Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter October 2024

 

Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter

October 2024

Announcement: I have written a cookbook that has over 200 pages of everyday recipes and many food storage helps and hints. These include some helpful lists, tips on how to integrate food storage items into your everyday meals, several pages on how to preserve many common fresh and dry foods, how to make a lot of dairy products from fresh or powdered milk, how to make a variety of vinegars and baking extracts, 12 pages of herbal remedies and recipes, 2 pages of kitchen remedies using common spices and other kitchen items and a lot more. There are several biscuit recipes, homemade egg noodles, veggie noodles, tortillas and other breads.  I have included recipes for salad dressings, dips, sauces and other condiments as well.

I expect to have the books shipped to me in November. Each book is $20. If requesting shipping, the first book will cost $6 shipping and each additional book in your order will cost another $1. I accept multiple payment options and local pickup in Utah is offered. At the moment I am not offering shipping outside of the United States. For International orders I am looking into having this available as a digital download. To order, please use this link here. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWnzrehMC97rwlZYmgXsFvL0vPWDcJZtUSWfHomYaEei-VCA/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you have questions or need help, please contact me at wendydriggsprep@gmail.com

Current Events and how to prepare

Several states in the United States have been severely affected by Hurricane Helene. There are ongoing rescues and some supplies are just now reaching the areas that were hit the hardest. It will take months to recover destroyed infrastructure. Here is some information on what the most immediate needs are. I pray everyone can take something from this disaster and use it to prepare their families.

The most urgent needs beyond rescuing survivors are the following; Drinking water, foods that can be eaten with little to no preparation, baby formula and diapers, Ham radios because there is no cell service in many areas, laundry soap and cleaning supplies, gasoline, items to see in the dark, ways to cook food off grid, ways to keep cool or to keep warm at night and cash because there is no electricity so cash registers and ATMs don't work.

There are so many things happening all at once these past few months and I have tried to decide on just one topic to focus on and I am still undecided on just what to focus on. So, I think now is a good time to encourage each person or family to take a look at themselves and determine what they need to do right now. The following information is to help you find out what you may need to take care of in the next few weeks. Are you prepared for civil unrest? If you are, you can stay home until things calm down. I have written these in the order that I would prioritize these actions.

Use this list like you would use a checklist.

Take stock of what you have

Take a basic inventory of your supplies and write things down. As you look through your supplies you may feel that in some areas you are doing pretty well. Most likely you have more supplies than you thought, they just may need to be organized better, in case of an emergency.

Make a list of things you need to find or buy to get better prepared.

As you took stock of what you have, you will most likely notice some areas that need your attention such as filling more containers with water or maybe you need to stock up on infant and toddler needs or first aid and medical supplies. Make a list of things you feel you need to take care of. You may feel you need more guidance in this. Go ahead and pray about it to know what your family needs. As I watch videos of current events, including current disaster situations, it makes me think of things that I need to take care of as well. There is always room for improvement.

#1 Where to start if you are new to food storage or emergency preparedness

The most important thing to have is some water. No matter where you live or the size of your home, get some water stored. Some water, is better than no water at all. You can buy cases of water, refill used 2 liter soda bottles, fill up Water Bricks or square water jugs. If you have the room, buy some 50 gallon blue water barrels and fill those. Buy a barrel pump made to work with the barrel. You will need this to get the water out. I saw them recently in the Salt Lake Valley for $11. As long as the water was already clean from a city water source and put in a clean, food grade container and it has a tight lid, you are all set. If you are filling a clean container with clean, safe city water you do not need to add bleach.

The bare minimum recommended amount of water is 1 gallon per person per day for 2 weeks. This is only enough to sustain life. This is not enough for bathing or cleaning. If you have pets, you need to store water for them as well. Do the best you can.

In addition to storing water, have a way to filter water that has questionable water quality. There are

Berkey water filter systems that sit on your kitchen counter, there are Life Straw handheld filters, Sawyer handheld filters and even water bottles with a filter inside. These will be especially handy in a flooding situation or for hiking and other situations where there is water, but it is dirty.

#2 Have some easy to prepare, quick meals on hand

You don't need to have a lot of these. Having some on hand is nice for illness, to make things easier. This is especially important if Mom does all the cooking and Mom is the one who is sick. These foods are also nice if the power is out or there is some other emergency. In most cases these foods could be eaten cold if needed.

