by Kathy Smith and Janice Murphy, retired speech-language pathologists and NWACS board members

reading time: 7 minutes

The views expressed in this post are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of NWACS. No endorsement by NWACS is implied regarding any device, manufacturer, resource, or strategy mentioned.

We hope that our first blog post (Are You Prepared?) increased your awareness of the need to have an emergency action plan. Now we want to encourage you to act. There are several ways you can immediately take action.

“Following a major disaster, first responders may not be able to help you for 7-10 days, you may be on your own.” (FEMA)

Neighborhood Hubs

To encourage neighbors to work together, our city, Seattle, has created Community Emergency Hubs. A hub is an assigned gathering place for neighbors to

• meet and share information and resources,

• solve neighborhood problems, and

• support each other as much as possible.

Another feature of a hub is that neighborhood volunteers can help each other do minor repairs or whatever else is needed after the crisis. You don’t have to wait until your city develops hubs. You and your neighbors can create your own hub.

Take action: We encourage you to connect with at least one neighbor who is willing to be part of your ‘emergency action team’. And do it now!

Emergency Survival Kits

The most important emergency activity is to create emergency kits with necessary supplies. We can speak from experience to say planning and making your emergency kits takes time. Yes, you can buy emergency kits from the Red Cross and even Amazon but will they fit your needs? These kits are usually called a “Go Bag” and a “Stay Box.”

Stay Box

This kit is for an emergency during which you can stay in your home or facility. Your community response team may not be able to respond to your emergency for 7 to 10 days. Will you and your family be prepared to survive without direct assistance during those days without electricity (heat, lights, oven, fridge, microwave, etc.) and/or running water (drinking water, faucet, toilet, shower/bath, etc.)?

Kathy (and her husband George)

We tackled planning the Stay Box first. It seemed easier to do. We determined we would plan for a two-week supply for two people. We decided to plan as if we would not have any access to our home (e.g. no access to water, electricity, heat, etc.) even though we might be able to stay on or near our property.

First, we had to determine where and how to store the supplies so that they would be accessible. To store our supplies, we purchased one large (30-inch long by 20-inch deep by 17-inch wide) sturdy plastic bin with a lid. We decided to keep the container on the garage floor next to the garage door which is about 6 steps from our home’s front door. We are sure to store nothing on top of or next to the Stay Box. The above decisions are very detailed but also very important to consider for disasters likely to happen in Seattle.

Now, I (Kathy) was ready to fill our Stay Box. I decided to start by buying the jugs of water needed for two people for two weeks. Buying our water supply would be a no-brainer, or so I thought. Like most everything, the task had to be evaluated according to our needs and storage space. We needed enough water for the two of us and for two weeks. At 6-8 cups of drinking water a day, we need about 13 gallons of water in our emergency kit. I quickly discovered I could not pour a cup of water out of a heavy gallon water jug without spilling some of the precious water. Thus, we needed to buy ½ gallon jugs for me and gallon jugs for George, even though ½ gallon jugs would take up more space. Emergency websites recommend not using previously used plastic water jugs due to sanitation problems. So, I purchased new gallon and ½ gallon jugs of water for the two of us for two weeks. Because of space limitations, the plastic water jugs are on the floor next to the Stay Box.

Note: don’t forget water for hygiene/cleaning needs!

The food needed to be high protein food that can stay fresh for at least one year, such as

• canned tuna (and can opener),

• 2 jars of peanut butter (safely wrapped in case there is an earthquake),

• dried meat,

• dried fruit,

• nuts, and

• crackers.

Another concern is having enough medications for two weeks. Our plan is to use the medications in our Go Bags. So we supplied our Go Bags with a two-week supply rather than just 3 days of our medications. The Go Bags are easy to get to. 

Next, a toilet needs to be made for two weeks of usage. I purchased two 5-gallon plastic buckets, one for each “product.” We also stored kitty litter to use in the bottom of the bucket for feces (for smell and ease of clean up). And of course, toilet paper.

