National Preparedness Month: How to Build Your Emergency Kit
Being prepared means being equipped with the proper supplies you may need in the event of an emergency or disaster
Disasters can happen anywhere, anytime—even in someone’s own home. September is National Preparedness Month and the American Red Cross is urging everyone to take three easy steps to get their household ready for emergencies.
These three action steps are as follows: Get a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed. In this story, we will give you all the details on how to build your emergency kit so you and your loved ones can react quickly when a disaster strikes.
BUILDING AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KIT
Being prepared means being equipped with the proper supplies you may need in the event of an emergency or disaster. Keep your supplies in an easy-to-carry emergency preparedness kit that you can use at home or take with you in case you must evacuate. At a minimum, you should have the basic supplies listed below:
- Water: one gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home)
- Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).
- Flashlight
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
- Extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
- Multi-purpose tool
- Sanitation and personal hygiene items
- Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies)
- Cell phone with chargers
- Family and emergency contact information
- Extra cash
- Blankets
- Map(s) of the area
Consider the needs of all family members and add supplies to your kit:
- Medical supplies (hearing aids with extra batteries, glasses, contact lenses, syringes, etc.)
- Baby supplies (bottles, formula, baby food, diapers)
- Games and activities for children
- Pet supplies (collar, leash, ID, food, carrier, bowl)
- Two-way radios
- Extra set of car keys and house keys
- Manual can opener
For more information on how to build your kit, visit this preparedness information on our web site.
Reviewed by personal safety expert Pete Canavan
You’ve seen the images on the news during natural disasters: grocery store shelves picked clean of bottled water and granola bars, with desperate people fighting over the last pack of batteries. It’s not a pretty picture, but since you’re reading an article on how to make an emergency kit, you’ve already taken the first step to avoid that scenario.
Assembling your emergency kit
Where to start
There are two questions to ask yourself before you start building your own emergency kit:
- Who is this kit for?
- What kinds of emergencies could affect me?
First, consider how many people (and animals) your survival kit will need to support and what their specific needs are. An emergency kit for a young, single adult will look different from an emergency kit for a family with little kids, or for an older couple.
Second, what kind of emergency are you expecting? If you live in California, an earthquake or wildfire is a possibility. If you live along a coastline, you may want to prepare for hurricanes or flooding.
Does the emergency typically require you to shelter in place (stay at home) or would you possibly need to evacuate? If you think there’s an evacuation possibility, you may want to consider creating a portable survival kit that you can easily throw in your car. If you already spend a lot of time on the road, or if you’re worried about an emergency while you’re at work, you may want smaller emergency kits just for your car or office.
If you have answers to these questions now, great. But it’s also okay if you don’t. Most big disasters have a few things in common, and you can’t go wrong by preparing for those. Read on to find out what they are and how to be ready for them.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, now’s a good time to double-check your emergency kit. Make sure you have these supplies for this particular pandemic:
- Cleaning supplies and disinfectants
- Frozen, dry, and canned food
- Refill of your regular prescription medications
- First aid kit (including a thermometer)
- Personal hygiene products like soap, hand sanitizer, feminine care products, laundry detergent
- Paper products like toilet paper and tissues
- Baby food and diapers
- Pet food and other pet supplies
- Cash and important documents
