Emergency Preparedness

[panheaddale]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

We have looked at those small, solar chargers.......assuming there were towers standing to allow wireless communication.

It is more common than not that power is out for weeks after hurricanes, major tornadoes, ice storms, etc.

I am less concerned about wireless, really, other than to check on my family and they to check on us.

Maggie

If you pay attention the cell phones will be one of the first things working after a disaster. I work for a disaster relief company and that is what we do. We are on 12 notice when a hurricane is forecast to make landfall and if power goes down we haul generators to the cell phone sites so all of you can have your smart phones up and running very quickly.

[Len n Jeanne]

Something else to consider, is that it isn't only what you take with you or have stockpiled at home, but what you know.

We take back-ups on all kinds of things when we camp, simply because we like the back-of-beyond sorts of places. We know from experience that roads can wash out, or something mechanical can break down far from help. We are often beyond the range of cell phone service (at least beyond our cheesy service provider.)

So some things to know, in addition to Protagonist's fund of information in hurricane country and Jammer's detailed list:

First aid, preferably a wilderness First Aid course, as these are designed for people in places where there are no nearby paramedics. (BTW, aspirin really is supposed to be beneficial in case of a heart attack.)

How to light a campfire, with all sorts of fuels, some of which might be wet; and how to cook on it.

How to keep up morale up in the event of a long wait or difficult situation. A panicked or depressed person is a survival nuisance.

A good social network.

Seriously, most disasters will be of limited range and suitable for evacuation: forest fires, severe weather events, floods. Unless you get stuck on a freeway route, you can probably wait it out in a safe environment or drive beyond it.

Jammer, you've got a great list except for the menu department. Spray-on cheese? Kool-aid? A lot of highly prepared foods are low on nutrition and high on salt, sugar, and chemicals. The following are nutritious, space-saving, and instant or close to it.

powdered milk. (cow and/or soy. better if mixed in advance and shaken to oxygenate it. Doctor it with cocoa mix, if needed.)

raw nuts. Peanuts will balance out the amino acids in grains.

peanut butter or other nut butter.

dried fruit

canned meat, fish, or beans

hard cheese like Parmesan (keeps better than soft cheese.)

granola or muesli (check what's in granola bars: they may or may not be nutritious)

"gorp" otherwise known as trail mix

These could be filled out with less nutritious crackers, minute-rice, or quick-cooking pasta. Dried onions, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and herbs are light space-savers that perk up an otherwise plain meal. Salt in desert areas. Fruits and veggies that keep well: lemons, limes, potatoes, carrots, cabbage.

[AtomicNo13]

Canned peas and a gas mask

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by NJtoNC

You said your not talking about a doomsday situation, but you call it a 'bug out bag'. Most of our friends who are preppers call it this. So I also assumed you were referencing a doomsday like situation.

In western NC this is apparently a really popular concept. As farmers we put up food and have a big stocked freezer and have well water and septic and plan for solar. But not because we expect zombies or some financial or energy collapse. I still think its funny preppers are 'prepped' for 2 Weeks or a month... But what then? Living sustainably would help you get a lot further...for a lot longer.

We experienced 9/11 in NYC and a 3 day blackout in NYC in 2003. After 9/11 most offices had a kit with some basics for each desk - a kit with a water bottle, Mylar blanket , a few other things. ( And women stopped wearing heels and wore sneakers or shoes and changed at work. )

I agree , having some bottled water Stored, batteries , flash lights , first aid kit is common sense. We have first aid in every trailer and carry extra water. We don't have a 'bug out bag' because unless there's a fire or nuclear fallout we plan to stay put.

As this is a forum for folks with trailers or motorhomes, being caught in a natural disaster while away from home is a possibility for all of us, was my thought.

Because we're in tornado country, and our house is on a slab, leaving for underground shelter if in the path is also a possibility.

Looking at the tornadic disasters that have occurred just in the last decade, with towns flattened and everything lost, we personally could stand to be a little more prepared for such events. We currently are not. Maybe in the back of our minds we have thought it could never happen to us.

Maybe better to call it a "ditch kit"? Because you have to ditch your residence, be that stick house or RV?

If we were hit by a major blizzard or ice storm here, and lost power for days, we would not only survive, but likely be quite comfortable. We have a woodstove, and I'm a natural prepper. We'd be caring for others, who had no heat.

