1. food and drink

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How To
Get
Prepared…
Prepare. Survive. Live.
Free “How To Get Prepared” report.
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Created by Prepare Strong, LLC.
Why use this guide
Emergencies and disasters can strike quickly
and without warning. The local TV stations
are good at predicting the weather, but
what if the utilities fail unexpectedly
(power, gas, or water) or there is another
terrorist attack. How would you handle it?
Would you know what to do to protect
yourself and others from harm? What do
you do if your children are at school or
playing at a friend’s house, how will you
find each other?
Police, Fire and other local officials will be
out in force during a disaster, but they will
be busy assisting those who did not or could
not prepare. Don’t be one of the helpless
people. You know what’s best for your
family and must protect them and
yourselves during and after any emergency
or disaster situation. You must prepare in
advance. Prepare Strong can help you with
advice and products to ensure you and your
family are well prepared for any situation.
We hope that you never have to face a
disaster or other emergency situation. But
when an event occurs, knowing what to do
within the critical first few minutes or hours
can save lives.
In a disaster, each of us can make a
difference— as individuals, families, and
communities. Prepare Strong knows of the
importance of citizen participation and is
working to make sure everyone in the
United States is fully aware and trained on
how to prepare for, respond to, and recover
from disasters and public health
emergencies.
We strongly encourage you to enroll in
classes with the American Red Cross, the
American Heart Association, or your local
hospital or fire department. They can give
you real hands-on experience. Most of
these classes are free. Reach out to them
today and schedule some time to attend.
Be sure to include the entire family!
Get trained, get prepared and get involved.
Prepare Strong is here to help you. Check
out our web site and get started today!
www.preparestrong.com
Prepare Strong.
Prepare. Survive. Live.
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Getting Started
Let’s face it, times are tough. Not nearly as
tough as it’s going to be when a real
emergency happens. People are protesting
the banking industry. Folks are losing their
jobs at an alarming rate. Most economists
are predicting a worldwide collapse in the
financial sector. Just look at what is
happening to the banking industry in the
USA and Europe right now. Once the
financial institutions collapse, it will not
take long for basic services like police
departments, fire departments, power
companies, water companies and national
defense to collapse. Shortly after basic
services stop and people are cold, thirsty
and hungry, that’s when the looting and
killing will start. Let’s just say we’re wrong,
maybe just half wrong, and you only
experience a natural disaster or the power
lines go down due to an ice storm. At least
you will be prepared for that emergency
and have some peace of mind.
Most people simply
do not have the
time or money,
even the knowhow,
to get fully prepare
all at once. We also
understand for
most of you there is a learning curve to
getting prepared and you may need to
convince your significant other just how
important it is to get prepared. We think
you’ll find that starting off slowly will ease
your burden. There are few schools of
thought on being prepared; the hard core
thought is if you’re not prepared for an
emergency right this second, then you are
not prepared. Another school of thought is
to prepare slow, making sure you can get
the very best equipment for your planned
situation. Here at Prepare Strong we land
somewhere in the middle. Prepare in
stages and you should be just fine. Any
preparing you do today puts you in a better
position to survive tomorrow.
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Plan for just 7 days…
That’s right, be prepared for just one week. This can be done fairly quickly and you more than
likely already have the items on hand you need. Why just seven days? Well most routine
emergency situations will last about three days. Think snowed in and waiting for the roads to
be cleared, someone is sick and you can’t make it to the store, someone drove into a light pole
and you’re without power for a few days.
1.
Buy an emergency survival kit for your home. The kit we
recommend for the home is our 5 Person Deluxe Home and
Office Survival Kit, contains food, water, tools, medical
supplies, and has a built in toilet. Choose a size that best fits
your family’s needs.
2.
Buy an emergency survival kit for your office. Prepare Strong
recommends a 72 hour survival kit that is compact, contains
food, water, and signaling devices. You just never know when
an earthquake, unexpected snow storm or other natural disaster
will happen. Having an emergency kit in your office may just
save your life.
3.
Buy an emergency survival kit for each of your vehicles. Here
again you need to choose a size that fits your cars capacity. At
a minimum choose a size for the number of persons who
routinely travel in that vehicle. See our inventory for the best
selection.
4.
Buy a serious first aid kit for your home. If you have children,
you probably already have some medical items on hand, but a
solid first aid kit will ensure you have the basics covered.
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5.
Water is life and will be your most sought-after commodity if you don’t have a supply.
Your goal is to have seven gallons of water per person living in your household. Each
trip to the grocery store should include a few extra purchases. Purchase two gallons
of water, more if you can afford it, every time you visit the store. Each gallon costs
about a dollar and has a shelf life about a year or two out. Be sure to check the
expiration date before you buy.
