ASSESS: Your family "emergency preparedness"

This is wise and recommended.

Here are some links that are helpful in planning and preparing.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response

We all should have an emergency preparedness kit at home and in our vehicle. Since living in the city we have become relaxed in this area, but plan on putting something together this weekend.

 

We need to update our emergency kits to not only include batteries, flashlights, food, water, etc., but this past week has shown that we also need to make sure we have handguns and plenty of ammo, as you stated, we can't depend on the local, state or federal government to protect our families.

 

Well, I started a thread about this on the Politics Forum & got accused of "political bantering" so closed it. Here is what I posted:

First response to my post:


quote:
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Originally posted by LadyEagle:
[America is getting a glimpse] of the chaos that will ensue after the next major terrorist attacks on these United States.
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I don't think it's appropriate to hijack the current situation for the purpose of fostering opinions on unrelated topics. It belittles the current situation, and is disrespectful to those who are currently affected. I myself have friends that I can't reach. The least you folks could do is wait a few days before continuing discussions as usual. Sheesh.
[/quote]


A list of things to have on hand:
</font>

• Plenty of bottled water</font>
• An ice chest in which you can immediately dump ice from your freezer right after you lose power. The freezer will only keep food safe about 4 hours (if left unopened). You may be able to keep a few things cold longer in a chest filled with ice.</font>
• Plenty of canned food that can be eaten cold (if you don't have a Coleman camping type stove or free standing grill) - tuna, canned fruit, sardines, vienna sausage, snack puddings, dried fruit, cereal, canned milk - things that can be stored and don't require refrigeration.</font>
• Trash bags to collect human waste. (In case toilets do not work.)</font>
• Baby wipes, hand wipes for washing.</font>
• Antibiotic hand cleanser</font>
• Trash bags for other household garbage.</font>
• Batteries and battery powered radio.</font>
• Candles, matches, kerosene lamps, kerosene.</font>
• Back-up supply of disposable diapers & formula (if you have small children or babies).</font>
• Pet food.</font>
• First Aid Kit.</font>
• Pet food for pets.</font>
• Keep a supply of your prescription medications. Never let them run out - always keep at least a week in reserve, if at all possible.</font>
• Keep some cash in the house.</font>
• Don't let your gas tank fall below 3/4 just in case you need to evacuate.</font>

There are probably other things - if you think of others, please post.

Thank you, Enoch, I looked at your links and they are very good.

 

I'm making this a sticky in the Politics Forum. Hope this thread will be used for ideas for the OP and not used as a debate to belittle those who are concerned about survival in the event of a disaster. That is my hope.

 

LadyEagle

I am trying to find the connection between "emergency preparedness" and your paragraphs about terrorism.

Sooo ... are you an expert in the area of terrorism? Or are you just having a difficult time dealing with this disaster?

 

Back to disaster preparedness:

No one is ever prepared.

 

No one is ever prepared.

Keep the bath tub(s) full - use as non potable water.

Do not flush the commode unless necessary.

Keep enough non perishable food stock for 2 weeks (one week after an emergency prices will be high - and if it is a big one, you may need to ration).

Have fresh fruit - some citrus if available.

Vitamins

Water, and more WATER. Potable (drinking) water always runs out during a disaster.

Tentage (enough to house your "family".

Don't get a standard first aid kit - make one. If you need first aid after a disaster, the need is usually big. Keep lots of gauze bandages. Surgical (sterile) tape and accessories are nice, but not necessary.

DO NOT DUMP YOUR FREEZER AS MENTIONED ABOVE. You want to have a CHEST FREEZER. Whether iced or not, the foods will last longer. You want frozen items that will last (in packages). Keep lots and lots of canned goods.

A boat ... with electric or gasoline engine. Keep the boat in the garage ... it can BLOW AWAY.

STORE ANY GASOLINE AND OTHER FLAMMABLES SAFELY ... YOU DO NOT WANT THEM TO EXPLODE DURING A STORM.

DO NOT TRY TO USE A FREE STANDING GRILL AS INDICATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU HAVE ONE AND HAVE RUN OUT OF MONEY. It will blow away and become a projectile - tie it down.

Get a Coleman type camping stove with enough fuel to last 3 - 4 weeks. (store fuel safely).

Don't keep handguns and ammo if you do not know how to use them ... kinda like fuel - keep it safe or it WILL hurt you.

Keep a flare gun (do not just fire it at the neighbors house). It will burn things down.

Snake bite kits aren't bad. Wasp and ant kits (I usually use vinegar or chewing tobacco). I have heard that those sun sprays that get rid of the pain help also.

keep plenty of masking tape ... hundred mile an hour tape ... strapping tape ... plywood ... it often runs out in the stores before a storm ...

Camp heater - I am always amazed at people that think being wet is warm ...

Camp lantern(s)

 

Two entries say:

- Pet food
...
- Pet food for pets

Since one specifies for pets,
does that mean we aught to have
some Pet food for the kids???

One day i saw a man pay with food stamps,
his purchase was:

A case of canned dog food
10-pound bag of white onions
10-pound bag of red onions

I think i'd need the onions, if i ate
the dog food

 

Connecting the dots....if the authorities at all levels failed to provide food and water and communication during a natural disaster that WAS warned for days in advance, I can only surmise that should a terrorist attack occur in multiple cities in the USA simultaneously WITHOUT prior warning, they will be just as disorganized, if not more so, than they were this time around.

