Survival kit: Things you’ll need in case of an emergency
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Emergency agencies recommend having a kit ready with items that will help you survive and recover from a disaster.
The Red Cross talks with hundreds of people each year who are recovering from an emergency including what they wished they’d done to prepare.
Jacqui Pringle from Red Cross Emergency Services says you should ask yourself what are the things that will bring comfort and how will I protect the things that are important.
“Thinking through some of this in advance can make you feel less stressed and give you some control in a situation that is often out-of-control,” said Ms Pringle.
Having an emergency kit is one of the top four survive and recover preparations recommended by the Red Cross, along with knowing your risks, getting connected and getting organised. Find more Red Cross prepare information at redcross.org.au/Prepare or download the Red Cross Get Prepared app.
You should keep your kit in a handy location, in a container or bag that’s big enough to add extra items when you’re responding to a specific disaster.
Some basic items to include:
Radio: battery-powered, wind-up or solar-powered radio. Mark on the dial the frequencies of ABC Radio and other local services.
Light: a waterproof torch is good, and consider a backup windup version that doesn’t need batteries, plus candles with waterproof matches or glow sticks.
Drinking water (consider having 10 litres per person to last three days).
Food: dried and long-life food to last three days, include a can opener and utensils.
Spare batteries for all devices (check batteries every six months).
Toiletries including soap, handwash gels, alcohol wipes, toilet paper, tissues, toothpaste and sanitary items.
Cash: enough to meet basic needs for a few days.
First aid kit and guide book.
Waterproof bags for valuable items and documents
Copies of essential documents such as prescriptions and insurance details. You can also store this on a portable hard drive, give a copy to a trusted person, and/or upload to cloud-based storage.
Your written bushfire, cyclone, flood or emergency survival plan, including contact numbers of family or neighbours.
Protective blankets and clothing suitable for likely emergencies in your area such as long-sleeved natural-fibre shirts for bushfire areas, protective footwear or rubber boots in flood areas. Sunscreen, insect repellent and wide-brimmed hats are also useful.
Set an annual reminder on your phone or calendar to check your emergency kit.
If you need to relocate, include:
Prescription medications
Toiletries and a change of clothes
Mobile phone charger
ATM cards and credit cards
Important documents or valuables including passports, wills, photos, jewellery, insurance papers or mementoes
Don’t forget people with special needs in your family:
Mobility aids
Nappies and supplies for infants
Encourage children to pack familiar things that will bring them comfort in times of stress such as a favourite toy
Items to keep your pets comfortable including a leash, basket, travelling cage and pet food
The following I published exactly nine years ago! We still live in this home that we moved into in 1994. It is 2020 now. So, more than nine years ago we were already contemplating a move to somewhere else. Here is what I published in 2011, November 08:
When we saw the ad in the brochure, we thought immediately, that this could be our dream home. It was rather low priced. It was close to Goulburn Railway Station. It was also near a shopping centre with an ALDI store close by. What more could we want?
This could be our Dream Home! It was as simple as selling our present dwelling, buy the new place and end up with something like fifty thousand Dollars saved in the bank! People told us, but Goulburn, it is a bit out of the way, isn’t it?
No, we said, not at all. There’s the Railway Station close by. We hop on the train and are in Sydney in no time. The pensioner excursion trip to Sydney still costs only two Dollars and fifty cents! We can even go from Goulburn to Newcastle for our two Dollars fifty!
But you cannot do such a long trip that often, was the objection. We were asked, how often we were then going to see our children. How often do we see them now? We asked back. We pointed out, that we more or less only saw them for birthdays and Christmas anyway. We could still see them on those occasions, when we lived in Goulburn.
So we were all set to make the move to Goulburn, when it suddenly dawned on us, that the new place would need some renovations first. Renovations? At our age? Much too difficult! If we paid someone to renovate for us, we’d probably end up with no money left in the bank.
This is the end of the story. We are not going to sell our home and we are not going to move to another place.
POSTSCRIPT
I wrote the above exactly three years ago. In the meantime we’ve become more and more aware that our present home does need renovating. Somehow we just keep putting it off. In another three years we are going to be in our eighties. Maybe if we just put our time and energy into this home we are in now, we can keep living here even in our eighties. If we don’t come up with some major health issues, then maybe we do not need to go to a Retirement Village, even though living in a Retirement Village at an advanced age would make living a lot more comfortable for us.
