Giveaway: Building a Emergency Preparedness Kit

An important component of emergency preparedness is building a comprehensive emergency preparedness kit. Feel free to use this emergency preparedness checklist as a start to your kit.

I’m so excited to be giving away a $25 gift card to someone so they can make their own emergency preparedness kit!  Just leave a comment below to enter to win.

Emergency Preparedness Check List

• Water (minimum three day supply for evacuations, two week supply for home)washing and drinking)
• Non-perishable foods (minimum three day supply for evacuations, two week supply for home)
• Assorted battery pack (purchase the pack that provides a variety of battery sizes so that youÂ’re prepared no matter the need)
• Flashlight
• Multipurpose tool
• First aid kit
• Medications (at least a 7 day supply)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio if possible)
• Extra clothing
• Sanitation and personal hygiene items
• Cell phone with chargers
• Family and emergency contact information
• Extra cash
• Emergency blanket
• Map(s) of the area
• Household liquid bleach
• Copies of important documents – In case of emergency, youÂ’ll need copies of birth records, household lease or deed, medications list, passports and insurance policies

Emergency Preparedness Kit

Don’t forget the household liquid bleach. Did you know bleach, like Clorox Liquid Bleach, can not only disinfect surfaces but also can be used to create drinkable water? HereÂ’s how:

• To Disinfect Surfaces: Use 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water, or as directed on the label, to disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces in your home.

• To Disinfect Water: If you need to purify water during an emergency, (and do not have the means to boil it for 3-5 minutes), you may disinfect your water using bleach. If water is clear, add 8 drops (1/8 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water. If water is cloudy, add 16 drops (1/4 tsp.) of bleach per gallon of water. Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for about 30 minutes before using it. Properly treated water should have a slight chlorine odor. If it doesnÂ’t, repeat dosage and allow water to stand an additional 15 minutes. The treated water can be made drinkable by pouring it between clean containers several times.

Check out your local home supply store. Many of them sell pre-assembled emergency preparedness supplies that provide a great foundation for the full kit you will need to build.

When disaster strikes you could be ANYWHERE, so make sure you have either a full or abbreviated emergency preparedness kit (i.e. food, water and change of clothes) at work and in your vehicles.

Make sure the members of you household are aware of each kit, its content and its location. In the event of an emergency, itÂ’s essential to make sure everyone, even the children, are prepared.

Are your pets included in your preparedness plan?  If not, they should be!  See next week’s blog post to create a plan for your pets.

For more information please visit
www.clorox.com/redcross and download the preparedness guide:
Prepare Yourself Now for Peace of Mind Later

You also might like these emergency preparedness articles:

• How to Create an Emergency Preparedness Plan
• An emergency plan for your pets

Enter to Win!

Each week I’ll be giving away a $25 gift card so that you can create your own emergency preparedness kit.  To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, or re-tweet this post with hashtag #preparedness and leave a comment.

Example Tweet:  How to Create an Emergency Preparedness Plan http://bit.ly/czeLKZ Enter to win a $25 GC from  @Clorox #Preparedness Please RT

Disclosure:  As a blog tour participant, I received information and giveaways from The Clorox Company and Consumer Queen at no cost to me. I was compensated for my time by The Clorox Company for participating in this project. All views are my own.