Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Organised Home Project 5: A Civil Defence Kit

Well, I have finally got my civil defence kits done! Now that I'm into my last month of pregnancy (yay!) I've got to say my energy levels have dropped a lot and I am taking a lot longer to do things than I normally would!  We have had heaps on lately and I had a wedding in the weekend to video and make DVD's for- all finished today thank goodness!
Anyway, I've had civil defence stuff all over the baby's room for the last few weeks so I finally got it all together today into a big plastic bin for the garage, and three backpacks in case of a quick evacuation- type scenario.  It's really hard to think of what you would really need and to imagine having to actually use it but it makes me feel good to know that I've at least got some of the basics organised and bought a few things that we might need one day.
Payless Plastics was having a sale last week so I went in and bought a large bin, a 20 litre water container, a bucket and some rubbish bags. I used this list to refer to for things to get..
I also went through our camping stuff and put our little gas BBQ and some spare canisters in there, a radio, a small tarpaulin, some cans of food (need to get more), toilet paper, a couple of water bottles and some snacks. 
I also got three backpacks and packed one for each of the girls and one for me and my hubby.
I put in a woollen jersey for each of us, a change of clothes for the girls, nappies etc for Stella, water bottles and snacks, a couple of blankets and those silk liner sleeping bag type things that we used back when we were backpacking, and a first aid kit and some toiletries. I also put in a few family photo's and photocopies of our insurance policies and birth certificates. 
I sorted out all our medicines and first- aid stuff in the weekend and made three kits up- one for our family car, one for the house and one for our civil defence kit. I've decided to enrol in a first aid course later in the year as I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to first aid and would really like to have some skills and be confident that I could help my own family and others too.
Well, another project down, just hope I don't have to actually use this one!
For more ideas, Meeks from Juggling Motherhood has written a really thorough list of ways to get your family prepared for a disaster- check it out here.
There is so much amazing fundraising happening for Christchurch at the moment- it's really heartwarming to see kiwi's and people from all over the world contributing to the Red Cross and other charities supporting the victims of the earthquake. My pillowcase and toilet bag sets are on Trade me now- you can check them out here along with so many other cool handmade things up for auction with all proceeds going to the Salvation Army and Women's Refuge.
The winner of the nappy wallet from 'the nursery/getting ready for baby challenge' is Notchka- thank you everyone for your comments and tips.
I'm not going to do a challenge this Friday but will be doing one next week- will let you know early next week.
Thanks for visiting, if you have any more civil defence ideas/tips we'd love to read them :)
Megan x

7 comments:

tartankiwi said...

Something to consider for emergency kits is disposable nappies. I know that you said that you have some in your kit, but I heard the other day that there is a shortage of the larger sizes of disposable nappies in the aid centres etc in Christchurch. This is for 2 reasons:
1. The smaller sizes are being donated by people
2. Many toilet trained older children are regressing due to the stress of the situation, their parents had not expected this and were therefore not prepared.
... something for many mums to consider when putting together emergency kits!

Maxabella said...

Oh stop, I have nothing even remotely prepared for times of disaster. You are very good. x

Tracey@bountifully said...

wow, that is incredibly impressive, I have never thought of doing this before! I love your header, you have pulled the images together very well

Cotton Kiwi said...

That's awesome Megan. You have done a great job there. I have stuff organised for if we are stuck at home in case of epidemic but really must get onto the backpacks. So important. The other thing you could do in case of photos etc is to buy a portable hard drive (they cost about $60) and back your computer up on to it on a regular basis. That way you will have all your photos stored as well as other info onto a very portable little device and you can grab it in case of fire as well as other disasters.
I'm loving your pillowcase and toilet bag set and have bid on it. Hope I win! My girls LOVE their name pillows.

clare said...

Megan this is amazing. If there is a disaster I'm coming to stay at your house ;)
Good on you!

monkeemoomoo said...

Wow, Megan this is fantastic. Well done, all we have done is bought a portable hard drive (like cotton kiwi)a month ago.

I'll add this to my list. Also you have reminded me that I have to organise a fire plan for this house. Another thing to do on THE LIST. But so much better to be safe than sorry:)

Deb Robertson Writes said...

Hi Megan, living in Christchurch, we've had quite a bit of opportunity to USE our kits. I suggest you had loads and loads of wet wipes and several bottles of hand sanitiser. A couple of headlamps are invaluable too, for toilet trips (to the long drop) at night!!

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