In our area to buy a place in a Retirement Village costs about twice as much as what we’d be able to pay if we sold our present home, which just isn’t worth that much on the market. So a Retirement place in our area is out of the question.
Then about a year ago we came up with a new idea. That is, we found out that in a place about half way between Sydney and Melbourne we could buy a Retirement place for less than half the price which it would cost here in our coastal area. This place would be further away from Sydney than Goulburn but it would be closer to Melbourne where our son lives. And this place has a railway station, the same as Goulburn! But of course the trips would cost a bit more than two Dollars and fifty cents.
It would be good, if one way or another we could make up our minds about were we want to spend the last years of our lives. It looks to me, we’ll probably leave everything the way it is. For the time being anyway. Maybe we already live in our Dream Home! When we moved in here, the place was brand new and just perfect for us. We’ve been very happy here for the last seventeen years.
Hello, Auntie Uta. How are you? As they always say, “Home is where the heart is.” So true in your situation. As we all get older, familiar surroundings become more and more important. Your home might need some work here and there but I’m sure it’s filled with memories—every inch of space inside and around it. How can one begin to part with such a place? I’m with you there. Now that we’re empty-nesters and our daughter has decided to live in the city, our house seemed too big for us. We thought about moving. We thought about “down-sizing.” We searched for an alternative place to call our own. In the end, we chose to stay. We enjoy our home and our yard. We still like our neighborhood. We like the place where we buy meat, produce, and any comforts. We like going to the farmer’s market once a week. Or even eat at the burgeoning restaurant selection in our little downtown. And so stay we shall!Reply
auntyutaEditHi MOL!I agree with you: Home is where the heart is. As always you make me open my eyes to a lot of things. Your comments are very stimulating. Thank you so much for stopping by!In our case it’s probably time to give away a few things which we collected over the years. We accumulated too much stuff, that’s very obvious. Don’t they say: Less is more?In September 1964 when I had just turned thirty, we moved into our first home. It was a very small cottage, newly built on our block of land. We felt we were in heaven! It was a fantastic experience for us to move into our own brand new home. We stayed in this place for the best part of thirty years. On my sixtieth birthday we moved into our present home. It is a bit larger than our first home was. We love it very much. You’re right: ‘How can one begin to part with such a place?’Now, I ask myself, how on earth can we achieve to live in a less cluttered place? When our youngest daughter has a bit of spare time, she sometimes sets herself the task to unclutter a few cupboards for us. Actually she started on that a few times. Would you believe, it never takes very long for some more clutter to take up all the empty spaces! For instance, we keep most of our old video-tapes, including an old video-player. All this takes up unnecessary room. Why is it so hard to throw the old stuff out? Most of the videos we haven’t watched for ages. Are we ever going to watch them again? Probably not. So why do we keep them?Reply
MuniraEditMay you be followed by good health, wherever you decide to go Reply
Kate KresseEditWe are going through some of the same decision processes…trying to decide whether to get a much smaller house to try to save $$. trying to downsize possessions. also trying to help my mom do the same thing when i go visit her. i can part with things a bit easier than she can. but oh my i find it almost impossible to get rid of books! I use a lot of different books with my tutoring—i have an entire shelf full of math textbooks so that I can show my students various examples and provide them with a lot of quiz and test questions. May you and your husband keep your health so that you can enjoy wherever you live.Reply
auntyutaEditSome of our books are over fifty years old. How often have we said: From now on we’re not going to buy any new books! When we pass a bookshop and there’s a good sale on, we can’t help ourselves, we have to have a look. More likely than not we end up buying some more books. On top of it we have already a collection of E-Books. I find E-Books are a good read on our frequent train-travels to Sydney. Thank you for commenting, dear Kate. Best wishes for you and your family too.Reply
Kate KresseEditAuntyuta—I know what you mean about those book sales!. We have an amazing used book bookstore one town over….about 15 miles from here….oh my son and I could spend an entire day there! And our public library has a little shop set up right off the lobby where they sell books that are excess to them. Those prices are good to begin with and a couple times a year they have big markdowns….and of course there are the Goodwill stores that have books…..sigh. I can’t help it i just love books!!! I have a kindle that has some books on it too….love to you and your hubby today—and the rest of your family too
auntyutaEditThanks. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Just now, Joe Carli from ‘freefall’ gave the above post of mine a ‘like’. I read it again and noticed that I already reblogged it on February 25, 2020 and wrote: “This post from 22 August,2013, was something I just want to have a look at again. I very much like to read some of these old blogs!”
