While I am not finished with the physical labor of getting my home ready, I continue to work on my priority list, and prepare my emergency preparedness binder. It’ll probably end up as two separate books, but for now since I am organizing it on the computer, it’s all in one document, until I start printing and collecting the hard copies of things.
I divided the first section (Emergency Contacts & Plans) into 6 parts:
- Emergency Contacts
- Personal information
- Financial & Legal
- Home Inventory
- Medical Information
- Emergency Plans
- Resources
Emergency Contacts – this includes friends and family, kids’ schools, doctors, utilities, non emergency numbers for police, fire, insurance agent information
Personal information – A basic identification record for each family member, including a picture. I am debating whether I want to include fingerprints. Also birth certificates, passports, copies of drivers licenses, social security cards, adoption documents, wedding license
Financial & Legal – Information on all bank accounts, credit cards and home equity loan, car titles, deed to our home, copies of insurance cards. I also have a zipper pouch to stash away some cash. I can’t afford to put much in right now, but I’ll at least have some change for vending machines, or whatnot.
Home Inventory – A room by room list of major items to be replaced if we ever had to make an insurance claim. Includes a large envelope to hold receipts for major purchases.
Medical – I prepared a sheet for each person to record vital stats, blood type, medical conditions, allergies, prescriptions, dietary issues, medical history and major procedures, copies of medical & dental insurance cards. I also include a first aid quick reference sheet and information on where to find more detailed information in my survival library in case I am incapacitated and another adult needs to be able to find the boy scout manual or first aid book.
Emergency Plans – Our families fire escape plans, plans for how to retrieve our kids if the SHTF while they are at school, My step by step plan for the first hour after an emergency, evacuation checklist, and so on. Maps, smaller local map printed from google with routes marked, as well as a larger Oregon map. If we have to go further than that in an emergency situation, we are probably in trouble. Will have more maps / atlas in survival library.
Resources – list of websites I reference often, notes on my neighbors (nothing creepy, and nothing they didn’t volunteer themselves, but in an emergency situation, I may not remember that so and so has medical training, or the dude down the street is a contractor and might be able to help if we need to board up broken windows, or whatever).
I plan to scan any hard copy only documents and keep a digital version of my binder as well, so I have it backed up on a thumb drive just in case something happens to my binder.
Security? That’s a lot of personal information gathered in one place. I’m looking for a lock box that will work, something light enough to carry around and have in my car when I leave home, and simple enough that even in the panic of an emergency I can remember how to get in it, but secure enough to deter the casual snoopy thiefy person.
