It is essential to keep you and your family safe in a crises situation by storing emergency supplies at home . You or your loved ones may suffer injuries and need immediate medical treatment at a time when there might not be medical attention available.In the event of a disaster or just everyday accidents, emergency first aid kits are always a must. You probably already have a first aid kit in your home, but individual items likely get taken out of it for occasional injuries. That is why it is important to have a comprehensive first aid kits set aside for emergency preparedness.
Below is a summary of the different categories of safety supplies that you should have at home for your family.
EMERGENCY LIGHT
As electricity may be out for several hours after a disaster, you will need emergency lights to navigate through the dark and safely get out of your home in order to travel to a safe location. Many people store a regular flashlight and batteries in their emergency preparedness kit but don’t realize that batteries have a shelf-life of 6 months. All home kits also come with slow-burning emergency candles and waterproof matches for extra long-lasting light. We also recommend the inclusion of a fluorescent lantern for additional lighting capabilities.
FIRST AID KIT
we can’t stress the importance of this one enough – having a first aid kit is vital in an emergency. You can buy already assembled first aid kits or build your own with underlisted items.
- First Aid Booklet (including CPR instructions)
- Adhesive bandages and medical tape
- Antibacterial wipes, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide
- Antibiotic ointment
- Elastic wraps and triangular bandages
- Eye drops/eye wash
- Fever-reducing medications, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen
- Gloves, hand sanitizer, soap
- Hydro cortisone cream
- Ipecac syrup
- Lip balm and sunscreen
- Sewing kit
- Thermometer
- Tweezers
- Cough suppressant, antihistamine, and decongestants
- Activated charcoal and Ipecac
- Safety pins
- Gauze
- Scissors
- Cold packs
First aid kit should also include any specific medications or supplies tailored to your own health.
Make sure you store your first aid kit in a weather-proof container or bag. If all else fails, wrap it in a plastic bag to keep water from entering.
TOOL KIT
Very often you encounter that certain home repair tasks do not require technician help like tightening nuts and bolts or pulling out a nail, or hanging a small wall clock, and many more. But you end up calling and paying a technician because you do not have the basic and necessary tools to finish the job yourself. But you can save your time and money both. What you need is a basic tool kit at your home. This would help you do simple home repair.
A basic tool kit is a must for every household. But what all to include in a home tool kit?
- Tool box or tool bag : You need a tool box to keep all your tools. It should be strong enough to carry your tools safely. Many types of tool boxes are available in the market like fiber body or metal body. Tool bags are also good option. They are easy to carry and store.
- Hammer : It is the most basic and most used tool. It is used to drive in nails, pull nails out, break hard items , fit parts and lot more.
- Screw Driver: It is a very handy tool. It is used for rotating and tightening screws.
- Wrench: It is used to open nuts and bolts. Its jaws can be adjusted to fit nuts and bolts of different sizes.
- Pliers: It is a gripping tool which helps to hold, turn and pull out different types of nails. It is also used as wire cutter.
- Utility knife: This sharp knife is used for general cutting purpose like paper cutting, cardboard cutting etc.
- Measuring Tape: As the name suggest it is used for measurement purpose like finding the center of wall when you are hanging a painting or measuring the area when you are planning to buy a new corner table, and many more.
- Flash Light: A very important tool to see when the power is off or viewing the dark areas like inside your water tank.
- Nails: What to say about them. Every wall in your house has some decor item hanging on them. Keep general purpose nails and screws in your tool box.
All these tools are very basic and are easily available at any hardware shop. Your tool box is the first aid box for your home repair.
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Written by: Bertha Gwumah
Marketing Officer, Emerald Properties
Credits: www.redcross.org , lifehacker.com