Emergency Preparedness: 72-hour kits

I remember being at the cannery once and they were showing us a chart correlating attendance there with natural disasters. There were bumps for Katrina, and the Pakistan earthquake, and the tsunami (the Indian tsunami; that was long before Japan).

I do not doubt that there are going to be some people taking another look at their level of preparedness because of Sandy, and that's great. It's a good thing to, no matter what inspires you. If you are not sure where to start, I hope that what I write over the next few weeks will be helpful.

I have had mixed feelings about 72 hour kits for a while, after someone pointed out that it's not really something that our leaders have told us to do. Their focus has always been more on food storage and paying off debt and building up savings. That emphasis makes sense, as those two areas are useful across multiple situations, even without an emergency. Also, it started becoming an issue a while back that there was a real danger of Red Cross response time going longer than three days, depending on the situation.

However, I have come back around to 72-hour kits because they are a good gateway preparedness item. Right off of the bat, you have three days worth of food and water, and emergency light sources, and thinking about where to store it starts you getting ideas for evacuation scenarios and an emergency plan, so it's a good starting point, and it's where we start.

My rule of thumb is to go through three questions for any item you are thinking of including.

• How likely am I to need it?
• How heavy is it?
• How bad will it be not to have it?

Water you absolutely will need within three days, and you can't survive without it, even though it is heavy. You will certainly need to go to the bathroom at some point, but the difficulty of porting around facilities versus not makes that an easy call. You may not get a headache, but aspirin are light and easy to include, and can be a real help. That's how you think about it.

Based on that, I can see where it would be really easy to skip clothes. If you are buying a commercial kit, it is not going to include clothes or room for clothes, and wearing the same clothes for three straight days is gross, but may not seem that bad. Don't make that mistake.

Having the change of clothes is not just about freshness. It means if the temperature drops, you can add layers. If means if you get wet, you can change into something dry. I can't stress that enough. The weather doesn't even have to be that cold for hypothermia to set in if you are wet, because the water conducts heat away from your body.

There are a couple of extra precautions I take here, besides just having the clothes. I store the clothes in plastic bags, both to increase the odds of them staying dry, and because then later maybe I can use the bag for something else. I keep a plastic garbage bag in every kit, because it can act as a tarp or be used for collecting garbage. (Things that can serve two purposes are great.) I also make sure every kit has a pair of gloves, an extra pair of socks besides the one change of clothes, and ideally a hat and scarf, because the feet, hands, head, and back of neck are key for losing warmth, or for keeping it in. I like to throw in an emergency poncho too, and a solar blanket. Those are lightweight and can really come in handy.

For water, I like to use plastic bottles. I know a lot of people think the juice box style (like the Aqua Literz) and the pouch style (like the Datrex) are really cool, but my thought with the plastic bottles is that I can refill them. You can't really carry as much water as it would be good to have for three days. That would be more like three gallons, and my kits have 1 1/2 liters, which is about average, so being able to refill easily is a plus.

I have never really been into water purification tablets or supplies. I can see the value of it, but I don't like messing with chemicals. Your mileage my vary.

For food, nothing is easier than the Mainstay ration bars, but I think there is something to be said for getting a little variety and flavor, says the girl who based her rations on 9 power bars each. Okay, but they were not all the same flavor, and I supplemented with pudding cups, apples sauce cups, and jerky and nut packs so we had better representation of the various food groups.

The other thing that I do is get little packs of hard candies and keep them in an outer pocket. This is great if you need a quick energy burst or something comforting, or if your blood sugar is suddenly plunging. Actually, when I do a 5K I always keep a pack of peanut M&Ms on me, for the sugar to hit right away and then for the protein in the nuts to kick in. What I will say about my food packs is that when it is time to rotate them, I can get them eaten. I think Mainstay bars would just get thrown out.

Heat, food, and water are all non-negotiable. Everything after that is to some extent for convenience, though the arguments for some of that convenience can be pretty compelling.

Light: You can survive without a light in the dark, but I'd rather not. Also, it can be useful for the ability to signal. Speaking of rotating the food, you need to regularly check your batteries if you have them in flashlights or radios. You can go with glow sticks for the light, and those are an important part of our earthquake supplies, but really, I want flashlights, and we have them.

First aid kits: I mentioned aspirin earlier, but I also find it helpful to have some bandages, sterile wipes, and antibiotic cream. Also, I have a pair of tweezers in my kit. This can be really simple, but make a big difference, and there are some good and compact ready made kits that can easily be tossed in a bag.

Communication: That battery powered radio can be really good, but also I recommend having a pad and something to write with, in case you need to make notes or leave notes.

Cash: It doesn't need to be huge quantities, but having some, preferably in smaller bills, can be handy if electricity or internet is out. Think about everything that is required for a simple debit transaction to work out.

Hygiene: There are certain sprays and wipes that can make things more pleasant, but if nothing else I strongly recommend having hand sanitizer. If you have a child in diapers, in addition to packing the diapers you need the wipes and those associated things, and you may need more garbage bags than you otherwise would. Think about that. (Also, women, you know what might come up. Have a plan for that.)

Medications: I know older couples who keep two weekly pill minder boxes each, and rotate out so at any given time one is in the kit and one is being used. I think it is easier to just make grabbing your medication on the way out part of your emergency plan, but figure that out before it comes up.

Pure comfort items: I've decided that I absolutely need to have cough drops and dental floss. I may not need them, but if I do, I want them, and I will not be happy without them. Your must-have items will be different, but do you know what they are? Or if there are good substitutes?

It may be worthwhile thinking along the lines of entertainment, like a book or a game or a toy, because mental health is valuable too, but maybe you can work something out with the notepad and pencil, or something like that.There is a lot of room for individualization here, based on your personal needs.

Transport: I have always favored the rolling backpack, because I can either carry it or roll it. In truth, that framework may make it less comfortable on the back. I definitely don't want something that is going to wrench my arm out of the socket, or make me walk lop-sided, or hurt my hands (like a pail with a wire handle).

One thing that always surprised me was that local agencies often recommended a rolling garbage can, and that seemed terribly inconvenient, especially to get into a car. Then I realized that if you have small children, they are probably not going to be carrying their own supplies, so a big receptacle for the entire family's supplies made sense. In my household of four adults, that's not an issue.

However, we have pets that are not pack mules, so we need to allow for them too, and I hope it goes without saying that you will have supplies and emergency plans for any dependent animals, as well as for yourself, because they do depend on you. It's very basic: three days worth of food and water, and you are probably better off with collapsible bowls than regular bowls. Treats can be an important form of comfort, but we have had dogs who would not take treats when stressed, so if there is something else that works, find a way to make that happen too. Also a blanket for them to sleep on, and it might not hurt to have some protective paw gear as well, at least for the dogs.

That orange mesh safety fencing can be great for cordoning off an area, but may be impractical. And honestly, she will hate it, but we probably need to come up with a leash for the cat for that kind of a situation, because we will need to let her out of the carrier at times, and could easily lose her this way.

Thinking about these potential issues goes more into emergency plans and evacuations, so that's where we are going to head next week, and it is unpleasant. Thinking about these things is scary. It's like writing out your will and guardianship plans for your children--it is a horrible thing to think that it might be necessary. It's just more horrible that it could be needed and yet not done. Once you have gone through it, and worked it out, that's when you get the peace of mind.