You never quite know when an emergency at home can strike. Thunderstorms, snowstorms, broken water mains, fires, fallen trees, floods, power outages, and even the extreme ones, like earthquakes.
Any type of natural situation or events could happen to or around your home, at any given moment. They could leave you and your family with limited access to the amenities you’re used to, and in the winter, this is possibly most people’s worst nightmare!
It’s worth spending an afternoon once in a while to take stock of how well-prepared your home actually is for unexpected emergencies. Perhaps you don’t live in a flood zone area, but everyone is susceptible to power cuts and fires.
Here’s a list of items handy to have in your home for those emergencies:
1. Candles
This one may seem like an obvious one, but imagine your power went out completely – just how many candles do you really have to hand? Yes, the nice vanilla scented jar candles you display around your fireplace will light up that specific area, but what you really need is an abundance of them to give off enough light.
When the power goes out, candles are an easy and inexpensive way to provide temporary lighting. If you stock up on tea lights, you can get packs of 20 at really cheap prices. Just be sure to store them somewhere where they’ll be easy to retrieve in total darkness and keep a lighter or matches nearby.
An even better option is to store a battery-powered camping lantern, as candles can be tricky when you have small children running around. These can provide hundreds of hours of illumination without being a fire hazard.
2. A portable generator
In some parts of the world, power cuts are quite common and last for days on end until the houses are back up and running. It’s in these situations that relying on candles for light and a bit of heat doesn’t cut it.
A portable generator is super useful to have stored in the house. A portable generator can save households lots of money by powering up mission-critical appliances in the event of a power outage. A portable generator not only means you can run your domestic appliances, but it also offers a real sense of security during and after severe weather events. If you think about it, when a power cut strikes, you have nothing to power your lights, heating, refrigerators, freezers and any at-home entertainment.
Portable generators can be tailored to any electrical application, and you can browse an extended range from Able Sales.
3. First-aid kit
A fully stocked first-aid kit is something that a lot of people tell themselves they will sort one day, and then rarely get round to it. It’s so important to have a full kit readily prepared to assist to yourself or your family in the event of an accident.
Having a fully kitted out first-aid kit may buy you precious time while you wait for paramedics to arrive, should the unfortunate event of an accident take place. It’s always useful to make your own, as they are so easy and cheap to create. But, if time isn’t really on your side for these types of things, you can always buy a pre-assembled kit. Assuming you’re not a nurse or doctor yourself, don’t forget to include a first-aid booklet as well – kits are only valuable if you know how to use them appropriately! And it may be a family member who needs the kit to help you.
4. Heavy blankets
An array of heavy blankets are not only great as a backup in your home for when the heating cuts out in winter, but also good to keep in your car, too. In an unfortunate scenario, perhaps your car breaks down miles away from any help and you’re temporarily stranded while waiting for assistance. If the engine is still working, you can make some use of the heater, but experts recommend running your engine no more than ten minutes per hour to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Warm blankets are a must for these situations.
Going back to the home, you can store a range of heavy blankets at the top of your wardrobe, and when the temperature drops, you have a supply ready and waiting.
5. Bin bags or plastic sheeting
In case of the awful event of flooding or water damage happens in your home, it’s handy to have a supply of bin bags or plastic sheeting. These can be laid out on the floor, used to wrap around your feet/shoes, used to stuff into gaps, secures pipes that are leaking, or anything which needs waterproof material protection.
There are, of course, so many other items worth stocking in your home, like torch lights, water bottles and lighters, but these listed above make a great starting point.
Remember not to leave it until a scenario occurs to be fully prepared!
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