You might not even be at home when disaster strikes. So where is your emergency kit? Where is your child’s kit? We spend a lot of time in our cars, and our families are usually separated by many miles during the day—so this is something to consider as you plan. It could take quite a while to get everyone back together. Power might be out or roads could be blocked. Will you and your family have what is needed to get by until you can be re-united? Having a “traveling” emergency kit in your car, one at work, and one in your child’s backpack could be a huge comfort to you and your family.
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| 3-Day Lite Emergency Kit |
Just having a kit is a great start, but there are a few extra items that should be considered for your traveling emergency kit:
- Keep a list of phone numbers in a zip top bag.
- Be sure to include your family members and your emergency contact.
- If your phone doesn’t work your phonebook won’t be available to you.
- An extra set of keys
- Pictures of family members
- A small supply of any regular medication that might be necessary.
There are some important additions you might want to make to a child’s kit as well, which they can keep in their backpack for school:
- An extra snack
- A toy, or a coloring book and crayons
- Emergency contact information (include their home address)
- Pictures of family members (so school or public officials can identify those with whom the child can leave)
- A poncho
Since tax time has just passed and I am waiting for my refund to arrive, I have decided to put a little extra into my emergency preparedness fund. After our “Shake Out” practice most of my friends and family are doing the same. To need an emergency kit and not have it could make a bad situation worse, so having an emergency kit gives me great peace of mind (even if I never end up needing it).
--Dawn
7 comments
Eureka1959
I like you blog because you discuss Emergency Preparedness and that helps me. I had so much fun when I made my 1st emergency backpack. I bought an empty one and filled it with everything I will need if I have a car emergency or need to bug out. I will be buying my own home this year and I've already been stocking up on dehdrated and freeze-dried meals, and I made a water purifying system with 2 five gallon buckets with lids and an excellent filter, and I added a spout to the bottom for easy access. I'm going to buy 10 more 5 gallon buckets with lids to store the water that I purify. With the filter I have, I can use anything that contains water to make 10,000 gallons of purified water. I want to be prepared for any emergency, whether it's short or long. I'm a Prepper and proud of it.
Jan
We have some heavier items packed in rolling suitcases. The reason being, what if the roads are blocked, what if you can't use your car for some reason. While i might be able to strap on my backpack and walk, can my young daughter? So some of our stuff is in rolling suitcases, so if we need to walk out, even my daughter can help by pulling a suitcase.
Jackie
This is fantastic! While I don't have kids yet, I often think of what I would want them to have on them at all times, and I wondered if an extra set of clothes is too paranoid. This definitely helps, and I would probably laminate that contact info and photos just to be sure it'll survive the beating in a backpack!
Tony9mm
Very good idea ,I am making some car packs for sure!
Anonymous
Using tax refund—awesome idea!
Anonymous
Although I agree with most of this post, I would be very leary of having a set of keys in the vehicle bag. Car keys are an obvious no-no but even house keys can be a problem. If someone breaks into your vehicle, they now have easy, key access to your home as well, since your address is usually on several items in your glove box – insurance papers, registration, etc.
lunalupis
Setting up our kits was actually quite fun! We have one for each vehicle, plus another "quick-pack" as I call it, just in case!