In Case of Emergency

I'd like to be prepared

What would you grab if you needed to leave your house for an emergency?  Do you know?

A few years back we were driving back from dinner when we saw a big fire in the general direction of our home. It was tall. We could see it from a town away.  We pulled into our street and realized the fire was just a half a block away.  A building that was an upholstery shop was burning.  Flames were five stories high.  We pulled into our driveway only to turn around and make our way to our friend’s home to wait until we had word it was safe to return.  I didn’t even think to run in and grab our important documents just in case.

Colette, our surrogate, is a fire survivor.  Her home was taken in the Camp Fire in November 2018.  As Colette tells it, her husband grabbed what he thought could be easily pawned for cash.

The Ukrainian refugees who fled their homes with the war began, some had packed emergency suitcases.  The lucky ones managed to remember the basics - food, blankets, medication, and important documents as well as small treasured items - a favorite toy, photos, and tiny family heirlooms.

Last week a friend of mine took her daughter into see the doctor for an infection that was getting worse.  The toddler was admitted to the hospital and spent a week there.  The day before the appointment I had said to my friend, “Pack your bag.  Be ready in case they admit the baby to the hospital.”

If I needed to leave my house for an emergency, I wouldn’t know what to grab. That’s going to change and I have a plan I’m going to share with you.

First, I am breaking this emergency preparedness down for myself into three categories.

• Being ready in case there is an evacuation while I’m away from home and I didn’t have notice.

• Being ready if there is a family emergency and I will be gone for few days with no time to pack (because I HATE packing and even with my lists I’m slow about it.)

• Being ready in case of evacuation where I have been given some notice and it is possible we may be gone for a while or not come back.

To begin, I have made for myself a list of documents to upload to the cloud.  This seems like the very basic level of items I will need access to in the event of an emergency.