herself in a situation where she needed to make an exit. She'd call and ask "How is Grandma doing?" or "Is Grandma doing OK?" If anyone ovrerheard, she could say that her elderly Grandma was not doing well and she needed to leave, and either DH or I would pick her up.

We would say that an Uncle (dead) was coming to visit.

 

[Miss JoDee]

My kids has a password to ask for if I sent someone to them and they did not know in advance they were not aware they were going any where............

 

[halimer]

My kids has a password to ask for if I sent someone to them and they did not know in advance they were not aware they were going any where............

We had the same thing for DS, which, fortunately, we never had to use.

 

[PamelaG]

We also had that for our DD when she was in high school, in case she found herself in a situation where she needed to make an exit. She'd call and ask "How is Grandma doing?" or "Is Grandma doing OK?" If anyone ovrerheard, she could say that her elderly Grandma was not doing well and she needed to leave, and either DH or I would pick her up.

I recently saw something similar to this but it was using a hot dog emoji. A young boy was staying overnight at a friend's house and he texted his mom a hot dog emoji. She immediately went to the house where he was staying and said he needed to come home for a family situation. Turns out he felt threatened by another male member of the household and this was the way to communicate to his mom that he needed to be picked up right away.

 

[Myron's Mom]

We had the booger password for my son. We only used it once but it was nice to have it.
I second having cash on hand. We are so reliant on cards and electronic transfers if the grid goes down (for whatever reason) you are pretty much out of luck.

 

[Whusky]

In light of the wildfire smoke I experienced for several days last week and the week before, I realized that I haven’t done much emergency preparedness updating since 2020. In a couple of weeks, I want to work on reorganizing my emergency binder and the emergency storage bins. Based on our location, we are prepared for winter storm and hurricane short-term power outages. Wildfires has never really been an issue for us. Now I'm rethinking everything.

I know a number of you have had real life experiences with fire, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, etc. I thought this thread could be a place where we can learn from one another.

I hope all is well now, re the wildfire's.

Brilliant, brilliant thread!
I'm a prepper, although I haven't don't much of it lately (and I've had to use some of my "stock" when I couldn't find things at the shop). Fortunately We don't get many weather-based emergencies in my part of the UK, but I prep in case of job loss or another 2020 -type situation.
I had close to 3months worth of food stores up, but it's more like 3 days right now!

I love the idea of the tote bag for emergencies! I want to do a bug-out bag, but the dilemma I was having was I used my backpack for work and I don't really want to have to buy another one for "just in case". With the tote idea, I could just grab that or put it in the backpack if needs be.

Can I ask what you put in the binder? Do you have lists etc?

 

[Lori K]

So this thread got me thinking ... I'm in a suburb of a major metropolitan area, so the biggest threats for me are blizzard conditions. I'm across the street from a pond, but it is connected by sewer gates to a lake, other ponds, and a creek. And, I'm on a hill, so there's little chance of flooding. But, if I needed to quickly evacuate away from here, what would I need as essentials, once I settled in a new location. I love to cook and can, but am a recipe cook. Never got the handful of this, pinch of that gene from my GM or DM. To quell my mind, I've started a list of critical back-to-basics recipes to put in a binder for grab-and-go. Alternatives for making buttermilk, yogurt, beer bread, soda bread, spice blends, sourdough starter ...

 

[halimer]

I've started a list of critical back-to-basics recipes to put in a binder for grab-and-go. Alternatives for making buttermilk, yogurt, beer bread, soda bread, spice blends, sourdough starter ...

Good idea! I have a big binder full of recipes but only some that I use on a regular basis. I was thinking of putting those into another binder and also making a separate binder for recipes that I only use around Christmas for gift giving.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Can I ask what you put in the binder? Do you have lists etc?

My household binder has the hard copy of the lists that I posted above. It has check boxes so when I check the totes etc I tick the boxes and put a date so I know when it was last checked.

My binder also has a list of cleaning supplies that I use for the HGP so that I can clean without running out of a product, it has my room by room cleaning plans as mine is slightly different to the original HGP.

I also have one page for each season, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. These pages have hints and ideas of how to prepare for that season.