Food Storage Do-Over Week 14: Sanitation/First Aid

We are excited to be starting week 14 of our Food Storage Do-Over 2015! If you didn’t catch last week’s post which talked about non-food items you can see it here.

Remember this is a 17 week process that we will be going through together. If you want to join in with the group on Facebook click here. If you’d like to receive email notifications of each week’s do-over assignment you can join our mailing list here. Or you can always post in the blog comments with your progress as well! It is so much more fun and motivating doing it as a group so find a way to connect!

WEEK14FACE

Emergency preparedness is a very broad topic. This week we are going to be working on evaluating our sanitation and first aid plans. There are a lot of ways to cover these areas so we will try to point you in the right direction to do your own research and come up with what works best for you and your family.

First Aid

If you are fairly new to the preparedness world you may not have a lot of first aid supplies stocked up yet. It never hurts to just purchase a basic first aid kit to at least get started. We saw this awesome more advanced list posted by Nancy over at the Preparedness 101 facebook group this week and wanted to share it here.

1) Sanitary pads for dressings
2) Roller gauze for bandages
3) Bedpan
4) Gloves (very sturdy for re-cleaning/sterilizing)
5) Urinal
6) Benadryl (allergic reaction)
7) Clove oil (tooth pain)
8) Superglue for lacerations
9) Washcloths
10) Oral analgesic for numbing
11) Ibuprofen for pain and fever
12) Nausea medicine
13) Pantyhose for bandaging any part of the human anatomy without tape
14) Plastic backed washable pads for bedridden patients/kids (can use alternatives)
15) Emergency dental kit
16) Anti-diarrhea medicine
17) No-more-tears shampoo for wound cleansing and general washing
18) Sheets for dressings, packing and slings

Notable things I left out:
– Bandaids (only for short term wound cover, your body will make you a scab)
– Tape (sticks to skin/ hurts to remove, gets old)
– Expensive drugs
– Peroxide, alcohol and Betadine -these wound cleansers are not needed and actually toxic to healing skin.

If you are interested in more natural styles of medicine you can look for ideas on our “Your Natural Medicine Cabinet” post. If you are looking for a more in depth list from a medical professional we recommend this “Nurse’s Fully-Stocked Medical Kit” post.

Sanitation

Having proper hygiene can make a huge difference to your health in an emergency situation. You need to have a plan for how to dispose of waste properly. You can buy a simple sanitation kit, or put your own together that includes these items:

• Two 5 or 6 gallon plastic buckets with tight fitting lids
• Two toilet seats that attach to the buckets
• Toilet paper
• Pre-washed and dried flannel, cut into squares, to use if toilet paper is not available—wash in hot water and bleach and re-use
• Paper towels
• Hand wipes, hand sanitizer and hand soap
• 13-gallon trash bags (to line toilets)
• 33- gallon trash bags (to dispose of smaller, used bags and other trash)
• Two (or three) spray bottles (for hydrogen peroxide & white vinegar, with the third for bleach)
• Hydrogen peroxide
• White vinegar (in a plastic bottle, if possible, to avoid broken glass)
• Borax and/or Bleach
• Essential oils and/or sprays for odor control
• Small funnel to fill spray bottles
• SuperSorb
• Shovel
• Heavy gloves (for digging)
• Disposable gloves (for cleaning)
• Face masks
• Copy of this sheet of instructions, stored in a plastic sheet protector
• Empty plastic jug (the kind you keep in the fridge) to hold water for hand washing

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress in our Food Storage Do-Over Facebook Group!

If you are an emergency preparedness veteran you probably have a lot of first aid and sanitation supplies on hand already. Let’s take some time this week to inventory, re-evaluate, re-purchase, and add to our supplies! Here are some action steps for you this week:

Make a master list of all the supplies you would like to store. Use our basic lists above or check out some of the helpful resources listed below for ideas.
Go through your supplies and inventory exactly what you already have on hand.
Make a shopping list of the items you need to buy more of. You can get some things for really cheap at the dollar store or big box stores. For more specialty items we like to shop at Emergency Essentials or Amazon.
Consider larger medical emergencies that may occur in a long term emergency situation. Buy extra supplies and learn how to deal with those (i.e. childbirth, how to do stitches, setting bones, etc.)
Sign up for a CERT class or attend some other first aid training in your area. If you can’t find a class you can check out the notes from a local class we took at our church on CPR and basic first aid.
Buy some books or print out instructions for basic medical care and store them with your supplies.

Don’t forget to come over and share your progress in our Food Storage Do-Over Facebook Group!

	Family Sanitation Kit: This kit is designed to fill basic bathing, dental, and toilet hygiene needs. Specially made for a family of four, the Family Sanitation Kit meets the basic hygiene needs you would have in an emergency or on a short camping trip. – See more at: http://beprepared.com/family-sanitation-kit.html#sthash.gdqMjpbV.dpuf
	The Complete First Aid Kit The Complete First Aid Kit is a comprehensive kit containing everything you need to keep your home or office prepared for an emergency including many innovative products like Save-A-Tooth. The products inside are stored in unitized boxes to cut down on mess, and the box has a waterproof seal to prevent humidity or moisture damage.

helpful
Here are some resources both from us and all over the web that can help you if you want more depth on any areas or are looking for even more ideas of items to include in your plans. It’s always a good idea to look at multiple approaches and decide what will work best for you! And don’t forget to check out the discussions on our facebook group to catch anything we are missing or see what others are doing!