Emergency Grab Bag
If you need to evacuate your home at short notice or need to survive for a length of time without supplies.
Why is this important you say?
A theoretical study in the UK 'Life without lorries‘ study (McKinnon, 2006), considered the effects of a complete shut-down of road haulage in the UK for 1 week, In the study, there was insufficient time for retailers to switch from centralised systems to local sources , so rationing of some foods was necessary after three days. It also found that supplies to many hospitals would break down within 1 day.
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 the immediate needs of everyone. 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. In 2010/2011, severe flooding in Pakistan left thousands of people without power and clean water supplies for many weeks.
Employers and Businesses alike should plan to support their guests and staff 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 72 hours or longer.
Contents of a Emergency Grab Bag:
First thing’s first, no amount of fancy equipment will aid you unless you have a clearly laid out plan – Make a plan – Laminate it and keep a copy of the plan in your grab bag. (Be sure to test your plan, regularly, get everyone involved and turn it into a family game).
When considering preparing an emergency kit, you need to break down the items you will need into specific categories, these are:
- Communication
- Food & Water
- Medical & Hygiene
- Tools
- Shelter & Good to have.
Communication:
- Plan: Keep a copy of your plan in your grab bag and make sure that if you are making mini grab bags for your family members, these bags have a copy of the plan. Make sure everyone in your family know the plan.
- Map: Keep a map of your local area, nowadays google maps can print highly detailed street maps of Pakistani cities which can be laminated and placed in your bag.
- Photographs: Keep photographs of yourself and your family members and place their names on the back of the photographs. (You can show these to emergency workers and others in the area if you get separated).
- Insulation tape: This is a cheap bit of kit that comes in many colours and can be used to mark rendezvous points. Assign a colour to each family member for example blue for yourself and red for your wife, and green for your child. Always plan to have 3 or more rendezvous points if you become separated, if one of you arrive at that location first and have to move on due to an emergency or other untoward situation stick a strip of your colour coded insulation tape on the door/wall/ tree/ prominent place to say you were here and have moved on to location 2.
Spare phone: It is always a good idea to keep a cheap dependable phone in your grab bag, in case your primary phone becomes lost or damaged. Always write the phone number on the back of the phone cover and make sure all primary and secondary phone numbers are placed on your family plan.
A good dependable option is the Nokia 1100 true to its name retails for about 1000/1100 rupees and is rugged and will easily provide you with 72 hours battery time or standby. Always keep a spare battery and make sure that this is charged (wrap in plastic to avoid discharge).
Out of city contact: In the event of a major disaster or emergency, the local cellular or fixed line networks may become congested due to traffic volume, however it would still be possible to contact people in other parts of the country who may be unaffected by network congestion. In this case it is a good idea to keep an out of city contact (or 2) on your plan. You can contact them and let them know of your condition, location and current situation.
Pens, Markers, Chalk, notepads and a (can of spray paint in orange or red) : The need for pens and notepads should be self-explanatory should you need to note down important information or pass information to someone, the SPRAY PAINT CAN may be used to spray HELP, SOS or WARN others
. Orange is a high visibility colour is better than darker colours.
Whistle: The saying “Old is gold” applies here, one of the oldest methods of alerts or signalling others, and still the most effective. A very good tool if you need to signal someone or get their attention (like a passer-by, rescue boat, ambulance or police officer).
Radio: Most phones now have built in radios – radios are good to keep up to date with news, alerts and weather updates.
A plastic mirror or highly polished reflective metal sheet: This can be used to reflect the light from the sun to get the attention of helicopters or aircraft flying overhead.
Food, Water & Welfare:
Food: When planning your emergency rations make sure you choose food you will actually eat, but don’t go overboard. The daily calorie intake for men is 2500, 2000 for women and 1400 for children.
Choose non-perishable ready to eat food that is low in salt (avoid dehydration) and high in energy, there are several options available to suit all budgets, for example; you can buy ready made Daal-makhni that you can eat out of the packet for 180 rupees. If you are thrifty, you can make your own ready meal by emptying the contents of an instant noodle packet in a zip lock bag and all you will need to add to have a warm meal is hot water….
Pack some comfort foods like instant coffee, tea bags and milk powder, chocolate and trail mix.
