Emergency Survival Preparedness

Step 1: Put together a plan by discussing these 4 questions with your family, friends, or household to start your emergency plan.

1. How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
2. What is my shelter plan?
3. What is my evacuation route?
4. What is my family/household communication plan?

Step 2:  Consider specific needs in your household.

As you prepare your plan to tailor your plans and supplies to your specific daily living needs and responsibilities. Discuss your needs and responsibilities and how people in the network can assist each other with communication, care of children, business, pets, or specific needs like the operation of durable medical equipment. Create your own personal network for specific areas where you need assistance.  Keep in mind some these factors when developing your plan:

• Different ages of members within your household
• Responsibilities for assisting others
• Locations frequented
• Dietary needs
• Medical needs including prescriptions and equipment
• Disabilities or access and functional needs including devices and equipment
• Languages spoken
• Cultural and religious considerations
• Pets or service animals
• Households with school-aged children

Step 3: Fill out a Family Emergency Plan

Fill out a family emergency plan or use them as a guide to create your own.

• Emergency Plan for Parents

Step 4: Practice your plan with your family/household

Suggested Emergency Food Supplies

Consider the following things when putting together your emergency food supplies:

• Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.
• Choose foods your family will eat.
• Remember any special dietary needs.
• Avoid foods that will make you thirsty.

The following items are suggested when selecting emergency food supplies. You may already have many of these on hand.

• Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables and a can opener
• Protein or fruit bars
• Dry cereal or granola
• Peanut butter
• Dried fruit
• Canned juices
• Non-perishable pasteurized milk
• High energy foods
• Food for infants
• Comfort/stress foods

Food Safety & Sanitation

Without electricity or a cold source, food stored in refrigerators and freezers can become unsafe. Bacteria in food grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, and if these foods are consumed you can become very sick.

Thawed food usually can be eaten if it is still “refrigerator cold.” It can be re-frozen if it still contains ice crystals. To be safe, remember, “When in doubt, throw it out.”

Do:

• Keep food in covered containers.
• Keep cooking and eating utensils clean.
• Discard any food that has come into contact with contaminated flood water.
• Discard any food that has been at room temperature for two hours or more.
• Discard any food that has an unusual odor, color or texture.
• Use ready-to-feed formula. If you must mix infant formula use bottled water, or boiled as a last resort.

Don’t:

• Eat foods from cans that are swollen, dented or corroded, even though the product may look safe to eat.
• Eat any food that looks or smells abnormal, even if the can looks normal.
• Let garbage accumulate inside, both for fire and sanitation reasons.

Cooking

Alternative cooking sources can be used in times of emergency including candle warmers, chafing dishes, fondue pots or a fireplace. Charcoal grills and camp stoves are for outdoor use only. Commercially canned food may be eaten out of the can without warming.

To heat food in a can:

1. Remove the label.
2. Thoroughly wash and disinfect the can. (Use a diluted solution of one part bleach to ten parts water.)
3. Open the can before heating.

Managing Food without Power

• Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
• The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
• Refrigerated or frozen foods should be kept at 40° F or below for proper food storage.
• Use a refrigerator thermometer to check temperature.
• Refrigerated food should be safe as long as the power was out for no more than 4 hours.
• Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs or leftovers) that has been above 40° F for two hours or more.

Using Dry Ice:

• Know where you can get dry ice prior to a power outage.
• Twenty-five pounds of dry ice will keep a 10-cubic-foot freezer below freezing for 3-4 days.
• If you use dry ice to keep your food cold, make sure it does not come in direct contact with the food.
• Use care when handling dry ice, wear dry, heavy gloves to avoid injury.

