SUPPLIES – What you’ll need
Water
- Commercially packaged
- Treat & store
Food
Without power, short term, non-perishable:
- Peanut butter, granola bars, cereal
- Ready to eat cans/packages meat (with can opener)
- Canned vegetables, soups
- Canned or dried fruit
- Formula/milk
With power/heat source, longer term, non-perishable:
- Rice, beans
- Tang (vitamin c source)
SHTF:
- Seed bank, go-to crops? (potatoes, starches, etc.)
Medical
- First aid kit. What does a good home first aid kit include
- Non-prescription medications such as pain relievers, anti-diarrhea medication, antacids or laxatives
- Contacts, solutions, old eyeglasses
Sanitation
- Toilet paper
- Moist towelettes
- Garbage bags/plastic ties (for personal sanitation per READY.gov)
- Feminine products
- Hand sanitizer
- Soap
- Bleach (with eye dropper)
Safety
- Flashlight, extra batteries
- Candle
- Hand powered radio
- Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
- Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Local maps
Shelter / Tools
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape
- Matches in waterproof container
- Fire extinguisher
Warmth/Comfort
- Emergency blanket
- Change of clothes
Other
- Mess kit
- Paper and pencil
- Cash
- Personal documents
- Emergency reference book
STORAGE – Where to put it/ how
Where
- Ideally a cool dry place (dedicated shelves, corner in a basement or closet?)
How
- Shelving
- Bins?
- Bags/ travel options?
PROCESS – What you need to do, when
- Make sure everyone in the house knows where the kit is (home/car)
- Yearly check – make a calendar date, review what you have
- Expiration dates – during check, use and replace expiring items (water/food/medicines)
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Grocery store list – printable
Amazon list – other
Steps:
Designate a space (small to large depending on number of people and amount of supplies for short vs long term
- Do you need shelves?
Determine what you will keep it in (bin/bag/shelf)
- Do you need containers? Recommend for: Food, Medical, Tools & Supplies, Warmth & clothing
Shopping list:
- Grocery
- Amazon
Putting it all together
- Sort, Unpackage, Label, etc.
- Make notes on food expiration dates
Set a date
- If the whole house wasn’t involved in the assembly process, take some time to show off your new kit and make sure everyone knows what’s in it
(Write a note/add a guide?) - Set a calendar appointment in a year to review. Using your expiration date list, these are the items you will pull out and replace in a year from now