It's not a 72-hour kit

The concept of a 72-hour kit is to provide necessary items in an emergency situation when you have to leave your home without prior notice. The reason for leaving isn't important.

This isn't about the 72-hour kit.

This is a kit of useful items to be stored in your vehicle for as variety of situations including accident (yours or someone else's), mechanical difficulties, or poor judgment.

The List:

• Water: Arizona is a desert and being stranded anywhere without water can be a death sentence. We can get a long without food for a couple of weeks, but as little as 1 day without water can be the end.
  
• Reflective Triangles: warn other drivers of difficulties. These should be used according to the instructions of the package.
  
• Flares: warn other drivers of difficulties or signal potential rescuers. While other drivers may ignore triangles, burning fire in the road is a different matter. Use flares sparingly and only when other items just don't do the trick.
  
• Ductape: useful in making emergency repairs of many types.
• First Aid Kit: For performing first aid on others. Your kit should be based on your skill at first aid. It doesn't do any good to have first aid supplies you can't use.
  
• Flashlight: so you can see in the dark. Remember to keep extra batteries and a spare bulb.
• Basic tools: Cressent wrench, Channel locks, Vise grips, hammer, screwdrivers, jumper cables.
  

This is by no means a comprehensive list and the items you keep in your vehicle should be based on your needs and abilities. Remember, this isn't just for when you have an emergency, but to assist others in their emergency.

How you store your kit is also important. Letting your stuff roll around freely in the bed of your truck will probably mean useless gear when you need it. I suggest a wide mouth bag or duffle for loose items like tools, and ductape. A first aid kit should be in it's own secure container in an easily accessible part of the vehicle, like the glove box or under a front seat. Flares are sensitive to damage and should be stored in a hard sided container.

Once you have you chosen kit assembled and stored in your vehicle be sure to inspect it regularly. Water should be replaced on a regular schedule. Other items may have expiration dates. And items like ductape will lose their usefulness after a few seasons of hot and cold. Do not risk your life on items that you haven't seen in 3 years, check your gear at least yearly to make sure everything is there and in working order.

The reason:
In Arizona it is the law that the first person to arrive at the scene of an accident must stop and render aid. This doesn't mean pulling an injured person from a vehicle and performing life saving first aid, but you are required to stop, even if it's only to stand up the road a ways and warn people that there has been an accident. We should be prepared to render aid as we can, even if it's only giving a stranded motorist a drink of water and helping them change a tire or patching a radiator hose with ductape and filling the radiator so they can drive to the next town.
You can save a life with even simple actions, but you can't help if you are helpless yourself.

A story:
I was on my way back from the valley one day when I came across a van at the top of the divide between Kearny and Superior. They had overheated and were stuck at the top of the pass and needed water. For some reason I hadn't replaced the 2 gallons of water I normally carry for just such an emergency and couldn't help them. All I could do was drive into town and notify DPS that people were stranded there. If I had had water they would have been good to go, but because I had let it slide, they had to wait for other help.

The Idea for this post was supplied by Jerry Magee.

Overall Preparedness

No matter what plans you make; changes in your family, living conditions, and location means you need to re-evaluate your plan.

As children grow older, their needs change. The supplies needed to care for an infant are significantly different from those of a 3 year old or a 15 year old.

When you move to or from an urban area, your needs change.

What you store, how you store it, and where you store it depends on your plan and your living condition and financial security.

Should I stay or should I go? Going.

Fleeing the Scene:*

If you live where natural disasters like flooding or wildfire is a regular threat, you should be prepared to move your family to a safer location. This safer location can be a friend or neighbor's house, a family member's home, a hotel or motel, or a church building.

Leaving your home does not always mean leaving your community. Plan for various scenarios including moving to higher ground, moving to a safe area within your community, moving to your family to a nearby community, or relocating to a distant community. Before moving your family, be sure that you can legally move to a safe area, some areas may be off limits to civilians during an emergency.

Each plan should include a list of:
1) Who is going.
2) Where they are going.
3) What you are taking with you.
4) How you are getting there (Vehicle & Route.)

Each plan should be brief and concise. Spell out in plain language what each family member is responsible for. An unclean plan is worse than no plan. Don't use your sister's cousin's roommate's plan. Your plan should be based on the needs and resources of your family.

Once you have your plan you should:

A) Share it with others.

1. All children in the family should know where to go in case of emergency. Will you pick them up from school or work, do they come home, or do they go to a specified rally point? Be sure everyone knows where they are supposed to go.
2. Notify family members or friends if your plan involves staying at their house. Going to stay at your mother-in-laws place during a flood? Make sure she knows this so you don't show up to find her gone because she fled the scene.
3. If your plans change, let those involved know about the changes. Nothing makes people worry when you don't show up because you changed your plan and went somewhere else.

B) Be sure of your destination before you leave. Again, if you show up at a house where they have been evacuated you will not be a happy camper.

C) Make sure you can get there. Since road and traffic conditions can change quickly.

D) Have at least one alternate route to your desired destination.

E) Be prepared to stay. Even if you are invited to leave, circumstances may arise that make your destination undesirable.

• The natural disaster that affects you is also affecting your destination.
• Your destination is being affected by a different disaster, caused in part by your disaster. Refugees can be a disaster for an unprepared area.(think Murder-Dome during Katrina.)

Remember that as your family changes, so do your needs. Update your plan at least yearly.

*This is not an official Gov't term...

Should I stay or Should I go? Staying.

This is a discussion about Sheltering in Place.

Sheltering in Place is a concept that revolves around staying in your home during an emergency. Since your home is where you have all your stuff, it is the best place to be during a crisis. This is the most desired response to Natural or Man-made disasters. When Sheltering in place each family stays in their homes during the disaster.

To shelter in place you need to prepare to do so. This means having the materials to survive for 3 months or more. This includes, but is not limited too, food, water, commodities, fuel, and clothing. This does not mean boarding yourself in your home like it is some kind of Apocalyptic bunker, but providing a safe and comfortable place for your family.

Sheltering in place does not include mulishly staying put despite encroaching dangers like fire, flood, mudslides, looters, or disease. There are times when we must leave no matter how much we may believe we can tough it out.

Any personal and family preparedness plan should include plans to shelter in place and to leave because the nature of a disaster may require you to leave and to leave without your accumulated goods.

What do you need to shelter in Place? Well that all depends on yo0ur family. Make a list of what your family consumes in food and commodities (like toilet paper) in a months time. Now triple it. This is the basic requirement.

There are other things you might not think of like power or fuel. How are you going to prepare or cook your food without electricity or gas? Both of these could be cut off for a long period of time during an emergency, even if your immediate area is not directly effected.

Do you have enough drinking water for your entire family? Do you have enough water for food preparation and cleaning up? The likely hood of having potable water if the electricity if off is a factor on how much water you need to keep in your home.

Food should be food your family eats regularly. Most canned food has a shelf life of 5 years and frozen food is good until it's not frozen any more. Dehydrated food is hit or miss, try something before you invest in half a ton.

Commodities like toilet paper, bath soap, kitchen soap, other cleaning agents will all store in out of the way places and you never know when you won't be able to get more.

Remember that as your family changes your needs will also change, so update yearly at the very least.