My friend is part of this group that stresses disaster preparedness. After he talked to me about it, I realized I’m really not prepared at all.

I’ve decided to get supplies that would be helpful in the case of a natural disaster, or in the event of a terrorist attack or something similar. I know I should purchase canned food, bottled water, blankets, flashlights, first aid kit, etc. What are some other things I should include that I might be missing?

"The only factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention." Kevin Kelly

One of the most important things I stress at tabling events is a file of records for every member of the family, not just pets. Include medical records, especially vacinations, and reports of any chronic conditions. Also include ID photos. You never know when you might have to identify your pet at a shelter, or describe the family members you got separated from when you evacuated. I would also include doctor's and Vets contact info, and medical insuraance info. Don't forget licence tag and microchip numbers. These info folders are also usefull for day to day emergencies where you might be taking your pet to the after hours emergency vet, or your babysitter might have to take your kid to the emergency room. The info will let a doctor who has never seen your kid or pet before get up to speed on their medical history more quickly. In addition to a folder of hard-copy you might also want to scan the info and photos onto your cocmputer and load it onto a memory stick. I feel this is the MOST IMPORTANT item you can have in an emergency kit, because other items you can buy when you get out of the effected area, but those records and photos are unique to your family.

Check out the animal disaster preparedness tips on UAN's Web site. We've got detailed lists of recommended items to include depending on which species of pet you have.

You can also download copies of our "Five animal disaster preparedness essentials" brochures in English and Spanish.

Hello there.

Very good information in this post. An Emergency Kit is an essential and necessary part of your emergency gear and supplies. Emergency drinking water tablets and chlorine dioxide water purifier tablets are very useful in camping and emergency situations.

Other things you may want are cookware, sewing kit, utensils, emergency blankets, water filters, rechargeable lights & radio, water bags, flares, compass, maps, mirror, knife first aid supplies. It is also a good idea to carry a whistle on a lanyard and a good set of work gloves.

Thanks for these suggestions, everyone!

In addition to protection for my family and dog, i've been thinking of preparing for natural disasters beyond just survival kits. Does anyone have any experience with disaster preparation disaster preparation type classes?

In reality the amount of time spent at the class is better spent doing your research on the internet... and normally it costs less.

I work in disaster management and have found that most people who have gone to classes are in a false sense of security and are not as prepared as they think.

If you have specific questions about disaster preparedness I would be happy to answer them... I've helped a lot of people put together comprehensive preparedness plans

My experience, at least in the upper midwest, the most important part of disaster training for people is the lesson that they ARE vunerable! We just had a great wake-up call in the south suburbs of Milwaukee. The Patric Cudahy meat plant caught fire. It took several days to bring the blaze under control and put it out, and at one point it was getting close to the huge tanks of amonia used for refridgerant. As a precaution, everybody living within one mile of the plant was evacuated. Everyone was told to take their pets, and where a Red Cross shelter was set up at a neighboring town's high school, the Wisconsin Humane Society set up a pet shelter in another part of the building. Everybody was back home by 7pm that night, but it got everybody's attention. This is going to make my job at tabling events so much easier because now they realise it could have been them.

I thought this list of supplies might be useful for a minimal 72 or 24 hour emergency preparedness kit...

This survival kit should be ready in the event that it is needed. Place it in a safe spot away from the house in a shed or the trunk of a vehicle. It contains the essential things that you will need to live for 3 days. You can design it to fit your needs but it should contain the following as a minimum:

* Bottled water (3 gallons per person)
* Water filter and purification tablets
* Food (non-perishable) little or no cooking required
* Camping plates and utensils
* Vitamins and energy food bars, salt, honey
* Backpacker's cooking stove and fuel
* Flashlight, spare batteries and spare bulb
* Candles and matches
* First aid kit, drugs, extra eyeglasses
* Emergency medical book
* Seasonal clothing (rain gear, jacket, boots, etc.)
* Tool box, pry bar, pliers, screwdriver, hatchet, etc.
* Folding camp shovel (for latrine and garbage)
* Pocket knife/leather man (multipurpose, sharp)
* ABC fire extinguisher
* Road flares
* Local area maps
* Tissues, toilet paper, sanitary napkins
* Soap, toothbrushes, personal care kit
* Plastic, foil, emergency space/wool blanket
* Sleeping bag
* Battery or solar powered radio
* Cash
* Plastic tubing for siphoning gasoline
* Keep all in a plastic container with a tight lid

Also, may I suggest that Iron Keys be obtained, loaded and ready to go for every human member of the household? An Iron Key is a secure, password-protected, waterproof USB device for storing documents, photos, etc.

What do we have on our Iron Keys?
Scanned copies of the following:
* inoculation and health records for everyone (human and critter alike)
* copies of our social security cards
* driver's licenses
* blood donor cards
* Rx from doctor for meds, or eye glasses Rx.
* marriage certificate
* AKC registration papers and chip ID info
* a mock-up of a lost poster with chip ID numbers for the critters (nice to have, but not essential)
* bank information
* a "Family picture" - us with all of our animals.
* Individual photos of us and of our animals
* important phone numbers and addresses should your PDA or cell phone go belly up.
* copies of bills and account numbers
* Resumes and references should our temp home become long-term.

While not having been a part of it, my husband and I learned from some of the lessons taught by Katrina and decided that the Iron Key was the best way to go. The lesson was that people found that their "important papers", were damaged to the point of being unusable or just not thought of, like one's resume or references. On man and his family made it to Huston and found that while they had the health and banking info for their family, he didn't have his resume or references which make getting a job difficult.

A while back, someone who evacuated from Katrina put some words of wisdom on a alist I'm on. When we grab out important papers, we always think of insurance policies (mostly homeowners or renters insurance). She found that she was able to walakinto the office of a branch of her insurance company in the town she evacuated to, and they were able to look up her records in their computer and print her out a copy. However, almost every sort of financial assistance she applied for (FEMA, etc) wanted to know what her income was, how much she worked prior to the event, what her utility bills had been, and such. She said she wished she had thought to grab a copy of her last years income tax return. That would have been more usefull than the insurance papers.

One of my friends convinced me of not only having a 72 hour emergency kit but also an emergency plan. This site has a pretty decent starter list for an emergency plan http://beprepared72.com/Survival_Tips.html

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Zanna Russell:
Also, may I suggest that Iron Keys be obtained, loaded and ready to go for every human member of the household? An Iron Key is a secure, password-protected, waterproof USB device for storing documents, photos, etc.

Not at all a bad idea...that is assuming we still have power and computers!

I suggest one of each format. A folder of hardcopy will be immediatly usable wherever you are, especially if you don't have access to a computer right away. A data stick/thumbdrive/whatever can be kept on your keychain or whatever as a backup in case you aren't home to grab your papers, your papers get damaged, etc.