Week 11 Shopping List Items

We're almost to the end of our 12 week emergency preparedness shopping extravaganza. It's hard to believe only a mere 11 weeks ago you were totally unprepared for a disaster, but just look at you now! (Right? You've followed all of my advice? You have an awesome disaster kit? Right?---this is a guilt trip, in case you haven't caught on). Anyway, here we are at week 11 and the theme of the week is "Special Items As Needed." So, you may need some of these items, you may not need others. Here goes:

• Food for special diets (i.e. food allergies, religious preferences, diabetic)


• Baby food, bottles or infant formula


• Diapers (make sure to update sizes as needed, a size 1 diaper isn't much help when your kid now wears size 5)


• Pet food (you might begin to look pretty tasty to your hungry Rottweiler after awhile)


• Leash and pet carrier


• Spare eyeglasses or contact supplies


• Items for denture care


• Extra hearing aids and batteries


• Feminine hygiene supplies


• Any other medical or mobility supplies you or a family member might require

I'll catch you next Tuesday!

Drive & Survive

Click here to check out an interesting article that I found on MSN about how to safely navigate during emergencies such as earthquakes, floods and fire. Remember, being in a car doesn't magically keep you safe during a flood or an earthquake, in fact, sometimes it can be even worse. Most people get a false sense of security behind the wheel, especially (for some reason) if they are in a jacked-up truck.

Lowe's Safety Day

Be sure to visit Lowe's this Saturday for their Safety Day event. In conjunction with the Home Safety Council, Lowe's is dedicated to helping their customers prevent accidents in the home and be prepared for emergencies. The event is from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at our local Lowe's---check it out!!

Week 10 Shopping Tips

We’re coming to the home stretch of our preparedness shopping tips. There are only four items to get this week and you may already have them. If you already are in possession of these items, don’t strain your arm patting yourself on the back, you still need to know right where they are and if they are in operable condition. So what are these 4 mystery items? Here ya go:
*Battery powered camping lantern (handy for long term power outage)
*Extra batteries for aforementioned lantern
*Portable grill or stove with fuel (NEVER use inside)
*Disposable camera (to document losses for insurance purposes)
And that’s it. Be sure to check in next Tuesday to see what’s next!

Prepare Fair was AWESOME!

Thanks to everyone involved for making Prepare Fair '09 a success. Games were played, faces were painted, prizes were won, lessons were learned and a great time was had by ALL!

Dogapalooza

Come see us this Saturday at the 2nd Annual DOGAPALOOZA Event! There will be Wiener Dog races, costume contests, demos, a pet psychic and much more. The Department of Emergency Management will be on hand to discuss pet preparedness and give out some prizes, all with the help of Grant, the DEM Wonder Dog. This event will be held on the large, grassy field in the SW corner of the fairgrounds along 7th Avenue on Saturday, September 19th beginning at 10:00 a.m. The event will wrap up with the famous Wiener Dog races at 5:30 p.m. Admission is FREE!! There will be a $5 charge to enter the races and costume contest. All funds raised will go to the Cowlitz County Humane Society. For more information on Pet Preparedness click here.

Preparedness Shopping Guide--Week 9

We are now at week 9 in our Preparedness Shopping Guide challenge. I skipped out last week, but since no one complained or even noticed, I’m not going to feel bad. So, what do you need to toss in your cart this week? Well, you may not be able to find these items in a grocery store, at least not any grocery stores in this area. If you don’t already have these items, take a trip to your local hardware store and check out your options. You need to make sure you have:

*A handsaw or chainsaw with fuel
*A tarp or large canvas
*A crowbar
*Hammer and nails

These items are handy to have following an earthquake. You may need to remove rubble or do a quick repair job to make an area safe. You just never know and these are all useful items to have in order to be prepared for any situation from a downed tree to a full-scale zombie attack (aim for the head). Now you know, and like G.I. Joe always said, “Knowing is half the battle.” I never knew what the other half of the battle was, but then again I rarely take action figures at their word.

Prepare Fair is Coming!!!

Are you ready for an emergency? Learn how to be better prepared for personal or community disasters at Prepare Fair ’09. This free event, hosted by the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management, will be at Kessler Elementary School in Longview on Saturday, September 12th from 10am-2pm. Participants include local fire departments, law enforcement, search and rescue, Coast Guard Auxiliary, American Red Cross and MANY more! Come join us for hourly prize drawings, informational booths, activities, free face painting and interactive demonstrations. Bring the whole family for a day of learning and fun! For more information, contact the Department of Emergency Management at 577-3130.

Preparedness, Not Panic is the Perfect Prescription

Even if you roll your eyes at the mere mention of Swine Flu (you know who you are) please check out this article from Rob Lovitt at MSNBC. H1N1 may seem as "last season" as those unfortunate Crocs that you bought, but it's really nothing to sneeze at. It's also nothing to panic over. As the article mentions, proper hygiene and a little preparedness should help you sail right through flu season.

It's Tool Time!

Welcome to September! The kids are going back to school, the days are getting shorter and Christmas items are inexplicably creeping into stores. It’s also Tuesday, time for week 8 of your shopping tips. If you’ve been diligently reading each week and following my sage advice, you probably have yourself a pretty sweet emergency kit. So, what do we need for Week 8? It’s time for small tools to help you manage a disaster situation. Here goes:

*Scissors

*Safety Glasses

*Utility Knife/Leatherman multi-tool

*Battery operated/hand crank radio. (Don’t skimp on this. I’ve purchased a cheap one from a discount mail-order catalog that shall remain nameless and it’s a pile of junk. Don’t waste your money. You may think you’re a smart cookie for saving a few bucks now, but you’ll be more than peeved when you actually need it and it doesn’t work)
*Extra batteries
*Flashlights (Again, buy a decent flashlight. Don’t rely on the freebie that you got when you signed up for a checking account. I speak from experience.)
*Heavy work gloves
*Disposable dust mask (these are super cheap and will be handy if Mt. St. Helens spews some ash your way)
*Fire extinguisher (It’s best to have one on every floor of your house and a small one in your kit---also…know how to use it. It’s not really useful to have one if all you do is throw it at the fire and run away screaming)

So, this week is a little harder on the wallet. Seriously though, it will be a lot cheaper to have these all on hand now rather than trying to beat up people at Wal-Mart when the shelves are empty after some major catastrophe.