A Comprehensive Guide to Preparing for Emergencies

Everyday, we walk out our front doors, get into our car and move about our daily lives. How many of us are constantly wondering whether today is the day something bad happens? How many wonder if they’ll be attacked walking out their door or if they’ll get into a terrible accident? But why stop there. What about swine flu, global climate change, wars, asteroids! The point is, not many think about those issues on a daily basis. We do our thing, make plans for the future and rarely anticipate that something contrary to those plans will happen. The purpose of this article is to find the balance between complacency and extremism.

The first step is to be smart. Be aware of your surroundings and the potential problems there. Do you live in an area that prone to flooding? Earthquakes? Fires? Crime? A good tip is to research past events that happened in your city. How did the people behave? What was everyone rushing to the store to buy after the initial disaster had passed? Simply by becoming aware you can make sure that you and your family are in a safe place while everyone else is scrambling for a plan in the middle of a chaotic situation.

Depending on the potential problems that may be prevalent in your area, there are certain items that everyone should have.

One is an emergency stash of food. This is an extremely important investment to make on behalf of your family because it would be useful in any situation. If there’s a major disaster, this would go without saying but when I recently lost my job and had trouble finding a new one, we were able to live almost entirely on the food we’d saved. This meant that we had much more money throughout the month to spend on other essentials. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a ton of money every month. If all you can do is grab a couple of $.50 boxes of mac and cheese every time you go shopping, every little bit helps. If you have a little more to work with, and you have access to a bulk foods section in a grocery store, this can be a very quick way of storing a couple hundred pounds of food. For instance, I can buy a 40lb bag of instant potato flakes for about $40 or a 25lb bag of quick oats for $9.99. Because they’re in bulk, the price is much less. It’s also less because I’m buying commercial bags of the item rather than advertised items that are in boxes. Ebay also sells emergency food supplies like dried fruits, MRE’s, etc. and Costco has emergency food buckets. Some of them are filled with dried food packets while others contain various survival tools like respiratory masks, thermal blankets and dried food packets. The prices are quite reasonable and all items come in plastic, air tight buckets that ensure an extra long shelf life and are easy to stack. Remember, even with a small stash of food, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Second is a First Aid kit. Again, something that would be useful no matter what the situation and something every home should have anyway. If you don’t have a lot of money, go to a dollar store with $10 and build a basic kit. At the Dollar Tree (which also has an online store for bulk buyers) has hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, band aids, wraps, gauze, aspirin, Ib profin, an much more.

Third is personal protection. Even if you’re not into guns or knives everyone should have some kind of personal defense. I would suggest bear mace. It’s much more powerful than regular mace or pepper spray and you can get it in the hunting section or sporting goods section in some regular stores as well as online. If you live in an area that maybe has restrictions on owning mace, you might be able to get away with bear mace instead. If you prefer regular mace there are more options becoming available for stronger, more user friendly types. There are also tasers that can be purchased along with other non-lethal forms of protection. Regardless of what your preference is, it’s very important to have something at your disposal or else you’re a victim waiting to happen. I’m not an expert on state restrictions so, like I said, be smart and make sure you check them out first.

The fourth essential doesn’t cost anything. It’s called communication. A plan for different problems has to be created then shared and understood by those in your house. A nearby meeting place in case of a house fire, a secondary meeting place in case of a larger disaster where many people become separated, plans for a break-in (especially if you live in a high crime area) and accessibility to your weapon of choice. Depending on where you live, what your daily activities are like, and where you spend most of your time, your plans will vary. For example, if you spend a great deal of time in your car you’d have different plans than for someone who spends most of their time at home.

Those are the basics to get started from. Now, some additional items one may want to add to their arsenal, is fire. I would suggest stocking up on lighters rather than matches as they light more easily and consistently. One Bic lighter will also outlast a whole box of matchbooks, and are much easier to carry around. Of course candles are a good idea and everyone should have at least a few good sized ones. Supplement these, though, with a few flashlights, a radio and lots of batteries. I know batteries can get expensive but the Dollar Tree, and possibly other dollar stores, offers all different kinds of batteries. They may not be of the best quality but they’ll still work and you could get a lot of them even if you didn’t have a lot to spend.

An extra propane tank would also be a good idea. If you have a propane grill and are in the middle of an extended power outage, you’ll still have a way to cook your food, heat water, etc.

Now, most of us spend a decent amount of our time in our cars. Even a simple car kit kept in your trunk can give you an advantage in many different situations. Some of these things should include a gallon of water, some non-perishable food, a couple thermal blankets, a couple lighters and a basic first aid kit. A small duffel bag will hold all of these items. If you want a more rounded kit, include a change of clothes, emergency light sticks, maybe a flare gun, a utility tool, etc. Another good tool is one of those glass breaking, seat belt cutting tools to keep in the glove box. Also make sure you also have a form of protection that can stay in the car. Right now, I have a crow bar wedged between my two front seats. It’s strange how much confidence I get just having something like that accessible to me and it didn’t cost me any money.

For a basic overview--be smart, be creative and be aware. Protect your home, your car and yourself because no one is immune to the multitude of bad things that can happen out there. Have backup plans and share those plans with your family. Most of all, being prepared doesn’t mean that you're expecting bad things to happen, it just means that you're smart enough to realize that they could. You’ll be surprised how good it feels to know that you’re prepared for all kinds of situations.

 
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