Emergency Kit for the Car

In case you are stranded, keep an emergency supply kit in your car with the addition of these automobile extras:

• Jumper cables
• Flares or reflective triangle
• Ice scraper
• Car cell phone charger
• Cat litter or sand for better tire traction

Prepare Your Vehicle for Emergencies

Have a mechanic check the following on your vehicle prior to an emergency:

• Antifreeze levels
• Battery and ignition system
• Brakes
• Exhaust system
• Fuel and air filters
• Heater and defroster
• Lights and flashing hazard lights
• Oil
• Thermostat
• Windshield wiper equipment and washer fluid level

Vehicle Safety Tips

• Keep your gas tank full in case of evacuation or power outages. A full tank will also keep the fuel line from freezing
• Install good winter tires and ensure they have adequate tread or any jurisdiction-required chains or studs

• Do not drive through flooded areas. Six inches of water can cause a vehicle to lose control or possibly stall. A foot of water will float many cars.
• Be aware of areas where floodwaters have receded. Roads may have weakened and could collapse under the weight of a car.
• If a power line falls on your car you are at risk of electrical shock, stay inside until a trained person removes the wire.
• If there is an explosion or other factors that make it difficult to control the vehicle, pull over, stop the car and set the parking brake.
• If the emergency could impact the physical stability of the roadway avoid overpasses, bridges, power lines, signs, and other hazards

Determining Water Needs

Store at least one gallon of water per person for three days, for drinking and sanitation. A normally active person needs about three-quarters of a gallon of fluid daily, from water and other beverages.

However, individual needs vary, depending on age, health, physical condition, activity, diet and climate.

Take the following into account:

• Children, nursing mothers, and sick people may need more water.
• A medical emergency might require additional water.
• If you live in a warm weather climate more water may be necessary. In very hot temperatures, water needs can double.

Water Tips

• Never ration drinking water unless ordered to do so by authorities. Drink the amount you need today and try to find more for tomorrow. Minimize the amount of water your body needs by reducing activity and staying cool.
• Drink water that you know is not contaminated first. If necessary, suspicious water, such as cloudy water from regular faucets or water from streams or ponds, can be used after it has been treated. If water treatment is not possible, put off drinking suspicious water as long as possible, but do not become dehydrated.
• Do not drink carbonated or caffeinated beverages instead of drinking water. Caffeinated drinks and alcohol dehydrate the body, which increases the need for drinking water.

Water Storage

Buy commercially bottled water and store it in the sealed original container in cool, dark place.

If you must prepare your own containers of water, purchase food grade water storage containers. Before filling with chlorinated water, thoroughly clean the containers with dishwashing soap and sanitize the bottles by cleaning with a solution of 1 teaspoon of non-scented liquid household chlorine bleach to a quart of water.

Water that has not been commercially bottled should be replaced every six months.

Water Treatment

If you have used all of your stored water and there are no other reliable clean water sources, it may become necessary to treat suspicious water. Treat all water of uncertain quality before using it for drinking, food washing or preparation, washing dishes, brushing teeth or making ice.

In addition to having a bad odor and taste, contaminated water can contain microorganisms (germs) that cause diseases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and hepatitis.

There are many ways to treat water. Often the best solution is a combination of methods. Before treating, let any suspended particles settle to the bottom or strain them through coffee filters or layers of clean cloth.

Boiling

Boiling is the safest method of treating water. In a large pot or kettle, bring water to a rolling boil for one full minute, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drinking.

Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers. This also will improve the taste of stored water.

Chlorination

You can use household liquid bleach to kill microorganisms. Use only regular household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite. Do not use scented bleaches, color safe bleaches or bleaches with added cleaners.

Add 16 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let stand for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight bleach odor. If it doesn’t, then repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. If it still does not smell of chlorine, discard it and find another source of water.

Other chemicals, such as iodine or water treatment products sold in camping or surplus stores that do not contain 5.25 or 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite as the only active ingredient, are not recommended and should not be used.

Distillation

While boiling and chlorination will kill most microbes in water, distillation will remove microbes (germs) that resist these methods, as well as heavy metals, salts, and most other chemicals.

Distillation involves boiling water and the collection of only the vapor that condenses. The condensed vapor will not include salt or most other impurities.

To distill, fill a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid so that the cup will hang right-side-up when the lid is upside-down (make sure the cup is not dangling into the water) and boil the water for 20 minutes.

The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.

Methods	Kills Microbes	Removes other contaminants (heavy metals, salts, and most other chemicals)
Boiling	Yes	No
Chlorination	Yes	No
Distillation	Yes	Yes

Pets and Animals