Essential items for your home emergency kit

First aid supplies are the most important component of your home emergency kit. A comprehensive first aid kit can save lives, especially since injuries and accidents can be more common during emergencies.

Keep at least the following items stocked in your first aid kit:

• First aid manual / instructions – so you know how to properly treat injuries with your supplies
  
• Personal protective equipment such as a face mask and surgical gloves – to protect you against fluid-borne pathogens
  
• Antiseptic swabs such as alcohol wipes – to prevent infections
  
• Sterile saline tubes/sachets – to flush debris from eyes and wounds
  
• Adhesive bandages such as band aids – to protect minor wounds
  
• Wound dressing pads – to cover burns and wounds
  
• Crepe bandages in varying widths – to hold dressings in place, apply a tourniquet to control arterial bleeds, or slow snakebite venom using the Pressure Immobilisation Technique
  
• Triangular bandage – to stabilise fractured or broken limbs
  
• Safety pins – to safely fix bandages in place
  
• Stainless steel tweezers – to safely remove ticks
  
• Stainless steel scissors – helps you cut through clothing to access wounds
  
• Shock (thermal) blanket – for treating shock or hypothermia
  
• Basic pain reliever medications – paracetamol or ibuprofen are standard
  
• Notepad and permanent marker – to make patient notes such as tourniquet application time or snake bite locations.
  

You can add more items, such as instant ice packs or blister dressings, as you like. For extra measure, keep a smaller kit in your car and undertake some first aid training.

Drinking plenty of water every day is important for good health. Even minor dehydration can adversely affect your mental and physical performance, which is why access to clean water is critical in an emergency. In the event of a heatwave or fire, the CFA advises that you need to drink lots of cool water often even if you don't feel thirsty. 

In general, your family members will need access to this much water every day:

• Men – 10 cups (2.5L)
  
• Women – 8 cups (2L), or 9 cups (2.25L) if pregnant/breastfeeding
  
• Teenagers – 6-8 cups (1.5-2L)
  
• Children – 4-6 cups (1-1.5L)
  
• Babies – 0.7-0.8L from breast milk or formula
  

Tap water should not be drunk during or after an emergency until authorities have advised that the water is safe to consume. To prevent serious dehydration in an emergency, store at least a three-day supply of bottled water with your home emergency kit. Water can be stored in airtight containers for up to 12 months. When you fill the container, label it with date so you know when it needs to be refilled.

Food is much less important than water, shelter and warmth. After all, the reason bodies gain fat is to survive short periods of starvation. In most emergency situations, you won’t need access to large quantities of food.

If you want the reassurance of available food supplies, however, pack energy-dense and long-life food items that don’t require cooking in your home emergency kit. Some good examples include granola or protein bars, breakfast cereals, jerky, canned fruits and vegetables, and peanut butter. Check expiration dates every six months to make sure food is still safe to eat.

Power is often cut during storms and other extreme weather events causing blackouts. You will need to find other ways to see at night-time or in dark spaces. Keep a torch in your home emergency kit, with several sets of batteries left out of the torch for optimum charge retention. Check the batteries’ charge every six months, or consider a wind-up torch that doesn’t need batteries. In addition, you could invest in a solar-powered lantern or candles with waterproof matches.

During evacuation or after an emergency, you may need to prove your identity, pick up medication, or make an insurance claim without access to your home or electronic devices. In this scenario, you’ll have a much easier time if you have backup copies of important documents. Ideally, you will have an electronic copy stored on a USB in your home emergency kit, as well as printed copies. You can also leave a third copy in a locked drawer at work or with a family member, just in case.

Here are the most important documents to consider backing up:

• Passports
  
• Drivers licences (In Victoria, you can also get a digital licence)
• Birth and marriage certificates
  
• Legal documents (wills, property deeds, mortgage papers, etc.)
  
• Insurance policies (home, contents, vehicles, life insurance, etc.)
  
• Prescriptions.

In an emergency, radio is often the best source of information about weather, emergency updates, and evacuation orders. Store a battery-powered radio that doesn’t need electricity to work in your home emergency kit, along with plenty of spare batteries. To ensure that you’re not scrambling to find a working station in a crisis, mark the frequencies of your local radio stations on a piece of masking tape stuck to the radio.

Keep chargers and/or charged battery pack for your phone in your home emergency kit, so that you stay powered throughout an emergency. Keep important contacts such as emergency services and your next-of-kin on speed dials.

You may not be able to find mobile phone coverage in an emergency, especially if you live in a remote area. For this reason, you should also keep a safety whistle and a reflective object (like a mirror) in your emergency kit. You can use these items to signal for help: both are much more effective than yelling.

If your home emergency kit has room, pack protective clothing for each household member. Long-sleeves shirts and pants with sturdy shoes or boots are best. Keep wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses and sunscreen with your gear to ward off harmful UV rays. Insect repellent and thick work gloves can also protect your skin.

A good multitool or a compact tool kit can come in handy in a variety of emergency situations. For example, a wrench and pliers can help turn off power, water and gas supplies. Pack some duct tape, masking tape, rope and a firestarter to round out your tool kit, so you can fix or dismantle almost anything.

Bank cards, ATMs and money transfer apps may not be operable in an emergency. Keep some cash on hand to purchase any basic or urgent needs if you need to leave your home. Pack a variety of notes and coins in a discreet place in your home emergency kit, keeping the total amount small (for example $100 - 200) so you aren’t left out of pocket in the event of a theft.

You should keep at least two weeks’ worth of prescribed medications in your home emergency kit, in case you aren’t able to access a pharmacy for a while. You should also pack any required medical aids, such as prescription glasses, EpiPens, hearing aid batteries, or medic-alert bracelets.

You can also pack some essential toiletries, such as toilet paper, hand sanitiser, sanitary wipes, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo. Having these basic toiletries on hand can help keep you maintain hygiene and cleanliness if you’re unable to bathe or shower.