Again I now went back to the post from 22 August, 2013. I did read the whole post again as well as all the comments to it. I very much liked doing this. All these pictures to the post I find interesting too and I want to copy them here now:
(Well, this is just a bit about the lives of Gaby and David.)
Peter and David in an outside area of the Nursing HomeDavid was allowed to have his lunch outside. But he hardly touched it.David gave me this Mother’s Day gift on the day Peter and I visited him. He said he had bought raffle tickets to win this to give it to me. I was very touched by this.
I liked this story so much I want to reblog it! 🙂
My father was not a widower, but he lived on his own after separation from my mother. As far as I know, he always did his own laundry!
The story below is from an age of a kind of fading feudalism…an age when position and religion ruled the small villages dotted amongst the Dolomites of Northern Italy. It was told by my father to my mother and then to me. It is from around the turn of the 20th century, when the church creatures wielded enormous power in the communities. It is a tale that could be told from any number of small village life in those days…the tyranny of power, no matter how small, over those who could be exploited, who can be silenced…perhaps not THAT different from now!..The actions by the criminals can be the same, but it is how the individual overcomes that bullying that is different. Some run, some succumb, some become violent…the “hero” of our little moment, from the lowest rung in the social ladder of such a community, chose instead, chose deliberately…
I find this blog very interesting indeed. 🙂 The following is said in a way that I like very much:
“Because humans have added their doctrines to the pure principles set out in the Bible, religion has become more man-centered. Once humans become the center of worship, worship becomes highly flawed. Instead of praise, there is criticism. Instead of freedom, there is legalism. Instead of liberty, there is stricture. People blinded by leaders presenting their opinions and preferences as biblical doctrine become prisoners to their churches. They tend to believe teachers without looking into the truths of the Bible for themselves.
Tabitha is an excellent example of a religious woman who is compassionate to those who desperately need help. She practices “Pure[6] religion and undefiled[7]” by helping widows in their “affliction.”[8]
By seven o’clock this morning I was outside in our backyard to take some pictures.
This area on the North side of our house is well shaded by large trees.Some Lavender on the South side ready to be planted.I am happy that some new yellow flowers appeared on the West side of our house.
The East side of our house is Body Corporate area, whereas the three other sides belong to our private area and are fenced in. Yesterday we had our family visiting. The two great-grandsons wanted me to take them to the backyard. They enjoy running around in there from one side of the house, to another one and another one and then back again. Four year old Lucas runs as quickly as he can, and two year old Alexander has fun following his big brother. It gives me great joy to see them running like this.
Caroline and Matthew were staying with us, and we had apart from Lucas and Alexander also four additional adults visiting us for afternoon coffee. Actually, our daughter Caroline had spent the whole weekend with us. Sunday night she had to fly back to Darwin. Mathew drove Caroline to the Airport in Sydney. We went along with them to farewell Caroline.By 9.30 pm we were back home again.
Caroline had purchased for us 15 small lavender plants and did clear the area that was to be planted. While Caroline was busy in the garden, Peter and I took off for a visit to the Temple. Caroline and Matthew had advised us to do this. We gladly followed this advice!
This morning, while I did some washing, Peter took to planting the whole lot along the fence on the South side. He used diluted fertilizer from our worm farm for the plants and then covered them with mulch. It turned out to be beautiful sunny, but early in the morning there was a very cool breeze which I did not like at all!
By the way, today is the wedding anniversary of Ryan and Ebony who are the parents of Lucas and Alexander.
This Camelia kind of survived the slaughter of our trees and is just starting to get some leaves again. Attempting to establish a bit of a veg garden on the West side;
And following are some random pictures near the house on the West side:
Now a few pictures from yesterday (Sunday):
Alexander and Lucas are keeping themselves busy;They loved this cake that Great-Granddad Peter had baked.We had whipped cream with the cake.Here Lucas is having a rest with his Grandma Monika after having been running around for a while.
