Earthquake Month

Since we're talking about earthquakes right now, I thought it would be approrpriate to take a look at what a 6.3 Quake did to New Zealand on Tuesday (still Monday for us in my neighborhood!). When the forecasted "big one" hits the Utah fault line it could be 7.0 or greater!!!

You can read about it here!

We can be ready friends. Let's not live in fear. Lets live in peace by knowing that we have prepared!

Earthquakes #2

I thought this was VERY interesting. These gals at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ held a 7 Day Challenge last Sept and one day was about earthquake preparedness. This is what they had to say on their website:

One of the days we practiced living through an earthquake. What were some of the things our readers said they wish they had after "practicing" this scenario? Here are just a few:

- I need to get my cars prepped for emergencies, I have nothing but booster cables in them

- Get a family size tent to use until home is declared safe

- Have shovel and bar of some sort for clearing the road

- Have more crafts and activities ready

- I need a good supply of fuel and extra water to cook with

- We need a few more flashlights, car emergency kits, some non gas lanterns would also be nice I used the last of the charcoal and so I will have to find something else to cook with tomorrow I'm going to try out our portable camp stove that we have, but never used, to make sure it works and find yummy recipes my kids like

- Will try to work on getting a generator

- Having an extra propane tank just in case, and the shovel

- Shovel for the car and some MRE's More tin foil, tarps, staple gun, duct tape, more germex, chain saw I need to do some serious work to prepare for an earthquake

- Finding some games to play (simple ones) but we did have fun talking about old times

- Probably store some wood for camp fire style cooking

- Have 4 pages of a "to do list" and to buy list

- Buy more paper products, washing dishes by hand and heating the water is SO MUCH WORK

- If there is a real earthquake I will need to secure the tall shelves in my garage to the wall so they won't fall over

- Must have 3 month food supply in place sooner I'd like my water easier to get to, it is in 30 gallon barrels, and the pump is not very reliable - I need my strong husband and sons for it

Info on the Web

"Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy"
- Max Mayfield, Director National Hurricane Center

Over the past couple of years I've tried to use this blog to help others find worthwhile information about Emergency Preparedness. There's a lot out there and not all of it is trustworthy!!!! OUCH! Actually, some of it is meant specifically to make a buck through "scare tactics" and that's just not where we need to be putting our money nor our focus. There's work to do and we need to be taking care of business!

I have found that some sources are consistently reliable while others aren't even worth a bookmark and on my computer...that's pretty bad. This morning I decided to begin a series of links that I think have very useful information and the first one that I turn to is Emergency Essentials. (My opinion: If you shop their sales this company is a great source of preparedness items - get on their mailing list and see what's going on with them for the month. With stores on 106th South in SLC and one next to the Distribution Center in Orem, it's easy to just swing by once a month to pick up their specials.) When you go to their website they have file tabs at the top of the page - One is called Insight Articles and will take you to their archive of article categories. Each family is at their own level of Preparedness - we need to budget our time, money and focus into one thing a month to make great strides - so I felt that this would be especially helpful for my readers to click on the category that is your focus for this month. Here ya go....enjoy!
Emergency Essentials Articles

Special Needs Survival

Is there someone in your life with special needs? Pay close attention and acquire the necessary medication and equipment to help them during an emergency.

Special Needs Survival

The 9 Essentials to Sheltering in Place

The following article is taken from The Ready Store It caught my attention because we live in a "Shelter In Place" Area. This means that during a disaster, such as an earthquake, there will probably be no exit from our general neighborhood. Freeways shut down immediately because of fallen bridges, We are surrounded by earthquake faults, our only way out would be through side streets which will be congested with paniced people and possible broken up and unpassable. So we need to be prepared to "Shelter in Place" (take care of ourselves until life gets back to normal which could take weeks!) At the bottom of the article I've also included some valid comments that readers left.

The 9 Essentials to Sheltering in Place

When it comes to emergencies there’s items that are necessities and there’s items that are luxuries. Generally speaking you want to tackle the necessities first and then add additional items to increase the comfort level of the situation.

