Through September and October, Primrose Schools^® will be sharing information and resources from national partner Save the Children^® and its Get Ready. Get Safe. initiative to help families get prepared for emergencies. This blog post marks the fifth post in the nine-week series.

Emergencies can happen at any time, throwing our normal routines out of whack within a day or even a span of hours. Not only can a crisis cause the businesses we rely on for food, water and medicine to close, but depending on the situation, your family may not have the ability to leave your house, or could be forced to leave with little time to pack supplies and the precious items that bring comfort to your children.

Dealing with disasters and emergencies is hard enough – don’t let being unprepared make a difficult situation worse for your family. Dedicate a little extra time this week to making sure your family will have access to the essential items they need in a crisis. You won’t regret it! Use this Disaster Supplies Checklist to prepare emergency backpacks (Go-Kits) and a disaster supplies kit at home. Once you have your backpacks packed and your supplies kit stocked, you’ve completed the fifth step in the Get Ready. Get Safe. Family Plan Checklist. 

Emergency Backpacks (Go-Kits)

In evacuation situations, having emergency backpacks, or Go-Kits, prepared can ease the pain of leaving your home, especially if you have young children in tow. It can also help you be prepared to leave quickly when time is of the essence. Including comfort items, like activity books or games and a favorite stuffed animal, can help children cope with the often fast-changing, unfamiliar environments surrounding emergencies, as they are a reminder of the constant and familiar things in their lives.

Family Disaster Supplies Kit

In other emergency situations, your family will stay put in your home – so be sure your house is fully stocked with basic survival items. Store everything in a kit and use clear containers and plastic bags so each item is easily identifiable in case you need to grab it and go during a crisis. Organizing by category (medical, family information, etc.) will also help you save time if a shelter situation turns into an emergency evacuation for your family.

Make sure every family member knows where the emergency backpacks and disaster supplies kit are stored. Keep them easily accessible and update them regularly to replace expired food or medicine or outgrown clothes. 

You can get your children involved and even have some emergency prep fun as a family using these resources:

• Disaster Supply Checklist
• Packing Supplies Memory Game

Keep following our series – next week we’ll be sharing tips for keeping children safe in a home fire and other disasters!

Get Ready, Get Safe Family Plan