The past months in Australia have been crazy when it comes to natural disasters.  If it wasn’t on fire, it was under water.  Every year we watch the news stories about the natural disasters and I think to myself; “we should prepare an emergency kit”.

Now that we have the Little Man in our lives the need to prepare that kit has become an overwhelming imperative.

So I decided it was time to stop thinking about it and start getting the kit prepared.  I went looking for information about what should be included in our emergency kit and I found a really handy list (and printable checklist) on the Queensland Emergency Services website.

Using this list as my guide I decided to see what we had and what we would need to acquire.  Then, because I’m at home all day while HUBBY has the car I decided to hit up my favourite online shopping place, Target, and see what I could order in.

Food and water

Range of non-perishable food items
Bottled water

All of these items I have included in my next online shopping order with Coles. I’m sure the delivery guy is going to think I have a problem with hording…

Medical and sanitation supplies

First Aid Kit and manual
Essential medications, prescriptions and dosage
Toilet paper
Toiletry supplies (toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo)
Personal hygiene items

When the Little Man was born I did a First Aid course with St John’s and was lucky enough to received a first aid kit and manual through them, so this I had covered.

I keep all of our medications and prescriptions in the one place so I think that this will be easy to grab if we have to get out of here in a hurry.

Same with our toiletry supplies.  I always keep our travel bags up-to-date with new items so that when I’m doing my last minute mad pack dash I don’t have to worry about whether we’ve got new toothbrushes in the house or not.

Lighting

Torch with extra batteries (or wind up torch)
Battery powered lantern

We have the torch, but I needed batteries for our radio (that we’d have to get) and the torch.

1. Stick N Click Lights – These are brilliant. You can put them where ever you’ll need light.  Such a great alternative to a torch because it allows you to have light without having to give up the use of one hand to hold the torch.  They’re also great because if you have to leave your home you can take these with you. Brilliant, I’m getting 3 sets!

2. Duracell AAA Batteries 10 Pack, Duracell AA Coppertop Batteries 10 Pack,  Duracell D Batteries 4 Pack & 3. Varta 6V Alkaline Lantern Battery – I was surprised to see Target stock a large range of batteries, which is handy because if we lose power batteries are what are going to keep us from turning into something out of Lord of the Flies.

Communications

Battery powered radio with extra batteries (or wind up radio)
Traditional wired telephone (for land line)
Prepaid phone cards and coins for phone calls

We have none of the items in this section. Well, ok, we might be able to chase down some coins somewhere if we had to use a pay phone, but I haven’t seen a pay phone in years so I’m guessing the coins will just be handy to have for vending machines.

1. Duracell Instant Charger – We need to get 4 of these and have them charged and ready to go just so I can keep farming my Hay Day farm while the emergency goes on around us.

2. Jensen Boombox – Not only will this be handy to keep up-to-date with what’s happening if the power goes out but you’ll be able to reenact John Cusack’s scene from Say Anything when you get bored.

3. Telstra Black Cordless Telephone – Who has a telephone in their houses these days? Not us. We need to get one of these in case we can’t use our mobiles.  Thank goodness Foxtel and internet require us to have a landline!

4. Cygnett FM Transmitter – This would be handy to have as a back up to the portable radio; if you run out of batteries for the radio you have the Duracell Instant Charger to keep power up to your iPhone.

Clothing and footwear

Warm jumper, waterproof jacket, hat and gloves for everyone
Closed-toed shoes or boots for everyone

This is where I really got excited; clothes shopping!

1. Men’s Rob Boot in Camel – While these may be a men’s boot I feel that in a time of emergency these would come quite in handy for the ladies as well.  (You can pretend you’re Lara Croft Tombraider or in a Timberland music video!)

2. Workwear High Visibility Polo in Orange – Again, men’s wear but I think these are great for all members of the family.  The high visibility will come in handy for keeping everyone safe and easy to find, and the long sleeves will provide sun protection.

3. Stearns PVC 100% Waterproof Raincoat (& Kids Raincoat in Yellow) – None of us have raincoats so it’s a good thing Target have them for kids and adults.

4. Stormy Rainboot – Every girl needs more than one pair of shoes, even in an emergency! These will come in handy if you have to go running around in the rain.

5. Rockin’ Monkey 3 Piece Tracksuit and Hoodie Set – Just because we’re bugging out doesn’t mean the Little Man has to sacrifice his style.  I just love this 3 piece set. He’d look so cute!

6. Sloopneck Sleeping Bag – While I was looking at clothing I remembered that none of us have sleeping bags either, lucky Target have such a wide variety of items in stock because I got us all one of these too.

Tools and supplies

Plastic sheeting and Duct / masking tape to tape windows
Whistle and utility knife
Plastic garbage bags and ties
Safety glasses and sun glasses

I’m going to add these items to HUBBY’s to do list and make sure he gathers them when he’s off on his weekend adventures.  I’ll then get him to prepare and store them in one of the emergency storage containers so they’re ready to go if we need them.

Miscellaneous items

Specific supplies for infants (nappies and formula), the elderly and people with special needs
Spare house and car keys
Pet food, water and other pet needs

I already keep a fairly well stocked rotation of nappy bags (I have one for my handbag, a backpack for when we go out as a family and a nappy bag for visiting people) at the ready. So this is just a matter of keeping his things stocked at all times.

The spare house keys was something I hadn’t thought about so I’m going to organise getting another set of these cut.

We keep George’s pet food in a plastic storage tub so that should make it easy to grab and put in the back of the car if needed.

Important documents

Keep original or certified copies of the following documents in your Emergency Kit. Scan copies of these documents and save on a USB memory stick or CD to include in your kit. Keep all these items in sealed plastic bags.

Insurance documents for your house, contents, cars and valuable items
Inventory of valuable household goods
Wills and life insurance documents
House deeds / mortgage documents
Birth and marriage certificates
Passports / visa details
Stocks and bonds
Medicare, pension card details and immunisation records
Bank account and credit card details
Back up copies of important computer files
A copy of your completed Household Emergency Plan with emergency contact phone numbers

All of these items, once collected, are going to have to be stored in something that will keep them dry and be easy for us to pick up and put in the car if we need to.  With this in mind I checked out Target‘s range of storage solutions.

1. Green 50L Roller Storage Bin – I have a lot of these types of stroage bins already in use in our house so I already know how handy they can be.  I love this one because it’s bright green which means it will stand out from the others we’ve got and make it easier to find in an emergency.

2. 36 Can Party Tub Cooler – This is a really handy item to have, not only does it act as storage but it’s an esky which means in a pinch you can use it to keep foods, drinks and medications cold.  Again, the colour will make this an easy item to find in a hurry.

3. Large Spacebags x 2 – These will be great for storing out emergency clothing in.  They’ll allow the air to be sucked out which will mean we’ll be able to store them in a third of the space they’d normally take up.  It will also allow us to store them and protect them from damage while in storage.

4.  115L Storage Container & 5. 50L Storage Containers – Again these are great storage options. I like these because they come in a variety of different shapes, they have a handle that’s harder to knock loose in transit and they’re a great price.

So that’s it our Emergency Kit is done and dusted and I didn’t even have to leave home to do it.  Now I just wait for the mail man to delivery and then put it all together.  So easy to do and now I can sleep a little easier at night knowing that we’ll be prepared should anything happen.  Thanks Target!

This post was brought to you by Target.