When preparing to be ready for emergencies, beginners must consider 3 Steps.
Step 1: Prepare your home for 2 weeks / 14 Days of house autonomy
We start with the house because this is where you spend most of your time and is usually the best place to have an emergency. This is why governments give the standard advice “stay at home!” During a crisis of whatever origin.
Example scenarios:
- You have an unexpected big expense that blows your tight budget.
- You suddenly lose your job and face a year of unemployment.
- The electricity grid goes down for a few days.
- Relentless rains flood your city for a week.
- An epidemic spreads and you are quarantined at home.
- Civil order is broken with riots in the streets.
- A neighboring town is attacked by an enemy.
- Total collapse i.e. catastrophic event.
You should assume that some or all of your home’s utility lines will be down or be inconsistent in supply/delivery. Thus, you will not be able to depend 100% on electricity, water, cooking or heating gas or tele-communications.
Emergency services can be overloaded or inactive, so you won’t be able to count on a rapid response to your appeal for help.Even in situations where this is not the case, for these essentials, it is better to assume the worst.
For example, sudden unemployment doesn’t mean the power grid is down, but maybe you want to save money on your electric bill. The power grid may be out of order, but you have your own wood-burning heating and kitchen. That’s fine, but it’s always better to have these stand-alone bases to reduce the risk of having nothing.
Home Checklist Summary
| SUBJECT | Requirement / s |
| water | 15 gallons/person |
| food | non-perishable, long shelf life, easy to prepare or eat. |
| fire | |
| light | candles, flashlights or battery-powered lanterns. |
| warmth | mainly clothes and blankets, but also propane heaters and survival blankets. |
| 1st Aid kit | To include all basic stuff for emergency need. It has everything needed for medical emergency such as scissors, tweezers, and bandage. |
| medication | Tylenol, activated charcoal, digestion aids, prescriptions. |
| hygiene | hand sanitizer, camp soap, baby wipes. |
| communication | NOAA radio powered by hand crank or solar, flares, whistle. |
| money / cash | small denominations, as much as you can afford. |
| documents | passports, birth certificates, insurance policies, credit cards. |
| tools | work gloves, wrench for gas and water lines, zip ties, tape, sewing kit, etc. |
| self-defence | According to personal points of view, including firearms and ammunition. |
NB (1) : Note that this summary does not include a few items that you typically see in other emergency preparedness checklists. We assume you already have things like clothes, blankets, cooking utensils, feminine hygiene products, garbage bags, toilet paper, etc.
NB (2) : The items listed will be discussed further in appropiate drop-down sections of the ‘TOP MENU’ and will include reviews and/or of recommended products.
Often, other checklists mix up the home supply items with the equipment in the bug out bag. We divide them here because they are very different.
This helps to avoid duplication and reduce the likelihood of equipment being scattered and unprepared.
Finally, consider the special needs for example of pregnant women, small children, pets and people with disabilities or other significant medical issues, etc. If you have poor eyesight, always wear a pair of protective glasses.
Now let’s move onto the third step (PART 3) and consider evacuation bags also refered to as Bug-Out-Bags (BOB).
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