Note this Article is still in process and is not complete.
What is emergency preparedness?
Emergency preparedness means taking action to be ready for emergencies before they happen. The objective of emergency preparedness is to simplify decision-making during emergencies. The emergency preparedness process incorporates the means to rapidly identify, evaluate, and react to a wide spectrum of emergency conditions. Emergency plans are dynamic and are routinely reviewed and updated to reflect an ever-changing environment.
What Is a Go- Bag / Bug Out bag?
A Go bag is an emergency kit that you can easily take with you if you need to leave your home. Ideally each person in the household should have their own basic Go- bag. Make sure your Go-Bag is easy to carry and everyone in the household knows where it is. Use a backpack, duffel bag, or suitcase with wheels. It should be in an easy-to-reach place, such as your front hall closet. If you have a large Family, your Go-Bag could get heavy, so it’s a good idea to separate some of these supplies into multiple backpacks. That way, your kit will be more portable, and each person can personalize their own go-bag emergency kit.
WHY?
To prepare for a variety of possible emergencies, you’ll need a survival plan that accounts for situations where your family may need to evacuate your home. By putting together a “Go-Bag” or “Bug-Out Bag,” in advance you’ll have all the necessary supplies and tools needed to get by outside of your house for at least 72 hours to 1 week if disaster strikes.
Just a personal note here, in doing the research for this article, I found that there are a lot of opinions on what you should have and how you should plan on Bugging Out. Since we are talking about Natural disasters here, the main line of thought is to load up your vehicle and take off. However, if the recent floods, fires, and tornadoes have taught us anything it’s that while you may start off in your vehicle, due to traffic, road outages, ect. you may find yourself walking. So, I would pack accordingly. I recommend you pack the most essential items in your main bag that you can carry, all the extra want-to-have items go into other bags, your main bag should be easily identified, so if you’re traveling with your family, some of the want-to-have items could be put in some of those bags. For this article I will focus on one person & one bag that you can carry.
Micha Petty
Sep 24, 2020
Wrote:
Most people don’t give much thought to preparedness until they experience a disaster for themselves. For example, I daresay quite a few of us are more keenly aware now of how much toilet paper we have on hand than we were before COVID-19. In the past (hopefully less so now), many people seemed to conflate disaster preparedness with being a kook or conspiracy theorist. Granted, there are people on the fringe of society that make “prepping” and hoarding their main life’s goal, but that doesn’t mean that buying a few extra candles or dry goods is a bad thing.
Maybe the silver lining to this horrendous year could be that many folks are realizing that the supply chains we take for granted are far more fragile than we had imagined. Instead of that filling us with dread, I propose we use that awareness to take stock of our skills and supplies and ask how we can better prepare for the next potential crisis. One thing I always stress to people is that you should never hang all your hopes on “things.” Whether it be food, fuel, clothing, gear, tools, or anything else- it can all disappear in the blink of an eye. Floods, fires, tornadoes, theft… the list goes on.
By all means, you should try to have these things, but, in the end, all you really have are your wits, your hands and feet, and the skills you have added to your repertoire (preferably before an emergency arises). Be that as it may, one thing that pretty much anyone can do is to pack a kit for use when things go south. Those of us who have been at this a while usually have multiple kits for different occasions. For those of you just starting out, today we’ll look at a basic 24-hour kit, and we’ll call this our “Go Bag.”
A Go Bag is pretty much what it sounds like. If we have to get up and go in a hurry (such as a natural disaster fast approaching), this is a kit that you store in an accessible location that is easy to grab and carry. In my mind, there are no concrete rules as to what your bag must have or not have. Each of us is unique and something that may be vital to my peace of mind may be dead weight for someone else. With that said, though, several things come to mind as worth considering for inclusion.
Before we get too deep into what a Go Bag is, let’s address what it isn’t. It’s not a trunk full of luggage. It’s not everything you would need to camp in a national forest for a month. It is definitely not everything you might want or need to start a new life.