6.
Purchase a few extra cans of your family’s favorite soups or stews, more if you can
afford it. Make sure you buy food items your family already eats and enjoys. Rotate
these canned items in with your normal pantry cycle. Recommend you choose foods
that you can eat right out of the can just in case you don’t have power or a means to
cook. Remember, you’re just adding to your current inventory so you can survive for a
week without effort. Don’t forget about toilet paper, you’ll be sorry if you run out.
One roll per person should be enough for now. Once established, make sure you
maintain this level of preparedness.
7.
Buy a few maps with a street level of detail for your local area and mark them up.
Keep one at home and one in each vehicle. Map out the most direct route to the
nearest medical center, preferably a medical center that can handle 24 hour
emergencies and the nearest emergency shelter. We hope you never have to use
these locations, but you need to know where they are located. Do this for routes from
your residence, your office and places you visit, like grandma’s house, or where your
kids play. The closest medical facility and emergency shelter may be different from
each location.
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What to do before you
“need” to do it…
fund. Think savings account. If you can’t do
both saving steps, at least do step one.
The best way to make your home and
community safer is to be prepared before
disaster strikes. This can be done through
thoughtful planning and can ensure that if a
disaster occurs, you are ready to get
through it safely and respond to it
effectively.
What would happen if you lost your job or
the car broke down and you had no
savings? Most of us would use our credit
cards to cover basic expenses. At a
minimum you need $1000 in your savings
account for quick fixes like car repairs or to
replace a broken hot water heater. Use this
money first before you grab that step one
money.
It is important for all family members to
know how to react in a disaster or other
emergency. Talk with your family about
disasters that are likely to happen in your
area and how to prepare for each type. In
any disaster, the best protection is knowing
what to do.
Create an emergency fund
Step one. Save $1000 in small bills (no bills
smaller than US twenty, but you should
have some smaller bills like 20’s and 50’s)
and hide it in your home. Preferably a
home safe, if you have one. Make sure
your spouse and/or trusted family
member(s) have access to the
key/combination or location of the money.
You will need cash. What if the power is
out and no one is accepting credit cards?
Remember credit cards may not work in an
actual emergency when the power is out.
Step two. Now you need to save another
$1000 and put it in your emergency
Stock up on emergency food
Buy some emergency food and store it in
your home. Yeah, yeah, we know what
you’re thinking…Now we’re going off the
deep end. Trust us this food is going to
save your family. We promise you. If not,
at least you’ll have some serious piece of
mind that you are prepared. Cost about
$450 for each month’s worth of food
(family of four) and lasts for 20 years. You
don’t need to buy a full years’ worth, but
you do need to have something.
Recommend three months’ worth of food
storage per person in your family. This is in
addition to what you keep in your pantry. If
you can’t afford to buy three months’ worth
all at once, buy them one month at a time
until you have enough. Several options are
available. You can order samples to help
you choose which one you like best.
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Have a plan
If you don’t have a plan, you don’t know
where you’re going. If you don’t know
where you’re going, you’re lost. Plan your
work. Work the plan.
Make a plan in advance for an emergency.
How will you take care of yourself and your
loved ones? Where would you go? How will
you meet and communicate with others?
Make backup plans for children in case you
can’t get home in an emergency. Children
should know or have contact information
with them.
Sharing plans and communicating in
advance is a good strategy. Talk to
neighbors about how you can work
together. Find out if anyone has special
equipment, like a gas-powered generator,
or expertise such as medical knowledge,
that might help in a crisis. Decide who will
check on elderly or disabled neighbors.
Take time to complete the “Emergency
Notification Form,” which is provided in
Appendix A of this guide, and share it with
family and friends.
Emergency plans also should be standard in
the workplace. Most often, these are
created and then forgotten on a shelf.
Employees should ask the following
questions about their workplace response
plans:




Is there one?
Where is it located?
What does it contain?
What are your specific
responsibilities?
Ask similar questions about emergency
plans for local schools and daycare centers,
and for elder care centers. Take the time to
research these plans before they need to be
implemented.
A family disaster plan is simple to create.
You can begin by gathering family members
and making sure each person is wellinformed on potential hazards and
community action plans.
Discuss what you would do if family
members are not home when an
emergency alert or other warning is given.
Practice your family disaster plan at least
twice each year so that everyone will
remember what to do in an emergency.
Plan home escape routes
Talk about and decide on escape routes in
the home for all family members. Know the
fastest way out of your home and how not
to become trapped.