Here are 9 essentials you should have during a sheltering in place scenario, (keep in mind that you may be required to shelter in place somewhere besides your own home):

1. Water - Plan on 1 Gallon per person, per day for drinking and sanitation. Our water storage category includes items like Datrex Water Pouches and 5-Gallon Water Containers that can help you with your water needs.

2. Food - A supply of 3-5 days per person. For a lot of people the first couple of days can be supplemented by what’s already in the house. However, to insure that you always have your emergency food supply ready to go I recommend one of our 3-21 Day Food Supplies.

3. Clothes - In your 72-Hour Kit you want to be sure you have an extra pair of clothes and shoes for each person in your group/family.

4. Medications - It’s a good practice to collect 3-5 days worth of any prescription medications that you’re taking.Also be sure to note expiration dates so that you can rotate them appropriately.

5. Flashlight - When it comes to flashlights, don’t go cheap. There are good flashlights out their that are very affordable. Here’s some great options: Ultra-Bright 3-LED Dynamo Flashlight, 12-LED StreamLine Flashlight, or theULTIMATE Dynamo Solar Powered Survival Radio.

6. Can Opener - This is another item that you want to be sure is high quality. There’s nothing worse than a can opener that won’t open cans.

7. Radio - The ideal option for a radio is one that has multiple options for powering the radio including, batteries, hand-crank, AC/DC, and/or

solar. The ULTIMATE Dynamo Solar Powered Survival Radio is a great option for this.

8. Hygiene Kit - Start with just the basics, soap, toilet paper and a toothbrush is enough to get most people by for 3-5 days.

9. First Aid Kit - Again, from a starting point perspective make sure that your first-aid kit at lest includes, antiseptic, gloves, bandages and your non-prescription medicine such as aspirin or Tylenol.

Put these 9 essential items in place and you’ve got a good foundation for a sheltering in place emergency kit!

Comments:

Also need some kind of self defense.

Tents, sleeping bags, blankets … some sort of warmth and protection from the elements might be a good idea. How ’bout matches or lighters ?

Containers for boiling water, I pack emergency supplies in coffee cans.

Also, extra supplies for trade - money will have little value. Useful goods (food, toilet paper and other basic necessities) will have higher value than coins.

to this list, I add plastic sheeting and duct tape. Your emergency could be spilled chemicals or something where you need to cover the windows.

Review, Evaluate and Replenish.

Do you know where your Emergency Kits are?
How hard are they to get to?
When was the last time that you checked the expiration dates on the foods and meds in them?

Recently I opened up the winter Car Kit that we keep in the trunk. I had my little granddaughter with me so of course we opened up the granola bar that was in there tempting us. As we did so, it CRUMBLED into little dusty chunks. It was so disgusting!

Since this experience I've thought about the importance of updating our kits on a regular basis. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to find that all your stored food was unusable on top of having just watched your house burn down, or being lost in the mountains in a snow storm with your car stuck in a snow drift or any other possible emergency situation? I don't think any of us need that kind of stress.

Emergency Essentials emailed a good little article about this very topic this morning. You may want to take a minute to check it out. Don't Forget, Check Your Emergency Kit!

Remember to check your kits!

Many people have taken the time to purchase emergency supplies. Once these supplies have been purchased some people forget to check their kits on a regular basis to be sure the supplies are fresh and in usable condition.

One of the most difficult parts of this process is merely remembering. Since we all schedule our lives very differently, we recommend tailoring a system that you know will work for you in checking your emergency kits. One recommendation is to mark the date to review your kits on your calendar six months in advance. When the day arrives, be sure to schedule a new date in another six months. This process will ensure that your kits are checked every six months. Some have chosen January and June and others have chosen April and October, regardless of what months are chosen it is wise to check your kits on a regular basis.

When the time comes to check your emergency preparedness supplies, it is wise to remember these three words: review, evaluate and replenish.