#3 Assemble an Emergency 96 hour kit/Bug out Bag

Whatever you want to call it, have an emergency bag for each person in the home. Pack a couple day's worth of clean clothes, some light-weight food, some water and a way to filter water, basic toiletries, medications, maps, a light source etc. Your kits need to be tailored to each individual for the stage of life they are in right now. There are many printable lists available online to give ideas. But you don't have to have that. Think of the things you want or need each day.

If you have not looked at your kit for a couple years, it is time to look at them. Take everything out. Food expires, medications expire, kids grow out of clothes. Make it a family activity and make it fun.

#4 Add everyday foods to your pantry

The LDS Church has been recommending that people start with a 3-month supply of the everyday foods that they eat. Build up to having a 3-month supply on hand, if you are able to. (The real goal is 1 year. 3 months is just the starting point). For most families this is a gradual process. Buy what you eat, and eat what you buy. Watch for sales and use digital coupons at your favorite stores. Always take a marker and write the purchase date on it. Pull older inventory to the front of the shelf and put the new items in the back. This is what they do at grocery stores. Keep in mind that most dates on store-bought foods are Best By Dates. That is the date they can guarantee that the food will have the most nutrients. If you have stored things in ideal conditions, the food will usually be good well beyond those dates. This is especially true with canned goods.

#5 Store Long-term foods

In addition to everyday foods you will want to buy foods that have a long shelf-life and can be used to sustain life with the basics for quite a while. These are items such as whole grains, dried milk, sugar, salt, pasta, seasonings etc. These are usually easy to find and fairly affordable in bulk. For success in using these foods, you will need to have basic cooking skills and some recipes.

#6 Have Medical Items on Hand

Winter and cold and flu season are approaching. This is the time of year I start to stock up on cough, cold and flu medications. I get a little each time I go to Walmart of Sam's or Costco. I also stock up on things like facial tissue and pain relievers and anything else that I would normally use for illness. Do you have a pulse-oximeter in your medical kit? Do you have a couple thermometers? Do you have a First Aid booklet? Other things that will be helpful are a blood pressure monitor and ear otoscope. Do you have diabetic supplies? If you have herbalism skills, now is the time to make more tinctures to have when you need them.

#7 Vital Documents Storage

In case of an emergency you will need to have copies, if not the real documents, of your Vital Records. You will need a way to make them “portable”. Start with the most important documents and work your way through a list of documents to have.

Start with gathering and scanning each document like, Birth certificates, Drivers licenses, Social Security cards, have a photo of each family member that is fairly current that can be used for identification. Include a family photo to prove that your kids really belong to you. Then add health insurance cards, Homeowners insurance, car registrations and titles. Take pictures of your home from the front, back, sides etc. Take pictures of your vehicles and the most expensive things in your home. Take pictures of your pets, include rabies certificates etc. Include a copy of a list of logins and passwords to your favorite websites. In times of high stress you may not remember all of them. Include a list of your emergency contacts with their phone numbers. Do you have everyone's phone number memorized? I know I don't. If your phone is lost or damaged, you can borrow a phone and still contact those on your emergency list.

Put original documents in sheet protectors a large zippered 3 ring binder. You will want to spend a little more money on a binder that zips and that has a handle. If the binder has a zipper, things cannot fall out of it. A handle would be nice if you need to attach the binder to your backpack with a carabiner..

In that binder put some zippered pencil pouches that you can buy for school supplies. In one pouch put spare keys for cars and the house, in another pouch put thick documents like passports, in another pouch put a bunch of cash in small bills. I would also have paper maps of your area. One map can be of every street in your urban areas.

And another map could be a good map of the entire region you live in. If the internet is down you will have to resort to using old school skills like map reading.

Scan each vital document. Then save a copy of each scanned item and put on a thumb drive. Each person in your home should have the same information on a thumb drive that he can put on a lanyard. By doing this, you have a back-up to the original documents and if someone is separated from the rest of the family, they will have all the necessary documentation they need.

Once you have completed most of these tasks you will be much better able to recover from a large or small disaster. If you have taken care of these things, you will be able to handle the stress much better and you will be able to recover faster. And you will be comforted and at peace and be able to help others around you.