September is the National Preparedness Month which makes Getting Prepared the perfect challenge for the month. You know all those things you SHOULD have done already but maybe don’t?
What is the state of your first aid kit? Do you have one in each vehicle AND in your home and (if you have livestock) in an outdoor shed?
When’s the last time you updated your grab-n-go bags? *gasp* You don’t have one yet? Oh dear…I’m so glad you found me. Let’s chat.
There’s obsessive anxiety which is just insane. And then there’s complete lack of planning – equally insane. What we’re going to do this month is move everyone forward one more step towards being better prepared.
THE CHALLENGE!
1. Update your First Aid Kit (or get another one in a place you need it)
OR
2. Update (or create) your grab-and-go evac bags for your entire family. (Each family member needs one)
What are your first-aid kit needs?
I recommend having a good-sized household first aid kit, a portable kit for each car, and if you are rural or in an area where emergency services can take more than a couple minutes, a larger medic kit like one is ideal. (Remember – many large city areas have increasing response times due to cut backs! If it takes ten+ minutes to reach you, you might want a larger kit.) I like the rugged design of this Military Medic Kit but have used this First Responder Kit in the past when needed and it REALLY comes in handy (and is less than the military kit)
If you already have first aid kits in all your needed locations then do a quick assessment of supplies. You might need to update or add or replenish.
Here’s a list of my favorite add-ons for my first-aid needs:
- gloves
- athletic tape and pre-wrap
- CPR mask (w/one-way valve for sanitation!) I like the linked kit which includes an infant-sized mask, gloves, and alcohol wipe.
- lavender essential oil (handy for bites, heat distress, and many other things)
- band-aids (we never have enough at my house w/5 kids!)
Check your first-aid kits to make sure they are up-to-date and include everything you need for your family’s needs.
Grab-And-Go Bags
There are so many reasons to have these ready to go. Whether you’re in an area where natural disasters can occur or not – no one is completely safe from fires or other destructive forces that could make you want to leave your home in a hurry. The less you have to think about in that moment of stress, the better. Grab and go bags are ready to go – my kids have just cute little back packs and have practiced grabbing their bags when we practice fire drills.
If you don’t have one yet your challenge is to build your grab-and-go bags (Here are Tips for Building a Grab-and-Go Bag!) or if you do, then UPDATE your current bags with updating clothing items for cold seasons with clothes that fit all the members of your family. After all – if the infant you packed for two years ago is now walking and talking her bag will be completely useless. 🙂
GIVEAWAY
To make your preparedness efforts a little easier and a LOT more fun we have some amazing prizes from some fabulous sponsors. Below you’ll be able to enter to win an EcoZoom rocket stove Versa, a survival seed vault from Eartheasy, and a copy of Getting Prepared – An Untrained Housewife Guide.
TO ENTER
Follow the rafflecopter directions to select your challenge.
First-aid Kit or Grab and Go bags. If you are on top of things and have both of those things fully-stocked and updated here are some other preparedness things to consider as your challenge for the month:
- Have a fire or emergency drill with your family.
- Make sure your kids have at least three phone numbers memorized for emergency contacts.
- Update the batteries on all your fire and carbon monoxide detectors (or install some if you don’t have any.)
For more entries share your successful completion of your Challenge either on the Untrained Housewife Facebook page or on your bog!
Blessings to you all – may we never need to use the stuff we prep.
I love this. I have the book already (AWESOME!) but that stove and seed vault look amazing! We need to have a seed vault…
I have your book already, but I’m super excited about the stove and seed vault. We’ve been eye-balling that vault for some time now and would LOVE to win a free one! 🙂
Oh but to answer the required questions….I think I’ll be double checking our medical supply kits to make sure they are up to date, and possibly adding the suggestions you brought up as well.
I am going to reorganize my survival kits and update as needed.
Great reminders and great giveaway!
I will be tackling grab and go bags and updating my seed vault
I love the stove! For the last two years I have been working on my seed bank, so if I win this one then I can mark something off the list. For the challenge this month I’ll be updating our go bags, and expanding our first aid kits.
