Emergency Kits

Disasters come in all sizes. Sometimes we have time to plan; often, we do not.

In case of a natural disaster, folks should plan to take care of themselves for three days before expecting outside help to arrive. If damage is widespread, think Katrina or the Nashville flood a few years ago, resources may focus on the more populated areas and miss you entirely. That sounds unfair and incompetent, but even good folks with the best of intentions miss the perfect mark now and then.

The best advice is to not count on anybody helping you for the first few days. If you prepare and help arrives – great! But if you don’t prepare and they don’t come, you are the one who will suffer.

So give serious thought to what type emergencies you are likely to experience and develop a short-term survival plan.

Putting together an emergency kit is a good place to start. Especially for families with small children. Healthy adults can get along for a couple of days without food and water, but it is much more difficult for children to cope.

We’ve prepared a guide for creating emergency kits to get you started. Understand, this is not an exhaustive list, but it identifies some of the essentials. Review your family’s needs and tweak this list so that it works for you.

Remember to check your kit on a regular basis. Some of the items will need replaced. Food, water, and batteries have shelf lives that have to be considered. Set an alarm on your phone or make a note on your calendar to check your equipment. To help them remember, some folks make it a habit to review their emergency kits on certain holidays such as New Years Day and July fourth.

But what is most important is that you do what works for you. In times of disaster, you can’t survive on wishful thinking. Start your plan today.

Here’s the link for help in creating your Emergency Kit.