{ "slug": "emergency-kit", "url": "https://checklists.org/emergency-kit", "markdown": "https://checklists.org/emergency-kit.md", "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" } ], "intro": "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.", "itemCount": 28, "essentialCount": 11, "sections": [ { "title": "Water and food", "items": [ { "id": "1mi87vk", "text": "Store one gallon of water per person per day, for at least three days", "note": "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.", "essential": true }, { "id": "7hmijb", "text": "Add a backup way to make water safe: unscented household bleach or purification tablets", "note": "Ratio to write on the bottle: 8 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of plain 6% bleach per gallon of clear water, wait 30 minutes.", "essential": true }, { "id": "cxk67q", "text": "Stock at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food per person", "note": "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.", "essential": true }, { "id": "1yansw5", "text": "Pack a manual can opener, utensils, and paper plates", "note": "A kit full of cans and no opener is the classic failure mode.", "essential": true } ] }, { "title": "First aid, light, and communication", "items": [ { "id": "1nhj0ux", "text": "Assemble or buy a full first aid kit", "note": "Bandages, gauze, tape, antiseptic, tweezers, gloves, pain reliever, antihistamine, and a first aid instruction card.", "essential": true }, { "id": "knispo", "text": "Pack one flashlight per person, plus extra batteries", "note": "Store batteries outside the devices so they can't corrode the contacts. Skip candles — post-disaster fires are common.", "essential": true }, { "id": "1t435et", "text": "Add a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, NOAA weather radio if possible", "note": "When cell networks are down, broadcast radio is how official instructions reach you.", "essential": true }, { "id": "1ijfafv", "text": "Add backup phone power: charged power banks or a hand-crank/solar charger", "note": "Recharge stored power banks on the same schedule you rotate food." }, { "id": "1om76be", "text": "Pack a whistle", "note": "Three blasts is the distress signal; a whistle carries much farther and longer than shouting from rubble." }, { "id": "189qtai", "text": "Add basic tools: wrench or pliers, multi-tool, duct tape, work gloves", "note": "The wrench is for shutting off gas at the meter — tie it near the kit or the meter, and learn the valve now." }, { "id": "1w9mgam", "text": "Add dust masks and plastic sheeting", "note": "For filtering contaminated air and sealing a room in place." } ] }, { "title": "Documents and cash", "items": [ { "id": "1uojhmw", "text": "Copy key documents into a waterproof bag: IDs, insurance policies, bank info, deeds, medical lists", "note": "Add a digital set on a password-protected USB drive or in cloud storage. After a disaster these are what rebuild your life." }, { "id": "vtt7q1", "text": "Include a written contact list and a family meeting plan", "note": "Phones die and numbers live in them. Include an out-of-state contact — long-distance calls often connect when local networks are jammed." }, { "id": "1euibn7", "text": "Stash cash in small bills", "note": "ATMs and card readers need power. A few hundred dollars in fives, tens, and twenties buys fuel, food, and lodging when nothing else works." }, { "id": "lj9bd3", "text": "Add local paper maps with evacuation routes marked", "note": "Navigation apps need cell towers and battery, both scarce." } ] }, { "title": "Sanitation and comfort", "items": [ { "id": "4ckfqb", "text": "Pack sanitation supplies: toilet paper, moist towelettes, soap, garbage bags with ties", "note": "Bags plus a bucket is the fallback toilet; ties matter more than you'd think." }, { "id": "1ounzgu", "text": "Add feminine hygiene supplies and personal care items" }, { "id": "1rrrhzd", "text": "Pack a change of clothes and sturdy shoes per person, plus warm blankets or sleeping bags", "note": "Season-check the clothes when you rotate supplies — last winter's kit may hold summer clothes." }, { "id": "v7jibf", "text": "Add a lighter or waterproof matches in a sealed container" } ] }, { "title": "Special needs", "items": [ { "id": "e7t458", "text": "Store at least a week of prescription medications, rotated with each refill", "note": "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.", "essential": true }, { "id": "1vvsrrt", "text": "Pack spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, and backup medical equipment supplies", "note": "Anything battery- or power-dependent (CPAP, oxygen, mobility) needs a written power-outage plan.", "when": "medical-needs", "essential": true }, { "id": "1wwn8os", "text": "Add infant supplies: formula, bottles, diapers, wipes, rash cream", "note": "Size up the diapers when you rotate — babies outgrow the kit fast.", "when": "infants", "essential": true }, { "id": "fs89rd", "text": "Add pet supplies: three days of food, water, medications, leash, carrier, vaccination records", "note": "Many shelters only take pets with proof of vaccination.", "when": "pets", "essential": true }, { "id": "172j5ap", "text": "Duplicate a smaller go-bag version for each car and workplace", "note": "Disasters don't wait for you to be home. The car kit adds jumper cables, a blanket, and seasonal gear." } ] }, { "title": "Maintenance schedule", "items": [ { "id": "uuhs4c", "text": "Store the kit in portable containers in a cool, dry, known spot", "note": "Bins or backpacks everyone in the household can find in the dark. Tell everyone where it is." }, { "id": "1u964z0", "text": "Set a twice-yearly calendar reminder to service the kit", "note": "Tie it to daylight saving clock changes so it actually happens." }, { "id": "j35g0u", "text": "At each service: replace expiring food, water, and medications; recharge power banks; re-fit clothes", "note": "Check can dents and swelling, battery corrosion, and document currency. Replace commercially bottled water by its date." }, { "id": "1xc24y8", "text": "Re-evaluate the kit after any household change", "note": "New baby, new pet, new prescription, new address — each one changes what three days of self-sufficiency looks like." } ] } ] }