DinaEditYou are an early riser, Uta! Lovely impressions from garden and weekend. Juicy Marmorkuchen is my alltime favourite. Reply
auntyutaEditI usually rise at about 6 o’clock, Dina. I love to rise early. Yes, this Marmorkuchen turned out well. Peter often volunteers to bake something. He has quite a bit of experience with baking.In the meantime I edited this post a bit. I did add a few more things about last weekend. Actually, I was extremely tired when we came home from the airport last night and went straight to bed.Thanks for commenting, Dina. Hope you and Co had a good weekend too. Cheers, UtaReply
catterelEditLovely! That looks a very authentic Marmorkuchen – do you have real German cake moulds, or can you get the tradition ones in Australia?Reply
auntyutaEditActually, Cat, we’ve had this cake mould (Kuchenform) for a long time. I am not sure where we bought it. Have a great weekend!Reply
auntyutaEditYes, Robert, this is exactly how we feel about it, even though we’re not expert gardeners and too often tend to neglect to work in the garden. But it gives us great joy when finally we have achieved some improvement by just putting a little bit of work into it. Reply
aussieian2011EditA beautiful homely post Uta, and a truly delightful garden, unfortunately Lavender never seems to grow for us, mainly because we can only have them in pots here, their aroma is beautiful, reminds me of my time visiting the Lavender farms in Tasmania. Peter is a great Cake master I think. Cheers.Reply
auntyutaEditWe hope in time their scent is going to dazzle us, Ian. Peter loves baking cake. He hasn’t lost his touch yet! Wishing you and Ana a great weekend. Cheers, Uta
The Saint-Césaire Neanderthal skull suffered a blow that split the skull. (Smithsonian Institution)HUMANS
NICHOLAS R. LONGRICH, THE CONVERSATION3 NOVEMBER 2020
Around 600,000 years ago, humanity split in two. One group stayed in Africa, evolving into us. The other struck out overland, into Asia, then Europe, becomingHomo neanderthalensis– theNeanderthals. They weren’t our ancestors, but a sister species, evolving in parallel.
Neanderthals fascinate us because of what they tell us about ourselves – who we were, and who we might have become. It’s tempting to see them in idyllic terms, living peacefully with nature andeach other, like Adam and Eve in the Garden.
If so, maybe humanity’s ills – especially our territoriality, violence, wars – aren’t innate, but modern inventions.
Biology and palaeontology paint a darker picture. Far from peaceful, Neanderthals were likely skilled fighters and dangerous warriors, rivalled only by modern humans.
Kevin Ruddhttps://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?… Australians have watched with growing anger at what the Murdoch media monopoly is doing to our country. A cancer on democracy. Today I am launching a national petition to establish a #MurdochRoyalCommission. If you value our democracy, please sign here:
On the 6th of October I published a post with the following message:
“Some followers keep asking, how is Peter. I am afraid to say, that Peter is very disabled now in that most days he can hardly move at all. Today, he is about to undergo some bone scans. It is very difficult for Peter to move in a way that it does not hurt too much. The painkilling tablets that he has been given so far, do not seem to help much at all. Peter has a lot of kidney trouble. A lot of water stays in the body and causes much swelling, especially in the feet and legs.”
The nuclear bone scans showed that Peter’s bone cancer has spread!
Because of some very nasty constipation Peter was admitted to hospital on the following day, Wednesday, 7th of October. On Monday, the 19th of October, he could finally come back home. A lot of alterations were being done to our home to make Peter more comfortable. We are very happy that he did not have to stay in hospital, for now it is possible that a lot of family can visit him. Our son, Martin, who lives in regional Victoria, hopefully may be allowed pretty soon to come to NSW to stay with his Dad. Martin is already extremely distressed that so far he was not allowed to travel to Dapto, not even for compassionate reasons! In a letter written by
Senior Staff Specialist Oncology & Radiotherapy, Wollongong Hospital Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong
the following was stated about Peter’s condition:
Diagnosis: metastatic carcinoma of bladder: hepatic and skeletal metastases
It says: I am writing this letter in support of Mr Hannemann who is a patient of mine suffering from terminal cancer. . . .
Today I republished some pictures that I took exactly six years ago. In 2014 Peter and I had a lovely walk on that 31st of October:
AuntyUta 