Prepare Kansas

Tag: emergency supply kit

Don’t forget your four-legged friends!

As we plan ahead and prepare for emergencies and natural disasters, it is important to consider all members of our households and that includes our pets. Check out these tips posted recently by Tanika C. Whittington, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Legislative and Public Affairs, on the USDA blog.

Prepare a pet emergency supply kit with supplies for at least three days. Plan what you will do in an emergency. Stay informed about current or potential emergencies in your area.

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Grab-and-go bags

One of the Prepare Kansas week 3 challenge tasks is to begin assembling grab-and-go bags for family members, including household pets. You may be wondering how these are different from the emergency supply kits you assembled in weeks 1 and 2.

NPM Digital Toolkit 2015 Flood_3
Image source: NPM Digital Toolkit 2015

 

The short answer is that they may contain some similar items. In our minds, there are differences though. A basic household or vehicle emergency  kit will be used whenever there is an emergency. A grab-and-go bag will likely only be used when you and members of your household need to evacuate quickly. Sometimes it might be hard to decide what the outcome of the emergency will be and you will want to grab both.

Items to include in grab-and-go bags for individual family members include those that are listed as additional items to consider on FEMA’s emergency supply list as well as the supplies for unique needs listed at http://www.ready.gov/kit

Individual and family needs vary and so will needs over time. Be sure to include items that will meet your current needs and update your grab-and-go bags at least once a year.