Also, a chest freezer is ideal. I was referring to refrigerator freezer which public health stated would only keep food safe for about 4 hours without electricity.

A chest type freezer unopened will keep food safe for a longer period of time, of course.

 

Bottled water and filling the bathtub is fine for a short period of time. Purchasing a quality water filter that is rated to clean swamp water would be a wise choice also. Two of the best are the Big Berkey and the Berkey Light. And with the Berkey Light you have the added benefit of a light source in case of power outages.

(get the black filters for the best filtration)

From the website.

This might sound like a sales pitch but I believe purchasing one of these filters and using it everyday is an investment in your families health. 200 bucks might sound like alot but, how many bottles of water can you buy for that amount and how long will it last?

Also, regular Clorox bleach will make water safe to drink after it's been run through some type of make shift filter like the one I made from a film canister and two soda bottle caps. I got the idea from Ranger Rick. I never leave home without mine. Lots of good info at this site.

 

LadyEagle

CDC source web page

The real enemy is living. Worrying about the possibility that the terrorists would spend millions of dollars and kill you, will only cause ulcers.

Worrying about food poisoning (or drunk drivers) might save your life ...

PS: current research claims that the 5,000 deaths per year is closer to 10,000 per year dying from FOOD BORN ILLNESS ...

Hence, 4 hours without electricity - you might want to throw it away ...

 

PONCHO

Thanks - I forgot about bleach and purification (I think).

 

No problem glad to help. Four drops per liter/quart should do the trick with an hour of standing time. Some say less time is required though.

 

While I agree that we as individuals should be prepared and ready to take care of ourselves,
I take exception to the statement in the opening post:

I can't speak for any local or state government, but Oklahoma. We, in Oklahoma, can count on our local, state, or federal government in real emergencies

We have been through some really "bad" situations and the local governments were there within the hour, closely followed by the state government. They took charge until the federal government could arrive.

I APPRECIATE the local, state, and federal governments.

God Bless America

 

This is what I do to accomplish keeping my chest freezer colder longer and to keep extra, extra water on hand. I thoroughly wash any two or three liter soda bottles and then fill up with tap water and throw them in the freezer. This also helps cut energy bills as a full freezer works less and it keeps all that extra water out of my way.

 

Excellent thread, TS, and some excellent posts. And not to diminish any of the other contributions, but I think JGrubbs makes an excellent point we should not lose sight of, the need to be able to protect ourselves in the event of a social breakdown.

 

Is it possible to heat or cook food from your automobile engine - say a can of soup, etc? (if you have no power)

Someone I knew once told me they cook their Thanksgiving turkey in tin foil by placing it in the engine and by the time they make the trip to their vacation spot, the turkey is done. Don't know if they were pulling my leg or not. But it sounds feasible...

 

Probably could cook with your car's engine heat LadyEagle but I prefer to use one of my home made alcohol stoves for cooking, boiling water. Examples can be found here.

Most are easy to make, cheap and very effective not to mention they only weigh a couple ounces. My favorite is my "modified" cat stove which is an open burner type with an air jacket.

It's made from two (large and small) aluminum cat food cans. Mine is made from Mighty Dog cans cuz my Rottie loves the stuff. The fuel source of denatured alcohol costs about 13 dollars a gallon and will last a long time as your only using 1 or two ounces to have a flame for 10-20 minutes. For longer cooking times I would recomend the plumbers stove which is made from a small paint can, cotton balls, a piece of sheet steel and a pipe clamp. It's like home made Sterno. It uses the denatured alcohol also and is a whole lot cheaper than Sterno. I get about an hour of burn time when it's fairly warm out.

With the proper use of pot or bag cozy you can cook foods that take longer like macaroni or rice. Mine is made from Reflectix and aluminum tape.

It takes a new way to think about cooking but with a little practice using alcohol stoves it is easy, cheap and reliable and light weight. The denatured alcohol can be found at your local paint store or in the automotive section at Wal Mart, look for the (yellow bottle, methanol) of in line anti freeze that you would normally add to your vehicles gas tank.

P.S. Rubbing alcohol has to much water in it to work effectively in these stoves. Hope this helps. If your not the handiman type then you can purchase an alcohol stove from sites on the net like a Trangia or Brasslite among others.

 

Forgot to add a link to the cat stove so here it is. This is from my experience the easiest to make and use and with the use of the simmer ring it's also quite versatile.

I modified mine by using the bottom of a third (large) can cut and trimmed to tightly fit the bottom of the air jacket and gluing it in place with JB Weld (the regular stuff) it holds the fuel pot in place better and helps to control the air flow with and without the optional simmer ring.

It uses less fuel than the original design (my mod is personally approved by Roy Robinson) in other words. I've used this stove hiking, camping, and fishing and never had any problems with it. But be careful these things get hot!

Oh, and you don't absolutely have to have the fiberglass insulation as this stove will work fine with it or with out it. The idea is to heat the alcohol till it vaporizes the insulation is just a wick that pulls the vaporized gas up the sides and into the flames. That's all I got on the subject of "survival cooking" with alcohol stoves.