Emergency Survival Kits: Assemble a Short-Term Survival Kit

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Emergency Survival Kits: Assemble a Short-Term Survival Kit

Be prepared for emergencies or disasters by assembling a 72-hour emergency survival kit. Use the following checklist and guidelines to stock up on enough food, water and other emergency supplies to foster peace of mind in turbulent times.

By Matthew Stein 

Emergency preparedness isn’t about a bunch of survivalists crawling around in the woods, preparing to fight off the starving hordes in some grim, post-9/11 apocalyptic fantasy. In today’s world of terrorist acts, global warming and superstorms, we recognize that most of us will probably experience significant disruptions in the flow of electricity and goods at some point in our lives. Stocking up on a few extra supplies, learning some new skills, and making a few emergency contingency plans doesn’t take a lot of time or money, and it’s cheap insurance that can foster peace of mind in turbulent times.

Disturbances such as floods, earthquakes, major storms or terrorist acts may disrupt the distribution of electricity, food, fuel, goods and services for significant periods of time. In 1998, a severe ice storm in the Northeast knocked out power for periods ranging from three days to several weeks, and many of the survivors of Japan’s Kobe quake did not receive food or potable water until a week after the quake. Could you keep your pipes from freezing if your power went out for several days during a winter’s cold snap?

If a major hurricane or other natural disaster such as a severe earthquake were to strike your community, would you be well prepared? Before a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, in 1995, Japanese engineers and politicians thought they were better prepared for earthquake disasters than any other country in the world. Japan’s freeways and buildings are theoretically designed to handle much stronger quakes than the one that struck Kobe, yet most of Kobe’s downtown freeways and tall buildings either fell down during the quake or had to be torn down afterward because of structural damage. This disaster was a harsh blow for hundreds of thousands of survivors who lost friends, family members and most of their possessions. How well would you fare if you could not purchase any food, water or gasoline for a week? What about a month or longer?

No one really knows what the future will bring. You can’t plan for all possible scenarios, but a wise person plans for several of the most likely possibilities and stores at least a few basic supplies for emergencies. This information will help you evaluate your own particular needs and goals, and offers guidance to help you plan for both short-term and long-term situations. I suggest that everyone should have at least a 72-hour grab-and-run kit, plus a minimum of two weeks of food supplies on hand at all times. In the event that the world situation should rapidly degrade — whether it is due to a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India, escalating violence in the Middle East, a well-coordinated, large-scale terrorist act, or some other form of societal meltdown — use the information here to put together supplies to cover the basics for a year or longer. Once a crisis hits, don’t wait too long to make this decision, because it won’t be long before stores are wiped clean of many of the supplies you will need.

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