It will be different for everybody, I'm thinkin', and we have gotten lots of great suggestions here.

We are going to have a carefully stocked bag by the first of the year, is our plan.

Thanks for all the input......such great minds and wealth of experiences out there.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by panheaddale

If you pay attention the cell phones will be one of the first things working after a disaster. I work for a disaster relief company and that is what we do. We are on 12 notice when a hurricane is forecast to make landfall and if power goes down we haul generators to the cell phone sites so all of you can have your smart phones up and running very quickly.

That's good to know!

Thanks,


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

First aid, preferably a wilderness First Aid course, as these are designed for people in places where there are no nearby paramedics. (BTW, aspirin really is supposed to be beneficial in case of a heart attack.)

Anyone who lives in an area that's subject to natural disasters (and who doesn't) ought to at least take a Red Cross first aid course at least once in their lives. I did, but it has been a lot of years. More recently, after foot surgery gone horribly wrong, I got on-the-job training in wound care from a home care nurse while I had open wounds that couldn't be stitched closed until the MRSA infection cleared up. Even learned a few things the Red Cross doesn't cover.

And you should probably get a "marine trauma" first aid kit. I recommend the "marine trauma" kits because the contents are chosen based on the assumption that users are at least 24 hours from a hospital— which may well be the case during or after a natural disaster— and the kits concentrate on wound treatment rather than illness treatment. West Marine sells one (WEST MARINE 5.0 Medical Kit at West Marine) that's affordable but still reasonably comprehensive. This is the one I have, and I recommend it for most Airstreamers (especially boondockers) as well as people stocking a bug-out kit or hunker-down kit.

There are bigger, more complete, and more expensive kits out there (Adventure Medical has several to choose from), but they'd be overkill for my situation. No one kit is perfect for everybody, though, so you will need to supplement whatever kit you buy with other items. I supplement my West Marine kit with strong OTC painkillers, Pepto, Benadryl, and the like, and of course Neosporin ointment, Oragel (nothing hurts quite like a toothache!), hydrogen peroxide, and hydrocortisone spray.

There are also smaller first aid kits out there, designed for self-treatment when a trip to the hospital is overkill (heavy on Band-Aids in all sizes), not for when a trip to the hospital isn't even possible right away. I don't really recommend such first aid kits for inclusion in a bug-out or hunker-down kit, except as a supplement to a marine trauma kit.

[Len n Jeanne]

Good advice, Protagonist. A lot of pharmacy first-aid kits are fine for minor cuts and abrasions, but not much else.

One thing recommended in the wilderness first aid course I took (now a few years ago, as well) was an epi-pen in case of severe bee/wasp stings. They are expensive, but can be life-saving. We also travel & camp with several of those emergency foil blankets plus a wool blanket in the back of the truck, because staying warm is a big issue in the event of trauma/shock or a cold weather emergency (like getting stranded on the freeway in a blizzard.)

BTW, I have found grapefruit seed extract (available at health food stores) more effective than Maalox, Pepto, and their kin for G-I ailments.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

I just ordered one of these (and a couple of other things ) from ebags, which can lay on the top of the fresh water tank in the Interstate. Baggallini, zip-out shopping tote, ripstop nylon, water resistant, etc. 17" x 17", on sale for $19.99. Love baggallini.

Maggie

This arrived today, and is absolutely perfect for its chosen purpose, in my estimation. Very sturdy handles, fabric and double zipper, and just the right size for us.

Our adult children have paid very close attention to our bug-out bag musings....even the one who teased about preparing for the apocalypse (not) is now talking of bulking up their basement emergency area for his family of five.

We are ziploc-bagging or vacuum sealing the contents, are also going to add a large-ish, brightly colored tag to the handle.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We found one of these at a marina store this past trip, love it and have purchased another for our bug-out bag.

Under $10, uses 3AAA batteries and you could seriously signal a search party or land planes with this item.....it is that bright.

About the size of a large highlighter/magic marker.

Nebo Larry Light 8 Led Work light with Magnetic clip


Maggie

[Aage]

Dang, wish they sold that here in Canada, looks really neet!

That type of item doubles in price because of the shipping and "handling" costs these days.

[Lily&Me]

We got the recent one off Amazon.com, where you can get free shipping with a certain $ amount order.