Gas up the car
Get in the habit now of never letting your
gas tank go below half. If this means more
trips to the gas station each week, or taking
the wife’s car to the gas station every week
just to make sure it’s ready to go at all
times, suck it up and do it. While you’re
there check the tire pressure and don’t
forget to check the spare tire too.
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Plan local evacuation routes
There are many types of emergencies that
can lead to evacuation. School evacuations,
earthquake evacuations, flood evacuations,
or fire emergency evacuations can result in
the loss of your home and style of living.
The amount of time you have to leave the
area will depend on the type of disaster. If
the event is weather-related, such as a
hurricane that can be monitored, you might
have a day or two to get ready. Many other
disasters allow no time to gather even the
most basic necessities. In such situations, it
is essential to plan ahead.
Learn about your local emergency
warning system
In a disaster, local radio and television
stations will provide information on
evacuation routes, temporary shelters and
other emergency procedures. Depending on
the circumstances, any one of three
protective actions (shelter-in-place,
prepare-to-evacuate or evacuate) may be
appropriate.
In emergencies, the news media will be
relied upon to communicate essential
messages to the public. It is important to
have the means (such as, a batterypowered radio) to get up-to-date
information and instructions.
Agree on places to meet
Decide on a place for family members to
meet if an emergency happens. Agree on a
meeting place away from your home (a
neighbor or relative’s house or even a
street corner) where you would get
together if you were separated in an
emergency.
Give each family member an emergency list
with the name, address and phone number
of the meeting place. For children who are
old enough. Help them memorize the
names, addresses and phone numbers of
people to contact in an emergency.
Have a family communication plan
Your family may not be together when a
disaster strikes, so plan in advance on how
you will contact each other. Think about
how you will communicate in different
situations. Keep emergency phone numbers
where family members can find them.
Pick an out-of-state person who family
members can “check-in” with if you are
separated during an emergency or if your
home is damaged or you cannot get to it.
Know how to shut off utilities
In the event of a disaster, you may be
instructed to shut off the utility service
(water, electricity, natural gas) at your
home. Learn the location of utility shut-off
valves and how to close them. Teach the
kids and the babysitter how to do this as
well.
Plan for animal care
Evacuate animals whenever possible. Pets
and livestock may not be able to survive on
their own, and if they do, you may not be
able to find them when you return. Ensure
all animals have some form of identification
that will allow you to identify them later.
Arrangements for evacuation, including
routes and places to take the animals,
should be made in advance.
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Learn first aid and safety skills
It is important that family members know
how to administer first aid and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and how to
use an automated external defibrillator and
a fire extinguisher. Take a first aid course
from the American Red Cross, National
Safety Council or other accredited provider.
Buy insurance
Obtain property, health and life insurance if
you do not have them. Review existing
policies for the amount and extent of
coverage to be sure you have what is
required for you and your family for all
possible hazards.
If you live in a flood-prone area, consider
purchasing flood insurance to reduce your
risk of flood loss. Buying flood insurance to
cover the value of a building and its
contents will not only provide greater peace
of mind but will also speed the recovery if a
flood occurs.
Protect important documents
Store important documents such as
insurance policies, deeds, property records
and other important papers in a safe place,
such as a safety deposit box away from your
home. Make copies of important
documents for your disaster supply kit.
Without proof of who you are, what you
owned, and what coverage you have,
getting assistance and rebuilding your life
after a disaster emergency is very difficult
and emotionally taxing. A backup storage
system for your documents is the only way
to avoid this frustration.
Learn how to distinguish between
replaceable and non-replaceable
documents. Choose an alternate storage
location for these documents.
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Components of a disaster supply kit
If you choose not to purchase a premade supply kit, you can build your own. A disaster supply
kit is a collection of basic items that family members may need in a disaster. Every household
should have adequate food, water and other supplies to last for at least seven days, and if
possible, for up to two weeks.
Keep the items that you would most likely need while away from home in an easy-to-carry
container (possible containers include airtight plastic bags; a large, covered trash can; camping
backpack; large suitcase or duffle bag). Store your kit in a convenient place known to all family
members. Keep a smaller version of the supplies kit in the trunk of your car.
Water
You should have at least a seven supply of water and you should store at least 1 gallon of water
for each family member per day. Water lasts longer if it unopened bottled water. Otherwise, it
needs to be replaced every six months.
Food
Store at least a seven supply of non-perishable food. Select foods that do not need
refrigeration, preparation, or cooking and require little or no water. Avoid foods that will make
you thirsty. Choose salt-free items, whole grain cereals and canned foods with high liquid
content.
