How to Be Prepared for Any and All Emergency Situations!
Emergencies are already scary situations, minus the fact that you may not even be prepared for them! It’s that sense of ‘the unknown’ that sparks anxiety in the most seasoned of travelers.
Some say you can never be prepared for a crisis. We are here to tell you that you can be prepared! All it takes is a little bit of pro-action, common sense, and research. Luckily for you, we have condensed all you need to know into this article.
How to Be Prepared for Any and All Emergency Situations!
Being prepared for an emergency does not mean that you need to have millions of dollars stashed away in an offshore account, waiting to be used. Although that would be nice, being prepared is more situation-specific than we think.
Ensuring you are prepared for any form of crisis, accident or emergency, means that you have a small bag ready for you and the family, just in case you become stranded, unable to escape a specific area, or need to wait for medical assistance.
Some of the most common emergencies are hiking and road-trip based. It is because we like to venture for the isolated and quiet areas that few know about, that we find ourselves at a higher chance of encountering an emergency.
If you aren’t prepared for any situation, you may find yourself dehydrated, starving, lacking basic first aid, debilitated, and in the worst case scenarios, being on the brink of death. We are here to ensure that this doesn’t happen!
Types of Emergencies
You could be sitting in a normal building, going about your office work for the day. However, as you start to click send on that email, the electricity shuts down and nobody can leave the building as there is no manual override.
Now although the above sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, we’d rather not leave it to chance. If you have a car-park, make sure to leave some necessities in the trunk. For this situation, it would be best to make a little emergency bag and keep it in your locker at work.
More often than not, we take a 24 hour road-trip less seriously than we should. Imagine driving through the Nevada Desert and you run out of gas. You have no food, water, electricity, and your cell phone battery is on 5%.
With the nearest garage being 12 miles away, you know you are going to have to walk. However, making sure you have your emergency kit with you, ensures that you are well equipped to make the journey safely and without any bodily torment.
Camping trips are usually the emergency that many are the best prepared for. Seasoned campers will know that absolutely anything can happen on these trips. From broken bones, to knocks on the head, to even tripping into a cavernous ditch.
With the above linked with hiking emergencies, many find that keeping a small first aid kit, GPS locator that runs on solar power, as well as at least one days worth of food and water, to be the bare necessary essentials.
Being out at sea doesn’t seem too stressful. That is, until you are caught in a rip current, your boat is thrown off course, and your navigation system’s bearings are getting disrupted by the looming storm.
Now these emergencies may not sound too stressful. However, not being able to drink the surrounding water, as well as having no idea where you are, is bound to make even the boldest at heart a little fearful.
Now that you know which kind of situations you could find yourself in depending on your adventure preference, here are a few of the bare minimum necessities you need to think of when traveling longer than 12 hours.
The Necessities
Making sure that you have enough food on the off-chance that you get stranded, can really make or break a survival situation. You want to ensure that you take 72 hours worth of food with you. Using non-perishable tins is always recommended.
Emergency situations can cause us to run out of water pretty quickly. This is why having at least two liters of water per day is the optimal situation. If you can’t take bottles with you, make sure you locate your nearest water source.
To accentuate the latter, make sure that you pack some iodine tablets. That way you don’t have to worry about potentially contracting water-borne illnesses. You could easily pop the little container into your first aid kit for safekeeping.
Make sure that you have a fully stocked first aid kit. Having an antiseptic cream, proper bandages, waterproof plasters, scissors, a bundle of cotton wool, and some pain medication will ensure that almost any injury can be treated.
Person-specific chronic medication may also need to be taken. Ensuring that you keep at least a five day supply of this medication for a two day trip (always 72 hours extra), will ensure you won’t come into any preventable healthcare issues.
Technology has advanced to such an extent that wearable technology can ensure that those at home know your exact whereabouts at all times. Many find that a built-in GPS system in their watch, allows those at home to know where they are at all times.
Many outdoor watches come with a ‘panic notification.’ This prompt let’s specific contacts know that you are in trouble and need help! Even though we go on adventures to escape technology, we cannot deny how useful it can be.
Also, you will never know if building a shelter may become necessary. This is why a multi-purpose shovel, which has cutting capabilities, is an absolute necessity. Don’t worry, being small and compact, it won’t add too much extra weight to your packing list!
Before you trek out, please make sure that everything is in good working order! The last thing you want is for all of your preparation and diligent packing to go to waste with equipment that isn’t working!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How will I know that I am prepared?
A: You know you have all that you need when you can safely leave your house with less anxiety than you are accustomed to. Preparing for a possible emergency situation is not easy, but we can promise you that it is worth it.
We highly suggest creating a ‘running list’ based on the most frequent types of adventures that you participate in. This will allow you to analyze what you need for the most probable emergencies. This ensures that you will always be prepared!
Q: What can I use to keep everything in one place?
A: Typically, a bug-out bag can be the best option to make sure your emergency equipment and materials are kept in one place. Bug-out bags can be purchased individually, or you can make your own.
With the bags coming in different sizes, they cater to the most seasoned adventurers, and even those that just want to take an overnight hike up the nearest mountain range.
Q: Which emergency situation should I always be prepared for?
A: Different adventure types will require different preparations. For example, if you are going on a road-trip for two days, you won’t necessarily need a tarp or sleeping bag as you can use your car for shelter.
By sharing your emergency kit lists with others, you will be able to get that external insight that can make you realize if you forgot something important.
Make sure that if you have different kits for different adventures, that all of the equipment, non-perishable items, and medication(s) in the first aid kit, are all in good working order and not past their expiry dates.
Q: What if there is more than one person going on the trip?
A: Ensure that everyone knows how to use the equipment and materials in the emergency kit. Most emergencies are time sensitive. This means you can’t waste unnecessary time on figuring out how to open an antiseptic bottle that is child-proofed.
Having a safety plan in place will also mean that there is no ambiguity on what to do should an emergency occur. The worst is when everyone is running around aimlessly when they should be focusing on the task at hand.
In Summary
Emergency situations are not meant to be the ‘be all and end all.’ They are survivable, and your chances of survival are that much higher when you are well prepared. Never think that it won’t happen to you—because if it does—you don’t want any what-if’s.
As long as you have a well-structured emergency plan, a bug-out bag that contains all you need, and the willpower to see the emergency through to the end, you will overcome anything that is thrown at you!