--- title: Building a 72-Hour Emergency Kit description: Assemble and maintain a household kit that keeps everyone supplied for at least three days without help. category: safety tags: [home, safety, preparedness] version: "1.0" updated: 2026-07-07 sources: - name: Ready.gov — Build a Kit url: https://www.ready.gov/kit - name: American Red Cross — Survival Kit Supplies url: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/survival-kit-supplies.html --- Federal guidance assumes help may not arrive for 72 hours after a disaster. Build for every member of the household — including pets — and store the kit in containers you can carry out the door. ## Water and food - [ ] Store one gallon of water per person per day, for at least three days `{essential}` Half for drinking, half for sanitation. Hot climates, children, nursing mothers, and illness all push the number up. Commercially bottled water is the safest and easiest to store. - [ ] Add a backup way to make water safe: unscented household bleach or purification tablets `{essential}` Ratio to write on the bottle: 8 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of plain 6% bleach per gallon of clear water, wait 30 minutes. - [ ] Stock at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food per person `{essential}` Ready-to-eat and no-cook: canned meat and beans, peanut butter, crackers, dried fruit, bars. Favor foods your household already eats — a disaster is a bad time to discover nobody will touch the rations. - [ ] Pack a manual can opener, utensils, and paper plates `{essential}` A kit full of cans and no opener is the classic failure mode. ## First aid, light, and communication - [ ] Assemble or buy a full first aid kit `{essential}` Bandages, gauze, tape, antiseptic, tweezers, gloves, pain reliever, antihistamine, and a first aid instruction card. - [ ] Pack one flashlight per person, plus extra batteries `{essential}` Store batteries outside the devices so they can't corrode the contacts. Skip candles — post-disaster fires are common. - [ ] Add a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, NOAA weather radio if possible `{essential}` When cell networks are down, broadcast radio is how official instructions reach you. - [ ] Add backup phone power: charged power banks or a hand-crank/solar charger Recharge stored power banks on the same schedule you rotate food. - [ ] Pack a whistle Three blasts is the distress signal; a whistle carries much farther and longer than shouting from rubble. - [ ] Add basic tools: wrench or pliers, multi-tool, duct tape, work gloves The wrench is for shutting off gas at the meter — tie it near the kit or the meter, and learn the valve now. - [ ] Add dust masks and plastic sheeting For filtering contaminated air and sealing a room in place. ## Documents and cash - [ ] Copy key documents into a waterproof bag: IDs, insurance policies, bank info, deeds, medical lists Add a digital set on a password-protected USB drive or in cloud storage. After a disaster these are what rebuild your life. - [ ] Include a written contact list and a family meeting plan Phones die and numbers live in them. Include an out-of-state contact — long-distance calls often connect when local networks are jammed. - [ ] Stash cash in small bills ATMs and card readers need power. A few hundred dollars in fives, tens, and twenties buys fuel, food, and lodging when nothing else works. - [ ] Add local paper maps with evacuation routes marked Navigation apps need cell towers and battery, both scarce. ## Sanitation and comfort - [ ] Pack sanitation supplies: toilet paper, moist towelettes, soap, garbage bags with ties Bags plus a bucket is the fallback toilet; ties matter more than you'd think. - [ ] Add feminine hygiene supplies and personal care items - [ ] Pack a change of clothes and sturdy shoes per person, plus warm blankets or sleeping bags Season-check the clothes when you rotate supplies — last winter's kit may hold summer clothes. - [ ] Add a lighter or waterproof matches in a sealed container ## Special needs - [ ] Store at least a week of prescription medications, rotated with each refill `{essential}` Ask your pharmacist or insurer about an emergency supply — many states let you fill early for preparedness. Include a written list of drugs, doses, and prescribers. - [ ] Pack spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, and backup medical equipment supplies `{when: medical-needs}` `{essential}` Anything battery- or power-dependent (CPAP, oxygen, mobility) needs a written power-outage plan. - [ ] Add infant supplies: formula, bottles, diapers, wipes, rash cream `{when: infants}` `{essential}` Size up the diapers when you rotate — babies outgrow the kit fast. - [ ] Add pet supplies: three days of food, water, medications, leash, carrier, vaccination records `{when: pets}` `{essential}` Many shelters only take pets with proof of vaccination. - [ ] Duplicate a smaller go-bag version for each car and workplace Disasters don't wait for you to be home. The car kit adds jumper cables, a blanket, and seasonal gear. ## Maintenance schedule - [ ] Store the kit in portable containers in a cool, dry, known spot Bins or backpacks everyone in the household can find in the dark. Tell everyone where it is. - [ ] Set a twice-yearly calendar reminder to service the kit Tie it to daylight saving clock changes so it actually happens. - [ ] At each service: replace expiring food, water, and medications; recharge power banks; re-fit clothes Check can dents and swelling, battery corrosion, and document currency. Replace commercially bottled water by its date. - [ ] Re-evaluate the kit after any household change New baby, new pet, new prescription, new address — each one changes what three days of self-sufficiency looks like.