Hello:
As a diabetic what MUST be in your EMERGENCY PACK to be certain that you stay alive in a serious emergency situation? (eg Flood, Eruption, Nuclear Event, Power Outage for a week, etc., etc.
What should be in your pack if you must evacuate??? The local paper ran an ad recently (and recent news events) got me thinking…
Anybody???
The Americcan Diabetes Association has an article on what oneeds to pack in case of an emergency. the link is: http://www.diabetes.org/type-2-diabetes/travel/emergency-tips.jsp
I think that everyone should have one no matter if T1, T2 or T1.5. I have 2, one in my car and one in the entry closet. Never know when it may be a lifesaver.
We were having some bad storms and many thousands of people were without power for a week to two weeks. My son and I put together a large plastic box of supplies we thought might be needed if our power went out. Besides diabetic supplies, bandages,analgesics like tylenol. allergy meds, mylanta and antidiarrheal meds, we put in clean socks and underwear, towels and washcloths and a couple of blankets and flashlights with a lot of extra batteries and a radio. We added a clean sweatshirt and sweatpants for four and gallon jugs of water. For food we put in jars of peanut butter, canned fish and chicken, powdered milk, powdered orange packets for orange juice, canned fruit and canned or vacuum packed nuts and trailmix. After that we ran out of ideas. If anyone else has more thoughts on this please let us know.
Hello Jeff:
Agreed diabetic or not, we should have one. Thank you for the link!
What did you make of the obscene genericness of the information?
Gee we’re diabetics, golly golly gee… yeah, hey… we need supplies
Asleep… I could have come up with that level of information. The top PDF link was a little better, but some of the suggestions were… troubling. Sure I need to identify myself as being diabetic, they then… what… seperate us from our family into the tent of other folks w/ medical needs? Based on sheer volume of people I would in their place by virtue of efficent necessity… triage 101 I would think??? People needing emergency care that area… people needing meds eventually over there… healthy people go away…
Was hoping for more functional information… but its a start of the conversation I guess.
Btw, how do you handle the shelf life/heat conditions issues with med supplies in your car?
Stuart
Backpacks I assume yes? Something you can carry easily?!
Any idea where the 3 day thing came from? Myself, personally… I’d prefer prep for a minimum of 7 days… watching the last several national disasters televised bone fide response, intelligent response seems to take a LONG time…
Cannot fathom taking gallon jugs, (understand the efficency idea) but have to believe they are obscenely difficult to lug around…
Stuart
Things I can think of:
glucose tabs, alcohol swabs, extra lancets and needles, several tubes of strips, a spare glucometer if you have one, a cooling container for insulin (Frio Cool Pouch Duo-Pen, activates with water and cools for 45 hours), snack foods (trail mix, power bars, jerky, whatever you like that doesn’t spoil with carbs and without) some bottled water, extra batteries for pumps or meters, extra tubing if a pump, etc.
We also added a couple of bags of baby wipes and antibacterial gel cleansers. All of the canned meats and foods had those easy open tops so we wouldn’t need can openers.
I realize gallon jugs of water are very heavy, but we have had major problems around here and i don’t know how else to get clean water. Since last year we have had long power outages lasting up to almost two weeks, major flooding resulting in boil orders for the water (and without power that is impossible) and an earthquake (originating in Illinois) with numerous aftershocks.
We began accumulating our emergency supplies with the first power outage. A lot of people even bought generators.
Hello Saundra:
With said water, it was ONLY for drinking and cooking with, nothing unnecessary, correct? (Btw, what’d they do for “pottys”, given the water pressure was gone too yes???)
What kind of foodstuffs were ideal? ie How much quantity wise do you feel is “smart” to have???
Grungy but alive becomes the new catch phrase… no?
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
Actually a number of companys brought out porta potties. And there were places that people could go for clean ups and basic hand laundry things, because pumps didn’t work or machines, but garden hoses did. Churchs opened doors and brought in supplies and cots. Schools did the same things. People had to help each other and most did. Just about everyone was short of something so combining was a good thing.
Now that those times are over for this past year or two we have tried to get together supplies that would be durable in case of need again. My son has a large plastic container with a tight fitting lid and so do I. It is about the size of a large christmas tree box. We have put in things that should have a good shelf life such as peanut butter, canned meats, jars of cheese, canned fruits and veggies, jugs of water, canned soups and stews, utensils, a few items of clothing and a couple of blankets and jackets, socks and underwear. We added waterproof matches, sunblock, mosquito repellant and made sure we had enough food to feed our family plus a few more for a full week or more if we could cram it into the box. We also added an extra glucometer, strips, bandages, wipes and analgesics like aspirin, advil, etc. I forgot about the allergy meds, nose spray and eye drops. as well as soaps and gels. We added nuts and dried fruits, all vacuum packed.
All of the things in our emergency box we have gathered due to hindsight, after going through the first power outage. All cans must be the easy open top so you don’t need a can opener. We added other thngs like powdered milk, but I haven’t found a way to pack crackers without them going stale. I am sure that without going down to see what all I have in the box, I must have forgotten some things, but these stick out in my mind. Peanut butter was a tremendous source of easy food during the first power outages so I have I think 4 of the largest containers down in my box right now.
We could recharge cell phones in our cars, but I am sure most of you could think of more ways to plan for whatever bad time came up again.
Do I have enough in the box? If someone has more ideas please let me know.
I also have extra flashlights and batteries.