No one likes to hear about, talk about, or think about fire. The truth is, though, planning for this type of emergency must be part of everyone’s reality. Is your home fire safe? Here are some web sites to help you make your home fire safe:
Remember, having a fire escape plan in action is important as well. Practice fire drills with your family frequently to ensure everyone knows how to react in this type of home emergency.
Do you feel you’re prepared if disaster strikes? Think beyond the typical medical first-aid kit when answering this question. If a flood, hurricane, or long-term power outage occurred, do you have what you need together right now to get you through that situation?
If you answered no to this question, don’t feel bad because you’re not alone. There are more people who aren’t prepared than who are and, as scary as that sounds, it is easily remedied. Though this doesn’t sound like a typical home improvement, it actually is because you are going to want a permanent place to house this kit. It can be anything from a cabinet in an away place of your basement, a box stored in a closet, or a shelf in your garage.
What should your emergency preparedness kit contain? Good question! If disaster strikes, you’ll want to have the following on hand:
-
batteries
-
portable radio
-
flashlight
-
non-perishable food (such as granola, peanuts, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned juice, crackers, etc.)
-
manual can opener, cutting knife, scissors
-
bottled water
-
portable first-aid kit
-
board games, puzzle books, and coloring books for children (and other portable art supplies such as crayons, blank paper and pencils)
-
blankets
-
towels
-
paper goods (such as toilet paper, paper towels, handy wipes, paper plates, paper cups, and utensils)
-
waste bucket
-
One complete change of clothes for each member of the household
-
travel sized hygiene products, including anti-bacterial hand sanitizer
-
medications (such as antacids, pain relievers, cough medicine, and anti-diarrhea medicine)
-
large, heavy-duty garbage bags
Test products requiring batteries often, to ensure they’re in proper working order if disaster suddenly strikes. Be sure this kit is houses in a waterproof container. Change out clothing as your children grow (if you have children) to ensure they will fit properly should disaster strike.
