Wednesday, March 30, 2011

If Ye Are Prepared...

Guess what was in our 72 hour kits? C'mon. Go ahead....

Did you say diapers?

Well. No, there weren't diapers.

But close enough.

So my job these past couple of weeks has been to update the 72 hour kits.

Japan had a little to do with that.

It's also almost Conference weekend. And General Conference is a great marker to update 72 hour kits. Every 6 months.

So here is one backpack.

$15.88 at Walm*rt and great to get all you need in.

In the very front pocket I put a notebook, a book, a card game in each of the kids', 2 pens and 2 pencils, a house key, a family picture, a card with my full name, date of birth and then medical/allergy info. A list of everything in the pack, another family pic, a map of the area, a list of phone numbers and names of important people (family and doctors) and in my pack and Isaac's pack, medical needs (I am a diabetic, Isaac has allergies and asthma). In one side small pocket, a bag of tissue, hand sanitizer wipes, chap stick, sunscreen, a mirror, a comb and in the kids' packs, a stack of band aids.
In the other side pocket, a pocket size Book of Mormon ($5.25 at Deseret book!! Perfect 72 hour kit size), hard candy and gum. I call this the "relief pack".
In the main part of the bag we put cash (small bills and coins) in a hidden pocket, we also have our 3 days food supply, a change of clothes, underwear and socks, a bag of toiletries and large trash bags. The red box is a first aid kit and Daniel and I each have one in our packs.
I forgot to take a picture of it, but that small pocket at the top of the front has the following...

Flashlight, extra batteries, rain poncho, 3-N96 mask (2 in Isaac's due to asthma), a light stick on a lanyard, a whistle on a lanyard (blow if you are lost or need immediate help!) a reflective space blanket, and waterproof matches. Those are the things needed almost immediately in a crisis. Keep those items easily accessible and make sure every family member knows what they are for.

This is my Day 1 food. 72 hours=3 days. Food is essential. This is somewhat high calorie and not what you would normally eat food. But it will help you survive.

Have you thought about water?? I did. It's up there with the packs.
Right there on the end. You need a gallon of water per person per day. Uhhhhh. I can't carry that just for me, plus my pack, much less my family. We keep the water separate for now.
This is my plan. Every General Conference weekend we will revisit the packs. We will update clothes, replace food, and go through all the items as a review.

I also plan to have all my family right here in my house with me in the case of emergency, evacuation or disaster.

Because that is highly unlikely, I am putting together packs for each vehicle and remind my kids that when they are at school in an emergency THEY ARE SAFE!

And I will get to them immediately.

The most important thing to remember in a disaster is to REMAIN CALM.

When you get all funky and screamy and hysterical, you waste needed energy and cause problems for everyone else.

Remember:

WHEN YE ARE PREPARED, YOU NEED NOT FEAR!!!

Words to live by.

**I got my information for my packs from this blog **

3 comments:

Kates said...

These are awesome! Our 72 hour kits are in one huge suitcase because when I put them together my kids were too little to carry their own backpacks. I guess it's time to update. Thanks for the reminder!

Kristi said...

Thank you for sharing, I was feeling ok about FINALLY getting something together but now I'm inspired to do so much more.

Kim said...

How did I miss this post?!? Your packs are so great!! I can't believe you fit all of that into those backpacks! I've wondered how we're supposed to fit water in ours too. That's a great idea to do it each Conference weekend.