What is an emergency kit?
In the event of a major incident, whether it is a result of a natural or man-made disaster, the authorities may become overwhelmed with the scale of the response. During these times, the emergency services will not be able to respond to everyone's immediate needs. Response times could stretch from minutes to hours or it may be days before help arrives. It is, therefore, vital that you can support yourself and your family for at least three days in the event of a major incident.
Employers, likewise, should plan to support their guests and employees in these situations. In short, plan to be self-sufficient for at least three days in the aftermath of a disaster. You may need to survive, in adverse weather, without electric power, heat, gas or communication for these 72 hours.
What kind of emergency kit do I need?
You will need two types of emergency kit; a Go Bag containing survival essentials to be used in case of immediate evacuation and an emergency survival Preparedness Kit to provide supplies for sheltering-in-place.
The Go Bag contains your personal emergency supplies pre-packed in an easy-to-carry solution - usually a backpack. These are the items you will need if you have to leave your home or workplace immediately. In addition to essential survival supplies you should pack personal items, communication gear, and copies of documents and other records. This Go Bag should be stored in a safe and secure location ready to be grabbed at a moment's notice. Also known as a grab-bag, bug-out bag, evacuation pack etc.
While a Go Bag is an essential part of your emergency preparedness, in the event of a major disaster, the authorities are likely to issue shelter-in-place advice i. e.
GO IN - STAY IN - TUNE IN
In these situations you'll need to make sure that you have a fully-stocked Emergency Preparedness Kit ready for sheltering in place. Remember that you may not have electric power in your home or your workplace, so you can't depend on your existing equipment and supplies. Other utilities that you depend on daily for shelter and communication such as water mains, heating gas, telephones and the internet may also become disrupted leaving you vulnerable if you don't have an alternative.
Your Emergency Preparedness Kit should be made ready and packed with long-life food and water, shelter supplies, and other survival gear and placed in an easy-to-reach location in or around your home. Your kit should be easy to move as local flooding may force you to relocate to an upper floor, while earthquakes or blasts could cause structural damage to your home which may force you to set up an outdoor shelter. The Emergency Preparedness Kit is also known as a disaster kit, earthquake survival kit, etc.
ready made Emergency Kits
How do I build my own emergency kit?
