Be Prepared! A 5-Day(Ish) Guide to Basic Emergency Prepping – thebolditalic

A practical step-by-step guide to help you feel less overwhelmed

Fire season is here in California yet again, and as someone with expertise in preparing for disaster, I thought it might be useful to put together a list of steps to ensure you and your family are ready to react or respond to an emergency.

I broke this down into five days of activities in hopes it will feel a little more manageable, but you can do these in pretty much any order. This is somewhat California-focused, maybe even Bay Area, but many of the things on this list should be helpful to consider for anyone who is looking to improve their prepping. This isn’t exhaustive by any means, and you may have specific needs not addressed here — totally reasonable! This is a starting place to get you at least a little ready to bail if you need to.

Also, mutual aid is important! Do consider not only your direct home and family, but also check on those around you, to see if they have a plan and want or need help with theirs.

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Because I am a dork, I also gave each section a movie quote based subtitle. Sue me. ?

• Create an emergency plan with anyone you live with. Sit down and discuss what your evacuation line is (for example, with fire — if fire hits this point, gets this close, then we go).
• Do you have alternatives to any key fobs? Can you open your garage without power? A way to bypass electric gates? Make sure you can get in and out of important locations before the power is out.
• Get familiar with the evacuation and preparation checklists for wildfires, earthquakes, and any other potential disaster. Go over it as a group. Plan a meeting place away from power lines and potential building collapse as best you can.
• Print out a local map and draw out a couple potential escape routes. Consider accessible options for your collective physical ability (be realistic!), and think about how you’ll go by vehicle, by bicycle, by foot.
• Do you require an elevator for accessibility? You may need to find a friend to stay with or a motel to crash in. Sucks, I know, but you don’t want to end up trapped in your home.
• Assign someone to unplug electronics, or use surge protectors, so they don’t short out when the electricity comes back on. It’s not a bad idea to just leave one lamp on, though, so you can see when the power is back.
• Sign up for emergency alerts. There are lots of places that send out emergency alerts for air quality, wildfire risk, power outages, earthquakes — signing up will save you checking Twitter and perhaps getting misinformation. That said, I also tend to check Twitter because while it’s not always accurate, sometimes I get information faster that is pretty vital to have. In California, you can text “enroll” 97633 to enroll in your zip or region-wide alerts for when/where PGE power will go off!
• For air quality, AirVisual is an app that uses Purple Air and you can set it to notify you when the AQI is above or under a certain amount. Here’s a good breakdown of the data Purple Air offers vs AirNow.
• Freeze water in plastic containers (jars, sealable plastic takeout containers, even gallon-sized plastic bags) to help keep food cold during a temporary outage. An unopened full freezer will keep stuff cold for 48 hours if left unopened (24 hours is half-full, so fill up empty space with water) — an unopened fridge has about four hours.
• I don’t have kids, and can’t really speak to the best ways to prepare them — but here’s an article to help you figure out the best way to get your kids on board with your emergency plan without scaring them (or you!) needlessly.