A Go Bag is something you can grab and bring with you quickly in advance of a threat (whether natural or man made) that will provide you with the tools to ensure your basic safety and survival until you can regroup and assess what to do next. Some Go Bags may be larger than others, but we’re typically talking about supplies to hold us for 24–72 hours.
Think about your basic needs. You can probably name food, water, clothing, and shelter off the top of your head, and that’s a decent place to start.
Planning ahead is just the reality of preparing. Some of the things you want to think about:
● where you’ll go
● how you’ll get there
● what things will be like
● how long you’ll be away
● what the aftermath will be like
● will first responders be available
● what your physical and mental state will be like at that time
● what kind of injuries will be around you
● does your kid have the flu or a broken ankle
● Are you meeting up with someone else?
● do you have a plan for communicating with them if phone service is down
● how much gas is in your car’s tank
● how you’ll get updates and messages?
Even if you have a predetermined bug out location and routes to get there, (which is great!) you can’t assume things will work out the way you’ve planned. Road Blocks, Protesters, Flooding, Weather, can all happen to force you to change your travel routes. And maybe even your destination. Do you have a back up plan?
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Okay, so for this article we will assume a natural disaster, and you are not planning on going to a shelter, and you’ll be walking.
Note, many items on this list would not be allowed in most shelters.
What items should be in a bug-out bag?
Whether you’re looking to put together a more minimalist go bag or the ultimate bug-out bag, here is a list of the items we think should be in every Go Bag, no matter the season or the emergency, like food, water, shelter:
- 5 days minimum supply of non-perishable food (healthy canned goods in non-BPA lined cans, other shelf-stable foods, high-nutrition energy bars, freeze dried foods, even MREs, (the boxed ready-to-eat meals that soldiers carry) per family member.(freeze dried or mre’s, are going to be lighter weight than cans.).
- Copies of ID for each family member (name, workplace, blood type, current medications, known illnesses, emergency contact and their number, home address, etc.)
- Printed maps of the area.
- Auto insurance policies, registrations and title if applicable
- Power of attorney, Medical detectives & will
- Safe deposit keys
- School records
- Pet records
- Household effects inventory
- Comfortable shoes
- 2 way radio for Emergency communications. Ham radio, GMRS, CB. etc..
- Prescription medications – at least a week’s worth
- hand sanitizer.
- N95 mask (or dust mask)
- First Aid Kit
- Glasses & Contacts kit if applicable.
- A few store bought water bottles unopened.
- Wet wipes
- Cash – small bills 5s 10s 20s maybe 50s
- Basic toiletries (toothbrush, hand sanitizer, tp, etc.)
- Phone charger and cables & extra battery bank. (A small battery pack with built in solar charger is best.)
- Handheld Am/Fm radio with extra batteries. ( A crank or solar chargeable would be best.)
- Pet food & bowls (if you have pets)
- Portable water filtration system. ( like lifestraw, brita, Katadyn, etc.)
- Stainless steel single wall water bottles for each family member (so you can boil water in it.)
- Stainless steel bowl/pot
- Spork multi-utensil (long enough to reach into your MRE pouches)
- Field knife
- Portable stove
- Fuel for stove/fire (solid fuel, or petroleum soaked cotton ball DIY fire-starters)
- Fire starters, ferro rod, waterproof matches, lighter, etc..
- Quality Multi tool with knife, can opener, screwdriver, etc.
- Waterproof Ziploc bags
- Towel
- Lightweight tent
- Sleeping bag
- 50′ of parachute cord (para-cord)
- Hatchet or machete
- Knife sharpening method
- extra Clothes for season & climate
- Rain poncho or other durable waterproof outer shell layer
- Warm and lightweight winter jacket
- Gloves
- 2 sets of quick-dry underwear per person
- 2 pairs of wool hiking socks per person
- Sturdy hiking shoes or boots
- Hat for warmth (winter) or sun protection (summer)
- Tarp
- Insect repellent / sunscreen depending on season.
optional:
Collapsible fishing kit
Ground pad
entertainment – Books, games, mp3 player, etc..
Emergency waterproof blanket or space blanket
Hand warmers
Warmth layer (wool, fleece)