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What items should go in my emergency kit?

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What if you and/or your family become trapped in your home, on the road, or in the woods, with no way to get help? An emergency kit contains the supplies you will need to contact help and to survive for days or weeks until help arrives. Granted, the odds you will use an emergency kit are slim, but if you are ever in a situation in which you need an emergency kit (also known as emergency preparedness kits), it could save your life.

The difficult aspect of preparing an emergency kit is that you cannot prepare for every eventuality, so you have to make choices regarding what you will actually put in your kit. Prepare your kit by considering where you will be when you need it and how long you might be dependent on its contents. You will have to make the final decisions yourself, but consider putting some of the following objects in your emergency kit:

• Emergency Items

o Battery-Powered Radio
o Cell Phone
o Flashlight
o Extra Batteries
o Fire Extinguisher
o Signal Flares
o Matches and/or Lighter
o Swiss-Army Knife
o Whistle
o Respirator with Mask

• First Aid Supplies

o First-Aid Manual
o Bandages
o Prescription Medication, including Asthma Inhaler and Contact Lens Supplies
o Over-the-Counter Medication
o Disinfectant
o Medical Information, including Allergies
o Thermometer
o Cold Packs

• Food

o Canned Meats
o Peanut Butter
o Granola Bars
o Dried Fruit
o Crackers
o Energy Bars
o Powdered Milk
o Infant Food (i.e. canned milk, formula, and bottles), if necessary
o Water (one gallon per person per day, including ½ gallon for drinking)

• Miscellaneous

o Sleeping Bag and Pillow
o Blankets
o Change of Layered Clothing, including Sturdy Shoes and Rain Gear
o Basic Tools (i.e. wrench, screwdrivers, hammer)
o Toilet Paper
o Feminine Supplies
o Waterless Hand Sanitizer
o Copies of Important Documents (i.e. passports, social security cards wills, birth and marriage certificates)
o Credit Card and/or Cash
o Paper and Pen/Pencil
o Extra Set of Keys
o Book (games and/or coloring book for children)
o Toilet Bucket with Lid and Plastic Bags

This list could go on endlessly, but these are some of the basic items you may want to include in an emergency kit. The size of your kit will depend on the number of people in your family and whether you want your kit to last a day, a week, or even a month. In the event of an emergency, however, remember not to limit yourself to the items in your kit. For example, if you can get to your refrigerator, eat food from your refrigerator first, followed by items from your freezer as they thaw out, before moving to the non-perishable items in your emergency kit.

Above all, make sure you know how to use everything in your emergency kit. Practice using items such as the radio and respirator and glance over the first-aid manual. Don’t give yourself a false sense of security by assuming you will be able to think clearly enough during an emergency to learn a new skill.

Next Page: Where should I keep an emergency kit?

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