How to Make a 72-Hour Emergency Kit

This week is Emergency Preparedness Week, and in thinking about how to prepare yourself and your home for an emergency, it’s important to have a 72-hour kit on-hand. Your 72-hour kit should be in your vehicle or easily accessible in your home (even better if you have two), and here’s what you’ll need inside:

• Bottled water: you want to ensure you have enough water for each member of your family, and enough to last up to three days.
• Food: a minimum of 3 days worth of non-perishable food (good for up to three years). Food items like canned and dried food and energy bars.
• Food supplies: can opener, even a camping stove for cooking. You’ll also want to have some utensils in your kit as well.
• Baby supplies: diapers, wipes, formula and anything your baby would need for three days.
• Special needs items: any prescriptions your family needs, extra contacts, etc.
• Flashlight: if you have a battery-operated one, make sure you have extra batteries. It’s best to find a wind-up flashlight.
• Radio: again, ensure you have enough batteries for the radio, or find a wind-up radio.
• Sleeping supplies: clothing items, sleeping bags, extra socks and blankets.
• First aid kit: a standard first aid kit will do, but make sure its fully stocked.
• Extra keys: a spare set of car and house keys.
• Cash: have a sum of cash in small bills, as credit and debit cards may not work in an emergency situation.
• Copies of important documents: these would include birth certificates, passports, insurance policies, etc.
• Plastic bags: garbage bag size is good for this.
• Waterproof matches: and matches that will ‘strike anywhere’.
• Whistle: or any emergency noisemaker device.

To watch a City of Calgary video on preparing a 72-hour emergency kit, click here. You can also find out more about emergency preparedness on the City of Calgary website.