An emergency survival kit is an essential element of disaster preparedness no matter where you live. Some people believe that because they don’t live in earthquake, hurricane, cyclone, or flood-prone areas, they don’t need to worry about a disaster — but that’s sadly not true. The fact is that disasters can happen anywhere, whether it’s a house fire or a co-worker going postal and ruining a good day’s work.
What Is An Emergency Survival Kit?
A kit…that helps you survive…an emergency! In all seriousness, there are so many different kinds of emergency that can occur that it’s impossible to have exactly what you need to minimize the impact of each one. The goal of an emergency survival kit is to make sure that you have everything you need to survive, even if an emergency cuts you off from all other resources. You can count on an authority to eventually reach you and rescue you — your job is to survive until they can get there.
Considerations In Acquiring An Emergency Survival Kit
The fundamentals of human survival are universal constants — everyone needs food, water, an appropriate temperature (generally accomplished with clothing and possibly a space blanket), basic first aid, and some way to communicate with the outside world. Knowing that, there are a few other things you have to know in order to provide an appropriate survival kit:
- The number of people who will be using the kit. A single-person kit might be highly portable, but if you’re at work, you’ll want your office emergency kit to have several — even dozens — of peoples’ worth of supplies.
- Any predictable special needs of the people using the kit. Diabetics, for example, will require a kit with insulin and some form of sugary edible in order to help them moderate their blood sugar.
- The specific type of disaster most likely to occur in your area. This will allow you to add a few items that are most useful for your most common disaster.
With this knowledge and some proper prior planning, you can make sure that your home or office emergency kit has everything it needs to be as useful as possible.