Food Storage Sites

I've found 2 new Food storage sites that have wonderful information on them. Here's their links:

All About Food Storage
PG 1 Ward Emergency Blog

Do You Have A Plan?

Let's talk about 72 hour kits

One of our group has asked about 72 hour kits and how to get started with them. As I look at the lists of things that we are advised to have in a kit I can see just how overwhelming it can be. I mean Tents? boots? shovels? Cooking Utensils? Yes this is overwhelming because this looks like it's for someone who plans on raising their children in the wilderness for the next several years. What are the chances that's going to happen? On the other hand - did you see this in the news this weekend?
Utah homes evacuated after propane tanker crash

As I watched this on the news, I thought Boy I hope those 800 homes had 72 hour kits ready to grab on their way out the door. If you had to leave your home with 10 minutes notice - what would you want to be able to take?
The answer to this question is going to vary according to the needs of each family. Someone with a baby would want to have diapers, wipes, extra bottles, formula. Someone with an illness would want to have medications and maybe health records. While someone with pets might want pet food! A 72 hour kit is meant to sustain life until you can figure out what the next step is going to be.

So this is my suggestion for starting a family 72 hour kit: Use the things you already have around the house - spend a day being aware of what kinds of necessary things you use on a daily basis and set aside 3 of those items (3 days worth). Then add in enough blankets to keep your family warm, a copy of all your important papers in a fire proof/water proof container, a first aid kit, a ziplock bag filled with your homemade Triage bandages, some food that your family can exist on for a while (we have things like small snack packs, granola bars, small packs of trail mix and jerky) water bottles (sitting next to the 72 hr kit) extras of all medicines including aspirin or tylenol cause we're probably going to have a headache about all of this, HA! a car phone charger, and don't forget a little cash. These are the kinds of things that would be a good start.

Choose a container for it - it doesn't have to be fancy - just portable. an empty suitcase, a big duffle bag, an empty 5 gallon bucket with a lid, if you have to stuff alot into the pack maybe you'll want to use an old suitcase that has wheels. Mom's if you have to evacuate the family on your own be sure you can lift/move that pack by yourself!

Then each member of the family should have a backpack (last year's school backpacks work well) with more personal items: a change of clothing, maybe an emergency blanket (those mylar kind) or camping poncho, an extra toothbrush and toothpaste/shampoo/soap/lotion (can be the travel sized ones that are $1 or less at Walmart, a snack/candy, a small first aid kit, a small game to play, notepad with pencils/crayons, comb/brush individual wipes & tissues, feminine products for the girls, a mirror, a small radio/flashlight like I bought at Emergency Essentials for $12 each, a small game to play. Think in terms of something to keep everyone happy until we can get to "Aunt Martha's in Bountiful" or someplace like that. This way you're prepared for something like when the tanker rolls over.

Then as life goes on you can add the "other" stuff that's on the list - all the camping equipment etc. Just take it a step at a time and build from there. The most important thing is to HAVE SOMETHING NOW. I hope we will never have to use these packs but I promise you that there is a sense of peace that comes in knowing you have something put together!

As you prepare these things, remember that emotional needs have to be met also. It's upsetting to leave your things behind so that's where the sugar stuff comes in or the games, or the snacks that become our "comfort foods". And just because your in an evacuation situation doesn't mean that you don't want to be able to brush your hair or wear a little lipstick! These are just as important as the first aid kit will be!

I hope this get's everyone thinking. Store your kit close to an exit. And while you're at it - you know those half boxes that you get at Costco - put one in the trunk of each car and use it to hold 1 or 2 gallons of water, a first aid kit, a car tool kit, a blanket and a few "Hotties"(the kind you can buy in the little packets at Costco to warm your fingers and toes - not the kind of hotties that you'd find at the private club down on State Road. HA! Actually, I really don't know what's in that Private Club - I've never been in there - I can only imagine. HA! I better stop here before I get myself into trouble!)