• Have a go bag. I like to have a medic go bag on hand, as well as a go bag for if I need to leave my apartment, with carabiners to connect them if need be. Make sure you have layers and sturdy comfortable shoes near the door. It can feel overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be expensive to gather basic supplies for a go bag!
• I populate my go bags mostly with stuff from military surplus stores and dollar stores — I’ll be posting up some ideas in another article soon. Here’s my list to help you get started — save a copy and add to it as you like.
• I would go out to a dollar store and a military surplus or camping store for most of these items, and then order anything else I really need online. I know Amazon is awful and other options are better — but if you use Amazon Prime to get these emergency supplies fast, I won’t judge. Also, if you have friends needing supplies too, pool money, get them in bulk, and share!
• Refill your gas tank. Gas pumps require electricity to work, and if it’s out for a week, that could be a big issue!
• If you can, try to have some cash on you. If the electricity goes out, ATMs and credit/debit card readers will also be out, so having cash will help you get any necessities even without electricity.
• Grab extra batteries for any flashlights, external battery chargers (solar if possible!) for charging devices, and/or a power inverter for your car, if you have one. All of these will help you stay connected even without working wall sockets.
• I love my crank radio for emergency information. You can even get ones that are also a flashlight and a phone charger, which solves the battery issues.
• I’d suggest having shelf-stable food and drinking water for you and anyone you live with for at least three days. The water you use to keep stuff in your freezer cold can be part of this water! Also, if you have a camp stove, have that available just in case. You could use this list of backpacking meals made from Trader Joe’s stuff as inspiration. Preppers have great lists you can use too, and you should be able to stock up at Grocery Outlet, Costco, and Food Maxx!
• Grab up some good face masks in case the air quality becomes bad again. P100 is best if you can get them. Depending on your location, you could also get in touch with Mask Oakland.
• Same but for Covid-19 masks.
• Consider having a Lifestraw on hand so you can filter any water and make it drinkable. They’re small enough to have on hand but super useful.
• Avoid using candles as your primary light source — better to use lanterns, headlamps wrapped around a clear emergency water jug, and other options that won’t catch on fire if jostled!

• Make hard copies of important phone numbers to help you make phone calls in an emergency, in case you can’t use your phone.
• Print out copies of any vital paperwork — insurance, mortgage, deeds, wills, marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc. Photocopy IDs as well to put in your go bag in a waterproof bag, just in case. Some folks also put this on an encrypted drive and/or the cloud, but be careful and assess security risks thoroughly!
• Make a folder of photos of your family and pets in case you get separated. Also, consider taking photos of any valuables in your apartment. Save them to an encrypted drive. You can also save these on the cloud, but do take precautions in order to keep your information safe online.
• Do you have medical needs or devices that require electricity? Apply for the PG&E Medical Baseline program, which will grant you additional warnings ahead of a shutdown to help you make plans, and also get you a discount on your bill.
• Be prepared for various natural disasters when it comes to your pets. Know where their records are (I keep them in a pocket on the carrier and on a portable encrypted drive with my other important documents), along with a bowl for water, food, and a photo in case your pet gets lost.
• Have some activities available for yourself, or for a group! I like to have one-, two-, and four-person card-based games in case there’s no electricity. A camping lantern can help give you enough light to play a game, and it’ll help pass time. Books are also good.

• Pack up your go bag (probably, hopefully, bigger than a fanny pack, let’s be honest). Consider what you will need most immediately (charger, light source, snack, water) and keep that in a separate pocket or on top of other things.
• Try your filled up go bag on. Go for a walk around the block with it. See how it feels and if you need to adjust anything.
• If you have a car, consider leaving some of your heavier go bag supplies in the trunk so you don’t have to transport them from the house. You may need hands free to carry pets, supplies, help an injured person, so the more you can have already in your vehicle the better. Even if you find yourself unable to drive, you can transfer it more easily from the street!
• Don’t forget to include the printed out documents, encrypted drive, phone list, map, etc into your go bag! Make sure they’re easy to get to.
• Now, store your readied bag/bin somewhere that it’ll be easy to get to and near your exit. I like to hang mine up because off the ground will be easier for me to locate. Let the people you live with know where it is, as well, in case you need help in an emergency.

• Secure your home from earthquakes in particular with museum putty for things on shelves, furniture safety straps for heavy things on the wall or to hold up cabinets/bookcases, etc.
• Make sure you have clear paths through your home to the exits. Know where your exits are. Consider what you’ll do if you find a staircase or a doorway blocked.
• Check on your neighbors and see how they’re doing, especially if they have children, anyone pregnant, elderly folks, people with disabilities, or other folks who may need a little extra help.
• Have your animals microchipped in case you’re separated. Some places will do it for cheap, so research your area to find what resources are available.
• Consider taking a first aid or street medic class to be able to do some basic medical care in an emergency.
• You may be eligible to have any food stamp purchased food that was destroyed by the power outage replaced, but you will have to apply and that may take a while. Be aware it’s an option, though! Useful to keep in mind. Doesn’t really go with this category but hey, it’s a resource.