Emergency Supplies: Preparing for an Emergency or Disaster

We have talked about the need to know basic first aid & CPR skills, but are you ready for an emergency?  What if we have a tornado outbreak or an electrical storm that knocks power out for several weeks or we get snowed in for a couple weeks?  What if you were evacuated from your home for some reason?  Do you know what you would take with you if you had less than 5 minutes to decide?

Many people keep an emergency "Bug Out Bag" -- a bag / backpack with emergency supplies and important necessities that they can grab and go in a moments notice.  The BOB is based on a military pack that soldiers keep at the ready, but is in use around the world for places prone to tornadoes, military strikes, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, etc.

Take a few minutes and make a list of everything you would stuff into a Bug Out Bag if we were in danger of some sort of emergency scenario.  Don't share your list or help others because we will be checking to see who does the best with this.-

What are some potential emergency scenarios?  Obviously some are less likely than others, but East Tennessee has endured a variety of emergencies over the years.  We have seen tornadoes and fires and ice or snow storms.  There's a possibility we could even be in a dormant fault line for severe earthquakes.  So it's a good idea to prepare for all sorts of emergencies whether or not we plan to actually HAVE an emergency in our area.

• Floods
• Fires
• Wind Storms
• Earthquake
• Volcano
• Hurricane
• Virus Outbreak / Plague
• Chemical Weapon Attack
• Nuclear Attack
• Tornado
• EMP
• Power Grid Failure
• Military Attack / Invasion
• Revolution / Power Shift
• Economic Collapse
• Insect Infestation
• Zombie Apocalypse
• Asteroid
• Blizzard
• Aliens

Obviously there is little [or no] chance of some of these things happening [especially around here], but being prepared for anything means you are prepared for everything.

So what would be a good "starter list" to help you think about what you might want to put into a bug-out bag.  I would like you to compile a list of supplies you plan to put into an emergency backpack.  Obviously you can't get all of this into a kit, but you will have to plan accordingly depending on what is most important to you.

Try to keep your items realistic and think about the weight of what you are carrying.  You don't know if you will be in a car, walking the road, or climbing over a mountain, so your job is to be the most prepared as possible for any circumstance.

Your homework is to begin an Emergency Backpack with as many of your supplies as possible.