Prepare a Supply Kit
Reading Handout #1
... Build a Disaster Supply Kit
An emergency kit is one of your first lines of defense after a disaster. Ideally, you want to prepare your main or primary supply kit and store it in an easily accessible location at home. In addition, build smaller kits to keep in your personal vehicle(s), workplace and school.
Your kit should contain six essential items: water, food, first aid supplies, clothing/bedding, tools/emergency supplies and special items including important family documents.
Build your kit as if you'll be on an urban camping trip for a minimum of three days. That is, you won't have access to electricity, phones, natural gas, running water, groceries, drug stores, or other conveniences, like ATMs or gas stations, which we take for granted on a daily basis.
What you stock in your kit is up to you! Customize your kit to meet your specific physical, medical and individual needs and preferences. Take special care with medical supplies you or a family member are dependent on and be sure to keep a minimum of seven to 10 days worth of prescription medication available at all times. Most likely, pharmacies will not be open after a major disaster after only three days.
Chances are you have many, if not most, of your kit supplies already at home. However, you might not have them in a separate container in a central location. A container like a rolling suitcase or storage bin makes it easier for you if you have to evacuate your home right away.
Questions: Locate the answers in the reading and then write the answers under the questions with a complete sentence.
- How many days of supplies do you need?
- How many days’ supply do you need of medicine?
- What are the 6 necessary items?
- What other things should you put in your kit?
- Where should you keep your kit?
- In a disaster, you might not have access to what?
From:
Washington State Standards & Indicators R 3.2, 3.3, 4.2, 4.35.2, 5.3, 6.2, 6.3, and W3.2, 3.3, 4.2, 4.3, 5.