We purchased two cell phone charger systems

• one solar and

• one with a battery that can be recharged via the solar charger.

Other supplies are

• a special wrench for turning off the gas to our house (we BOTH even know how to use it!),

• a first aid kit that was purchased,

• a flashlight with extra batteries,

• a lantern,

• 2 blankets,

• three sets of clothing (each), and

• a coat (each).

Some of these things we had to buy rather than use what we already have.

Pets: We have two young house cats. Thus we bought their necessary supplies including dry food, bowls, and toys. We have enough kitty litter for them too!

Janice

I live alone but am surrounded by neighbors who have assured me I will be looked after in case of an emergency. Nevertheless, I have prepared a similar Stay Box also kept in my unattached garage. My closest family, including my eleven-year-old granddaughter who is an AAC user, live 11 miles north of me. In the case of an earthquake, crossing I-5 via bridge could be very challenging so I included a map pinpointing bridges in both my Stay Box and Go Bag. My main goal will be to reunite with my family as soon as possible to help out as needed.

Take action: We encourage you to prepare a Stay Box for your household. And do it now!

Go Bag

This bag is to be used for a dire event requiring immediate evacuation of your home. There will be no time to pack a change of clothing or anything else. It is expected the bag will be needed for about 3-5 days. Your Go Bag should be kept as close to the main exit door as possible because there will probably be only enough time to grab it and go. Consider keeping a “grab list” with your Go Bag to remind you to grab important items that you use daily (such as your phone and charger).

Kathy and George

We use large backpacks for our Go Bags. The most important items in each of our bags are our medications. How did we accumulate enough medications? Each time a prescription needed refilling, we put a few of the remaining pills in our Go Bags. We were surprised at how quickly we could accumulate an adequate supply.

In addition, we packed in our Go Bags:

• two sets of clothing,

• non-perishable food such as protein bars,

• water for 3 days,

• a warm jacket,

• an extra pair of shoes,

• a phone charger,

• paper and pen, and

• a flashlight with extra batteries.

Our cell phones are usually in a pocket of the clothes we are wearing or are kept near the Go Bags.

Janice

I prepared a Go Bag several years ago and realized that it needs to be updated annually!

While updating my Go Bag, I started also listing items my daughter and family will need in theirs. A checklist (“grab list”) will have to suffice for my granddaughter’s communication needs (device, mount, chargers, switch, iPad) since she uses these items daily. Her many medications and syringes are kept in a caddy on the kitchen counter close to the front door. After deliberation, we decided that it would be easy enough to grab along with the Go Bag. In addition to the typical Go Bag contents, theirs will have to include specialty medical, feeding, hygiene, and communication items, such as:

• diapers,

• pads,

• wipes,

• G-tube replacement balloon,

• Real Food packets,

• several water/food tubes and syringes,

• lite-tech communication boards with important personal information and emergency vocabulary, and

• the tried and true communication flip book from Rett University. 

Take action: We encourage you to prepare a Go Bag for every member of your family. And do it now!

In addition to the Stay Box and Go Bag, consider emergency survival kits for the car and at work. Don’t forget to make a plan to update all of your emergency survival kits as needed!

NWACS has an invaluable resource on AAC and Emergency Preparedness. We highly recommend all AAC users and their families study it and take advantage of the links provided. 

FEMA’s goal is that we are well enough prepared for a disaster that we may be able to lessen the after-effects of a disaster. This goal is especially important for people with disabilities as they may be more at risk of the after-effects if not well prepared.

We hope our experiences have helped you learn about emergency preparedness. Emergencies and disasters can (and do!) happen to anyone, anywhere. Don’t put off getting prepared. Start now!

Do you have tips or insights to add? Questions? Or other comments? Join the conversation in the comments section!

Related:

AAC & Emergency Preparedness resource page

Are You Prepared? (blog post)

Emergency Communication - Are we prepared? (blog post)