In the obviously devastating aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake, I questioned my family’s preparedness should a disaster occur in Petaluma. I thought I’d give a couple links to sites which help outline what you should have in an emergency kit. I went to Target, Trader Joes and Grocery Outlet to get almost all my supplies. For the same price or a bit more as buying a premade kit, you can get so many more of the items you need…
I also wanted to direct you to a fantastic local disaster preparedness network- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). There are free trainings frequently scheduled through the local CERT and the Fire Department to train ordinary citizens in how to be of assistance in a major disaster when all typical rescue services are overwhelmed or cannot get to you. I took this class last March and gained so much out of it in terms of how to prepare my own house and family and furthermore how to be of assistance in my community.
There is another round of classes being offered in March – for FREE – and I highly recommend attending. The person to contact is Bill Hammerman at 762-6593, email whammer@petalumanet.org
One of the better overall preparedness manuals with checklists of what to put in your kit, how to prepare your home, creating an emergency plan, etc. is at http://www.cert-la.com/EmergPrepBooklet.pdf.
This is the one I have printed out in my kit and used to get my house organize.
How to Build Your Own Emergency Kit (not exhaustive by any means!)
Pre-made emergency kits (I’ve never used any of these so if other’s have better/other suggestions, please send them)
Happy preparing!
Guest post by Tauni Swenson. Tauni is a board member of the Petaluma Mothers’ Club. She is also helping to coordinate this years’ KidFest, an exhibition of local resources sponsored by the PMC and hosted by Sonoma Family Life magazine.
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