Being Prepared

"Be Prepared" is a term we hear used a lot. I don't think it means "Be afraid" or "Live in Fear until the disaster!" On the contrary - I think it means have your possessions and life in order so that you can enjoy peace today and will be ready in the event anything happens. Being prepared is not necessarily having a stockpile of 30 year old wheat in your basement and commercially made 72 hour kits in your car. It means that you have a surplus of supplies in storage and those supplies are things you use everyday. It means that you have preparedness items in your car so that when you get a flat tire or a dead battery - you know, those everyday things, you are prepared.
That being said, there is always a desire to have a list of items, or a magic kit that you can buy so that you can put it somewhere and feel that you "are prepared." I have tended to look at it differently. What am I preparing for? Let's look at my car. I would like to be prepared for a dead battery, a flat tire, no gas (and having to walk a long distance to get some), hungry/thirsty children if I were to get stranded, and an accident. So, my car kit contains: jumper cables, fix-a-flat (as well as my jack and spare tire), blankets, a winter coat, outdoor shoes for myself, granola bars, bottled water, a small shovel, small first aid kit, a disposable camera and accident report form, and extra diapers and wipes. My husband's car has those things plus rope/chain and work gloves. I feel at peace when I go anywhere in my car - I know that come what may - I can handle it.

A home 72 hour kit is a bit different. My parents had people show up in Tennessee that had been evacuated due to Katrina. They were so grateful for their changes of clothes, toothbrushes, and financial information that they had ready to go when they were told to evacuate. What would we want if the hillside was on fire and we were given 10 minutes to leave? Would we want to waste those precious minutes finding changes of clothing, toothbrushes, hair brushes, diapers/wipes? Having these types of items in a bag ready to go can allow you the time to pack heirlooms, pets, scrapbooks, ect. We keep these items in garbage bags inside our backpacking backpacks. When we need to use these backpacks, we can unload the garbage bag and still have all of our things together. We also have an Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (I will post about this later) that we can grab and take with us that has all of our utility accounts, insurance accounts along with other important information and contact numbers. I can go to sleep at night knowing that if I had to leave quickly - my family would be fine.

For the people who love creativity, we have also stashed changes of clothes and toiletries, ect. at our inlaw's house. If we had to leave here - we know we would have what we needed in Midway. Different - but I'm sure those people from Katrina's devestation would have loved to have a place to go that had some familiar items waiting for them.

I know that a lot of people love to have the "food in a can" 72 hour kit or something like that that is already put together and they can check it off their list of preparedness items. But I think it is more important to have an idea of what you are really preparing for and have those items that you would need - ready to go.

If you are interested, Draper City is hosting a Vendor Demonstration for 72 hour kits. At the very least, they may be ideas to get you started on your own.

UFA is hosting a 72-hour Emergency Kit Demonstration that we would like to invite you to attend. The details are as follows:

What: 72-Hour Emergency Kits - Vendor Demonstration
When: Thursday, February 25, 2010

Time: 12:00 PM-4:00 PM

Where: Draper City Council Room