When I lived near the gulf coast, I kept plastic bins in the garage stocked with what we needed in case of emergency…or a camping trip! These bins had most of what we needed to wait out a storm and loss of power (or camping) with just a bit of warning and a trip to the grocery store. They also contained enough non-perishable food items that they could be thrown into the back of the van for fast evacuation and get us by for a day or two with just that. I admit that since I no longer have kids at home and have moved away from the coast, I’ve gotten lax with emergency preparations. We do have a basement now and a good supply of food and water here at home even if we lose power. What we don’t have ready is a couple of packs that can be grabbed easily for evacuation.
I really need to redo our BOB…and also go through our first aid bag and make sure all is up-to-date etc. Thanks for this opportunity!
I’m going to do the first aid kit. I’ve just recently seen the need to prepare for the worst situations and I gave away the kits I had to my new parent children thinking they could use them more than I ever did. I think differently now, so need to make up a kit for us. I so would not have thought of the gloves or cpr mask. Now to gather up the supplies. THanks for these challenges this month..it will help to get me off my complacent duff! 😛
I need to work on our evac bags for each family member. I have lists in my brain, but I haven’t gotten around to gathering things and getting them put in bags ready to go. It’s crazy, too! We’ve even had to get out quick before and I don’t know if I had even 1/2 the stuff I needed if had been a true emergency and we couldn’t get home in a timely manner.
nice!
I have my kits but I do need to go through them and rotate food. Plus check batteries in my detectors and flashlights. I know my first aid kit needs an extra box or two of band-aids too!
Loving this challenge. We do need to check our BOB’s and the first aid kits definitely need to be replenished. great reminders
I’ll be working on my bug out bag
This month I’ll be adding to my current Bugout bag to flush it out into a real survival pack. Also working on growing a fall/winter crop this year for the first time! On top of being prepared for an emergency I am also starting a new job and working on building my new business as certified Holistic Health Coach. So excited and blessed to have these opportunities and skills to help others achieve their health and wellness goals!
I’m grateful for this giveaway. Our budget is tiny, but this month I’m finishing off our somewhat 72 hr kit/bug out bags and researching camping gear. I’ve been trying to figure out how and when I can pick up a Versa Light Ecozoom. Here’s to hoping I win, here’s to a good stove either way!
I will be updating my first aid kit.
Living in the hurricane-prone gulf coast area, I need to replenish my first aid supplies and stock up on water, batteries, and food staples.
I just finished an inventory on my first aid kit and discovered that I’m lacking a few things I consider necessary. That’s what I’ll be updating. Does everyone lose bandaids or is it just me? I seem to have gremlins that sneak in at night and steal them…I’m sure it’s not the kids. They would tell me if they used something out of the medical kit. Right?
Update first aid kit. Great giveaways!
Need to work on the evac bags and the first aid kits. Thanks for nudge to get it done
I need to get our seeds stored and a water system going.
For National Preparedness Month, I’d like to do a few things:
-update my family’s emergency bags
-get a couple rubbermaid containers and pack all of our emergency supplies together (I’m thinking maybe one food-based one and one for supplies)
-have a fire drill (thanks for the reminder! i always forget about this one)
-I’d love to beef up our first aid kit, but our current one is passable. Maybe I’ll start buying CPR masks and celox granules to put in people’s stockings at Christmas 🙂
Definitely have to complete the go-bags. Once that’s done I think drills are a good idea.
I am going to challenge myself to FIND every flashlight we have and be sure each is loaded with new batteries and that I have replacements. Then a central local will be found to store them.
That sounds like a huge challenge in and of itself! 🙂
I’m going to check into our water resources.
Am updating our first aid kits, hadn’t thought about the CPR mask, which is a great idea. I would also suggest including a container and a couple of rolls of toilet paper to your car supplies. I use a clean 3 lb coffee can, which nicely holds the T.P. and a couple of pkgs of wet wipes which can come in handy, especially for we ladies.
Since there are only the two of us now, I’ve revamped our Get Out bags as well. Seed vault has been an on going thing for many years. I keep adding too and refreshing it each year. This year I added some winter wheat seed to the mix. And am researching a more portable way to grind it once harvested. Evidently we fall between survivalist and being prepared.
