Emergency Survival Kit: The Essentials

The world is changing. The weather is getting wilder; the earth seems to be more unsettled than ever thanks to climate change. Attitudes to preparation for calamity may once have been dismissed as the reserve of hardcore “preppers”, but the truth is that these days, the idea of being prepared for any eventuality is not as ridiculous as it might sound.

Of course, being prepared for “every” eventuality just isn’t going to happen. If you prepare for 99 things, then it’ll be the 100th thing going wrong that shocks you. However, assembling an emergency survival kit that covers the basics is a decent idea to at least give you the best chance possible.

If you’re convinced that you need such a survival kit in your life, the question now becomes… what should go into it? Here’s a handy guide.

1) A Reliable Cellphone

Most of us carry our smartphones everywhere with us these days, so we can’t imagine being without them. While it may be unlikely you’ll be without the physical object, that doesn’t mean it will be usable in the event of an aftermath. Or what happens if you experience a disaster when you’ve already used your minutes, and you can’t get through to your provider to ask for more?

There are solutions for this. Lifeline is a service that offers cellphone service to low-income households, meaning that users can always stay connected. Thanks to the likes of Issa Asad F — whose company, Q-Link, provides service via Lifeline, there will always be a way of ensuring you are going to be able to get in touch with people. If you’re always exceeding your minutes or late paying your bill, it’s well worth investigating the program.

2) Basic First Aid Supplies

For example:

• Bandages
• Band-Aids
• Eye wash
• Sterilizing wipes
• Tweezers
• Scissors

This is just the beginning, though. Basically, if you’ve used a First Aid product in your normal life in the past year, then you need a duplicate of it in your first aid supplies.

3) Protein Bars

If you find yourself stranded without access to food, then you’re going to need some way of maintaining your energy. Protein bars are the best way of achieving this. Not only will they give you the energy boost that you need, but they also tend to have long “use by” dates— so you can pack them and be sure they will still be good to eat in months, or even a year’s, time.

4) Water

Pretty basic, this one: you’re going to need water, and as much of it as you can carry. Humans can survive without food for a fairly long time, but without water, will only live up to a week. It’s also worth looking into methods of finding water in an emergency.

5) Some Way Of Keeping Warm

Be it a blanket, a coat, or even a silver heat-protecting blanket that you’ll have seen on the news in the aftermath of disasters– a method of keeping warm is an essential in your emergency kit.

With any luck, you’ll be able to assemble your kit and never need to use it. If you do have reason to turn to your kit for help, however, you’ll be extremely glad you took such a sensible precaution.

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