subject: Preparing An Emergency Preparedness Kits [print this page] With all the scares going around about 2012, as well as many different kinds of disasters, maybe it is time for you to think about emergency preparedness kits. The first steps in really knowing what emergency kits are. In a disaster, it is going to take up to 72 hours for emergency services to respond, in really bad situations, probably even more. This means that no matter where you live, there won't be any electricity, clean running water, or any of the other amenities that we take for granted on a daily basis. If there is any kind of advanced notice, people are going to be scrambling at stores at the last minute, and you can forget about getting any real supplies during these times.
This is where emergency preparedness kits come into play. While each person's needs is a little different, emergency kits a the very least should have enough emergency supplies for the first 72 hours. This means food that you don't have to heat up, clean water, blankets and one of the most important items, a first aid kit. Home kits should also include an emergency radio, flashlights or lanterns and even some form of cooking fuel and an emergency stove. Batteries are a good idea, but the ideal kit should include cranking or solar powered items in case you are stranded for long periods of time and your batteries die. You should also make sure there are blankets, and other supplies as well. Now this also means that if you have a family, there should be these supplies for each member of your family.
It is not enough to have emergency preparedness kits just in your home. Each and every one of your vehicles should also haven one of these emergency kits as well. In addition to some of the items mentioned earlier, vehicle kits should also include things like road flares jumper cables, at least one roll of duct tape, and a sharp utility knife. Again, you should have enough supplies for everyone in your family, even if they aren't in the car with you all the time.
You may say, I don't have room for emergency preparedness kits in may car. Make the room. These emergency kits can save your life, and the lives of your family, and you can get stranded anywhere, at any time. If nothing else, you may come across some one else that is stranded and having food and water for them may save their life.
It's not enough to just have these emergency preparedness kits in your home and vehicle. You need to check them routinely as well. Some of their contents, food, water, batteries, don't last forever, and need to be rotated at least every six months to a year. This way you don't get sick in times of emergencies, or not have the supplies that you need. If you need some good ideas about what you should have in case of an emergency, or want to buy a kit that has already been made up for you, there are many different online resources at your disposal. There are basic first aid manuals, as well as an abundance of survival books as well. You can probably find an emergency preparedness store in the town you live, in, and they can also be a wealth of information.