So awesome to be reminded of the things we still need to tackle! My challenge this month is to restock our herbal health products, and to get some more basic first aid stuff into the house after a summer of raiding the well-stocked first aid kit for bumps, bruises, and cuts. 🙂
Also, to finish up with stocking up on lamp oil, and batteries. 🙂
Thanks for holding this, new fan here. 🙂
~Heather @ The Welcoming House Blog
Need to work on go bag. This is great info.
Found you through The Welcoming House…nice site. We live rural and have trouble with power outages, so I stock up on matches and wax. I am learning how to make candles with beeswax and lard. I have been building my natural remedy first aid kit, Lavender oil and Tea tree oil are my two favorite things to use for everything. I have elderberry syrup and various tinctures.
Amazing! Just reevaluated our bags, First aid kits in the bags (check), need to do the house and vehicles kits. Our seed storage tons of seed packets or homemade envelopes stuffed in gallon freezer baggies. Alternative cooking well grill, and an open fire pit, this would be a great addition and can take it in the rv. I see they have a cook stove type one too!
I need to update our first aid kits.
WOW! I knew about some of the holes in our prepping, but WOW! I didn’t even think about some of the these topics. Thanks for the help identifying some more areas to work on.
I need as much help as possible to prep. I have a special needs child and am on a limited so any free items or give aways are great!!
What a wonderful giveaway! I hope I win and we are working on a seed bank but this would really help us be prepared 🙂
I need to update and restock our first aid kits. Also, store more water.
Lived thru one to many earthquakes to not be prepared. I update every year and change out to go bags every season. I no longer live in earthquake alley but we are supposed to have the 100yr Quake soon…
We just moved to a region with a totally different environment so we will be tackling creating a survival kit.
very interesting….I have a lot of work to do!!!
I need to update some of our preparations. The flooding in Colorado and the fires in California are such an encouragement to get this going. Thanks for the giveaway!
I need to get batteries for a lot of our flashlights and lanterns. Also, I should boost up our evacuation bags because we did come close to evacuation during hurricane Sandy.
Liked your review of the Versa Stove. I am going to order one after reading all the good reviews. If i win the one from this site, I’ll give it to my daughter for her prepping needs.
Love this challenge and your blog!
Thanks for the timely reminder about updating clothes in our bags! We last packed them in 90+ weather and while I made sure to include layers, it isn’t the same now that the nights are dropping into the 50-60s! And getting damp. 🙂 Also time to make sure the car is set for the upcoming season. I drive 100 miles a day or so, and you never know where or when you will get stuck. There is almost nothing better than being able to safely stop and get comfortable while waiting the situation out. (Better would be to have nothing happen, but hey! That’s why we prep!)
Great info!!!! I have done the majority of these already and am still working!!!!
Would love to win this!
I’ve cleaned-out, refreshed the contents of, and re-organized my bug-out-bags.
Nice Giveaway. Time to take inventory.
I am thrilled with this wonderful chance to get prepared when I can’t really afford to
So glad to find your blog and FB page! Great giveaway too. I really need to do some preparation and this is a good reminder! Would love to win the package.
Just bought my Versa and used it for the first time on the weekend , cooked Lamb Shanks & Vegetables. Can’t wait to use again hopefully this weekend..
This is a great giveaway, i own one of the EcoZoom stoves and it works perfectly. Wonderful asset to have in a bug-out scenario.
A really great giveaway. Have wanted one of these stoves for some time. Hope I win.
I keep reading about survival kits and never get around to them. This fall, it’s my plan to just do it. Now that we have a child, I feel a looming sense of extra responsibility to get this done. Awesome giveaway. We wouldn’t be able to get this stuff on our own!
really could use this
There is no question I need to tackle a ton of these. As I have a family with children I feel it’s priority to get the first aid kit and bug out bags in order asap.
I’ve slowly been building a good home first aid kit. Next I need to put together kits for the cars.
We’ve just installed all new carbon and fire alert monitors with all new batteries throughout the house, including the basement.
I will be updating my emergency power-out kits, replacing batteries in flashlights, and things like that this month.
We are in the process of moving. Once we are settled, I plan to update our first aid kit.
