72-Hour Emergency Kit
In an emergency, it is recommended that we all have an emergency kit for the first three to five days of an emergency.
If it is safe to stay at home, use your emergency kit in your home. If you need to evacuate, take your emergency kit with you. If you have to leave your home, don’t forget to take your emergency notebook along with your 72-Hour Kit. The Red Cross suggests that you have a three-day supply for evacuation and a two-week supply for sheltering at home. Every family member should have a flashlight, batteries, and shoes by their bed. Below you will find recommendations for a basic 72-Hour Kit, additional items for an Extended 72-Hour Kit, Emergency Car Kit, and Emergency Work Kit.
72-Hour Kit
Water (one gallon per day per person) Cases of water bottles can be stored for your 72-hour kit. Smaller bottles of water are easier to carry and distribute in case you have to leave home. Make sure you are rotating your water bottles on a continual basis. If you do not wish to rotate water bottles, Blue Can water can be stored for fifty years. It is pure drinking water that is pressurized in an aluminum can.
Food and utensils (three to five days of food per person) Food should be high-energy and ready to eat. Consider juice boxes, dried meat, granola, power bars, nuts, trail mix, crackers with cheese or peanut butter. Make sure you rotate the food in your 72-hour kit every six months.
Clothing (one change of clothes, including hooded sweatshirt, and footwear per person)
Medications (three to five days of prescription drugs and over the counter vitamins)
Flashlight and batteries
Manual can-opener
Battery-operated radio
Garbage bags and ties
Moist towelettes
Personal hygiene items (soap, washcloth, towel, toilet paper, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, shampoo, brush, deodorant, lotion, feminine products, shaving kit, nail clippers, chap stick, etc.)
Baby needs (diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, baby food, etc.)
First aid kit
Pocket-knife
Multi-tool or adjustable wrench to turn off utilities
Face masks (N95 masks recommended)
Cash ($100 in small denominations for immediate needs)
Recent bank statement and utility bills (shows proof of residence in case you need to apply for FEMA assistance.) These should be updated every six months.
Emergency contact phone list
Medical history list (include medical conditions, surgeries with approximate dates, medications by name and dosages)
Pet disaster kit (food, leash, crate, litter box, etc.)
Store items in a place that it will be easy to grab and go. Our emergency kits are in the hall closet by our front door. We keep a supply of bottled water in the refrigerator in our garage.
Extended 72-Hour Kit
One burner cooking stove and propane (use only if safe to use propane)
Matches in waterproof container
Rain poncho
Whistle
Blanket or sleeping bag and pillow
Tent
Ground tarp
Hatchet
Duct tape and plastic sheeting for sealing a room while sheltering in place
Sanitation kit
Ballpoint pen and paper
Hand warmers
Light sticks
Insect repellent
Shovel, broom, hammer, leather gloves, rope
Personal comfort items (book, games, personal electronics, etc.)
Basic First Aid Kit
First aid book
Exam gloves
Tweezers
3 x 3-inch gauze pads
1/2-inch x 5-yard adhesive tape
Antiseptic wipes
2-inch x 5-yard conforming gauze
1-inch x 5-yard elasti-wrap
Assorted bandages
Butterfly bandages
Antibiotic cream
Scissors
Triangular sling with safety pins
Instant cold compress
Hydrocortisone cream
Rubbing alcohol
Cotton balls
Q-tips
Thermometer
Saline drops
Imodium (for diarrhea)
Cold Medicine
Tylenol
Ibuprofen
Aspirin
Benadryl tablets (for allergies)
Sunscreen
Emergency Car Kit
In addition to your 72-Hour kit, consider making an emergency car kit that you keep in your car at all times. It might have the following items:
Half tank of gas in your car as a minimum
Tools for changing a tire
Battery-operated radio
Flashlight and batteries
Blanket
First aid kit and manual
Bottled water
Food Power Bars
Whistle
Gloves
Rain poncho
First aid kit
Booster cables
Fire extinguisher (Standard class ABC)
Road emergency flares
Siphoning hose
Bag of sand (for better traction on the road)
Ice scraper
Collapsible shovel
Bungee cords
Duct tape
Cell phone charger
We tried storing food in our car when we first moved to the desert. Six months later, we went to rotate the food and found that everything was petrified. We quickly learned that storing food in the car in the desert was not a good idea!
Emergency Work Kit
It is also a wise idea to have a small kit you keep at work in case an emergency occurs when you are at the office and you can't get home. Energy bars, water, medicine, and comfortable shoes might really help out.