An example of Pakistani made MRE: Meal ready to eat:
Water: The average person requires 3 litres of water a day to keep well hydrated, storing this much water in a grab bag may become a problem….. So the easier option is to keep a small supply of potable water (1 litre) and have a water purification kit to purify available water in the event of an emergency…
How to source water in an emergency? Water can be sources from many places in the event of sudden emergency, such as roof top and underground water tanks, the boiler of a gas geezer and even the “top tank” of a toilet flush (just remember to bleach it first) :enjoy:
How to purify water? You can purify water by boiling the water, by using available commercial purification products or if you are really desperate you can use household bleach, 3 drops of bleach will purify 1 litre of water.
Medical & Hygiene
First Aid Kit: There are many commercially available first aid kits in Pakistan, with most starting at 800 rupees and rising, it is always a better idea to build your own kit rather than buy a ready made product.
A simple first aid kit should have the following items:
1x Tweezers
1x Scissors (preferably blunt tip)
6x safety pins
2x sterile eye pads
1x Crepe Bandage 5cm x 4.5cm
2x packets of sterile gauze swabs 5 x 5cm
1x Fabric tape or Micropore tape 1.25cm x 5m
10x Alcohol prep swabs
2x Disposable latex gloves
1x Pack of assorted plasters
1x Pack of analgesic plasters
1x Forehead thermometer / digital thermometer
(Once you have these items you can pack them in a small container like an old purse or even a lunch box).
Personal Medical Needs: Everyone has some form of personal medical need such as prescription glasses, prescription medication etc. If anyone wears glasses in your family, keep a spare set in a protective case in your kit.
Hygiene supplies: Toothbrush, toothpaste, anti bacterial soap (Dettol/Safeguard) , insect repellent, hand sanitizer, paper towels, tissue paper, wash cloth, antiseptic liquid = Dettol, some Vaseline, a small amount of bleach in a secure container, remember, disposable gloves, surgical masks (10 minimum per person), safety goggles (personal needs may vary from person to person and from gender to gender)
Tools
Lighting: 2x flashlights (with extra batteries), candles, and matches (keep them waterproof by placing them in a container such as a 35mm film canister), lighters.
Dust Masks: Different from your surgical face mask, these are made of paper and are very good to protect from dust, sediment and other particulates that may cause breathing difficulties.
Duct Tape: Also known as elephant tape, this is very strong adhesive tape and will secure anything to anything, in fact it is so good it was used fix the broken water tanks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Excellent you need to make an emergency shelter and also can be used to sure bandages. Squash the roll by stomping on it to make it easier to pack in your bag.
Multi Tool / Pocket Knife: A knife has many uses and there are many times of knives available, choose a reliable and good blade, a sensible option is a multi-tool which contains a plier, saw, knife and other useful tools and can be picked up for around 500/1500 rupees.
Nylon rope – Good quality rope can be used for a number of emergency situations such as securing objects, making your shelter, making a stretcher or for access. Minimum of 5 meters.
Aluminium foil: This is a very versatile bit of kit and can be used to create a solar oven, an electricity free refrigerator or even used as a signal mirror to signal rescue boats/ helicopters.
Zip Lock Bag: These are cheap resalable bags good for storing almost everything and can also be used as a porta-potty in extreme circumstances.
Shelter
Plastic Sheet: 12 feet by 12 feet plastic sheet (2 millimetres in thickness) – This is very easy to acquire in Pakistan and can be picked up for no more than a couple of hundred rupees, it’s primary use is to help you create a temporary shelter and even help in collecting water or acting as an emergency stretcher.
Good to have (optional goodies)
Sewing Kit: A good sewing kit is very useful to mend clothes and with some ingenuity, you can also use the needle make a makeshift compass.
A book: Once the chaos passes, this is one bit of your kit that will comfort you and take your mind of things, it can be any kind of book such as a religious or spiritual book or something that gives you comfort.
Your child’s favourite toy or a Board game/Colouring in book: You may wonder, why on earth you would put this in an emergency kit, but you must understand that children cope differently to adults in an emergency and it is vital that they see that parents are in control and things are normal, such little things will keep their mind of matters around them and allow you to engage with them and reassure them.
Once you're done with your kit, pack it in an easy to carry back pack. You can use a large school bag, however a decent quality rucksack can be purchased for about 1500 rupees.