I restocked my Paramedic jump kit with up-to-date supplies and tested all of my gear. One benefit of being a medic is having that bag with me all the time! Good luck everyone!!
I have already updated our first aid kit and I am proactively seeking out first aid classes, CPR, etc. Need get the BOBs updated next (food should be refreshed). Also need check on winter supplies like salt, shovels, etc. Already have emergency roadside kits in each vehicle (flares, first aid kits, jumper cables, good spare, as well as food, water, blankets that heat when plugged into the charger, etc. It never ends. But we keep chipping away at it. Also have back up gas for the generator, rechargeable batteries, plenty of lanterns & flashlights but we are not ready in the firewood department. Ouch.
Just organizing as usual.
I’m preparing for a long snowy winter here in the Northeast. Canning everything from the summer garden and fall harvest. Stockpiling wood for heat and water if the power goes out. Making sure the Animals are prepared too by building shelters and stockpiling feed.
Been trying to put things together on a limited income. This would help me out greatly. Thanks for all you do to help others.
My first project will be a grab and go bag – a priority in hurricane areas. We have started using heirloom seeds in our garden and hopefully we will have chickens soon.
Am going to move from one side of Texas to the other in a couple of months so have been going through everything. My first aid kit is quite large but does need some resupplying. My BOB will have to be made over for the winter. My food storage will have to be re-stocked as well because I have been using it up instead of moving it due to space constrictions. Will also have to make provisions for the dog I just got. Thanks for the great giveaway and all the work you put into your blog.
The stove looks great! I will be checking and restocking my first aid kits and grab and go bag. I usually only check my kits and bag twice a year, but I just realized when I read this post that we added two new animals to our family this year, including a pet rabbit, so we need to make sure we have their needs met, too, in case of evacuation–a big concern after all the floods we’ve had this year!
I definitely need to update my first-aid kit. It is next on my to-do list.
We just went through a 4 day (mandatory) water boil advisory after e coli was found in a sample of our towns water. So I will be replacing water and bleach that we used during this time for starters. Thank you so much for all your information.
I hope I win that amazing stove! After reading this article, I double checked my first aid kits and EMT bag. I made sure the dog’s tags are up to date as is all my vet information. Thanks for the great post and giveaway.
We got a new medical kit plus some extras for it that were not included.
We are tackling crop and preservation rotation and car preparedness!
Hi, we have been working on getting our rabbitry set up. We will be eating our first rabbits in a few weeks. They are easy to care for and fast growing. Their meat, along with the chickens we raise for for food should reduce our grocery bill a lot!
I just completed my first aid/CERT bag last night. My next project is the family BOB’s. Cooking fuel has also been on my mind a lot lately.
I keep saying need to get the first aid together! Maybe this will be the time:)
We’re fairly well prepared, so we’ll make sure our batteries are all changed out: carbon monoxide, fire, flashlights, etc.
first aid kit done, working on the packs, phone numbers done,working on a meeting place at the moment, winning this would sure help out a single mom!! thanks for the chance ;-))
katrina
Awesome! You’ve done a lot of work during this challenge – good job!
Great giveaway! We’ll be updating our first aid kit. Hubby is doing his recert for First Responder so it’s a great time for us to clean out and fix up our at home and car kits!
This is something I really need to work on. I do have one question: when I went to the link for the medical kit, there were many other options below the one you selected. What are the differences between them all?
you’d have to read the product descriptions to get an accurate overview of what is included in each kit. Some sounds like they have a lot of stuff but really have many duplicates of the very basic supplies. In my car I like to try a larger kit just in case, although the kit in the van was stolen and has not yet been replaced. I am doing that this month! Lol
I think you need to just look through and find the balance of what your budget will allow + what your anticipated needs are. I know we live further out and I have first responder training so I’m going to want a beefier kit with more things available, including a CPR mask with one-way valve (important for sanitation/hygiene) in case of an emergency. Your needs may not be exactly the same. I took some time to show what appeared to be great examples in reasonable price points…I loved the medic kit with reflective orange coloring…smart.
I’ll be reevaluating the survival pack in the car sometime this month.
updating first aid kits and cycling food stock