Or, if adult son has an account with free shipping that works, too.



Maggie

[Lily&Me]

We are ready.

Our final list:

Hand charger for cell phone
Water purification tablets
Katydyn collapsible 1-quart water bottle
Multi-tool
Pocket knife
First Aid kit
Small Flashlight/extra batteries
100-hour emergency candles (2)
Mylar emergency blankets
Waterproof Match Container/matches
Folding knife/spoon/forks
Collapsible bowls
The 2-oz Backpacker Problem Solving Manual
Baby Wipes
Collapsible toothbrushes/small toothpaste
Hand Sanitizer
Spare Eyeglasses/Contact Lenses/Contacts cleaner/wetting solution
Small bag travel size toiletries
Clif Bars
Trail Mix
Dog Food
Plastic bags
A little $

To grab if we have to leaven our stick house or the Interstate:

Meds


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

A little $

Food for thought, rather than leaving cash in your kit, you might want to get an equivalent amount of traveler's checks. Thanks to debit cards you don't see traveler's checks very often anymore, but American Express still sells them. And it's insured money. If you lose them, you can get the money back. Unlike cash.

However, make sure your kit includes at least one roll of quarters, for vending machines, laundromats, etc.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Food for thought, rather than leaving cash in your kit, you might want to get an equivalent amount of traveler's checks. Thanks to debit cards you don't see traveler's checks very often anymore, but American Express still sells them. And it's insured money. If you lose them, you can get the money back. Unlike cash.

However, make sure your kit includes at least one roll of quarters, for vending machines, laundromats, etc.

Good ideas, Protag.

Had not at all thought about quarters. We have a quarter depository in the Interstate, for laundry and car washes.

Hate going into those places and finding the change machines not working.


Maggie

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Food for thought, rather than leaving cash in your kit, you might want to get an equivalent amount of traveler's checks. Thanks to debit cards you don't see traveler's checks very often anymore, but American Express still sells them. And it's insured money. If you lose them, you can get the money back. Unlike cash.

However, make sure your kit includes at least one roll of quarters, for vending machines, laundromats, etc.

Maybe just make sure ahead of time that places where you are likely to shop still take them. With ATMs being so common, they've become a thing of the past for a lot of merchants. But I would second bringing extra cash and quarters, because ATMs could be down in a power outage or be emptied out.

[Lily&Me]

We have actually come across places that do not take traveler's checks, period.

My thought about these, primarily, is that there could be difficulty cashing them in one's own area during massive power outages and destruction of infrastructure. I recall that huge ice storm in Missouri, etc, several years ago, where some areas remained without power for weeks.

They would be helpful, though, if one were leaving the area, such as evacuating for a hurricane.

Cash might be the best local medium of exchange.

BTW, cash is not and will not be kept inside our bug-out bag. It has its own secret spot.


Maggie

[Len n Jeanne]

Maybe keep the cash in smaller parcels in different places so that if one stash gets lost or stolen, the others are still there.

[Lily&Me]

Mmmmmm.....good idea.

Thanks,


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

A number of tornadoes ripped through parts of Illinois on Sunday, including an EF4 that devastated the town of Washington, near Peoria.

We did not even lose power, much less have to deploy our bug-out bag, but it is ready for just this kind of situation.

Noticed on the news that Verizon has trucks it sends to these areas, which have charging ports and internet capability.

What a great service!


Maggie

[rivet-rivet]

We lost power for two weeks after hurricane Hugo. At that time we lived where we had county water & natural gas, so we had water and a natural gas hot water heater.

Since that time we moved in the country with well & septic system. Installed an exterior receptacle/power switch on the house and purchased a Honda genset, to power the well, microwave, portable heater, and lights, in the event of power failure.

We don't live too far from a nuclear power plant, so the county distributed iodine tablets to folks living in the area of the reactor, in case of a release to atmosphere from the power plant.

We keep a solar cell to charge the camper 12V battery and to charge the laptop & verizon telephones. The camper is equipped with LEDs, for low power consumption. Also have a Yamaha 2400 "quiet" genset for offline camping. We have a solar powered/hand crank weather/am/fm radio and hand crank LED flash light. We use Clorox wipes to clean teflon coated cookware & wash hands. Also keep some items previously mentioned.