First aid kit
Assemble a first aid kit for your home and one for each car
Adhesive bandages, various sizes (20)
5" x 9" sterile dressing (1)
Conforming gauze bandage (1 roll)
Triangular bandages (2)
3" x 3" sterile gauze pads (2)
4" x 4" sterile gauze pads (2)
3" cohesive bandage (1 roll)
Germicidal hand wipes or waterless alcohol-based hand sanitizer (2)
Antiseptic wipes (6)
Large medical grade non-latex gloves (1 pair)
Adhesive tape, 2" width (1 roll)
Anti-bacterial ointment
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Cold pack (1)
Scissors (small, personal)
Tweezers
CPR breathing barrier, such as a face shield
First aid manual
Tools and supplies
Mess kits, or paper cups, plates and plastic utensils
Battery-operated radio and extra batteries (Preferably this should be a battery-operated
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA all-hazard alert radio. You will pick
up the frequency of the NOAA, which will include instructions on whether to stay in your home,
when to evacuate, and the status of the emergency event. You can purchase such a radio at a
local electronics store.)
Flashlight and extra batteries
Personal hygiene items (such as deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, comb and brush)
Lip balm
Sunscreen
Cash or traveler’s checks
Extra set of house and car keys
Manual can opener
Fire extinguisher (small canister ABC type)
Small tent
Compass
Mirror
Matches in a waterproof container
Aluminum foil
Plastic storage containers
Signal flares
Paper, pencils
Needles, thread
Medicine dropper (this can be used to sanitize water by using 16 drops of unscented liquid
chlorine bleach to a gallon of water)
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Basic tools (such as hammer, pliers, screwdrivers, utility knife, shovel, wrench to turn off
household utilities)
Whistle
Sunglasses
Plastic sheeting and duct tape
Regional maps
Portable generator
Sanitation supplies
Toilet paper, towelettes
Soap, liquid detergent
Feminine supplies
Plastic garbage bags, ties (for personal sanitation uses)
Plastic bucket with tight lid
Disinfectant
Household chlorine bleach
Clothing and bedding
(Include at least one complete change of clothing and footwear per person)
Sturdy shoes or work boots
Rain gear
Blankets or sleeping bags
Hat and gloves
Thermal underwear
Special items
Remember family members with special requirements, such as infants and elderly or disabled
persons.
For infants:
Formula
Diapers
Bottles
Pacifiers
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Powdered milk
Medications
For other family members:
Heart, high blood pressure, and other prescription medications
Insulin
Non-prescription medications
Denture needs
Extra eyeglasses, contact lenses and hearing-aid batteries
Extra wheelchair batteries
List of style and serial number of medical equipment
Know where to find family medical insurance cards. The emergency kit should include
photocopies of the cards; extra copies also can be requested from the health care insurance
provider.
Pets
The following should be included in the kit to be able to properly care for pets:
Clothing to help small pets keep warm
For cats, litter box and litter
Leash or harness
Collar with ID and rabies tags
Crate or carrier
Food and water
Medications
Vaccination records
List of pet shelters
List of veterinarians
In addition, it is useful to have a microchip placed in each pet in case of loss or emergency.
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Prescription medications
Everyone should carry a current list of prescription medications with them at all times (this
includes why they are taking the medicine, the doses, and the physician’s and pharmacist’s
contact information). Diabetic individuals should have a one-week supply of insulin. Physicians
can be consulted about ways to ensure that individuals have a large enough supply of
prescription medications for an emergency.
Entertainment
Keep board games and books, toys and several decks of cards handy. If there is no power, the
kids are not going to be playing video games and they will need something to occupy their time
and yours too.
Important documents
(Keep records in a waterproof, portable container) Better yet, make copies and keep them in a
safety deposit box at your local bank.
Wills
Insurance policies
Contracts, deeds, stocks and bonds
Passports
Social security cards
Immunization and other health records
Bank account numbers
Birth, marriage, death certificates
Mortgage records
Motor vehicle records
Photocopies of credit cards and identification cards
Important telephone numbers and addresses
A list should be kept of contact information for physicians, pharmacists; special needs service
providers and caregivers, as well as contact and meeting place information for family members.
Having a contact system in place is important for the immediate family, but also for the
extended family members and friends who will be worried about the family during a situation
such as an emergency evacuation.
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Keep in mind, if you live in a flood zone, don’t store all your emergency supplies at ground level
or in the basement. Don’t place your food stores in the attic or basement levels of your home.
The temperature changed throughout the year will decrease their shelf life. Complete this list
and you’ll be well on your way to protecting your family for ANY emergency. If you think
neighbors, friends or family will homestead at your place during an emergency; make sure you
have enough supplies to assist. Better yet, pass along our website and help them prepare their
own homes for any emergency. It’s never too early to start planning and to Prepare Strong.
Visit Prepare Strong and order your supplies today.
Prepare Strong.
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