Conference Notes (Part 1 of 7) The Go Bag

I just got back from an anti-terrorism conference. Lots of good information was presented and I have a stack of notes to go through but I figured if I cover one topic each day for the next week, that should get me organized, get my notes transposed, and allow me to share a bit of what was learned. Some of the information is more government/industry/CEO oriented but much of the information is applicable to everyone. First topic--the Go Bag:

• When the speaker had everyone list the contents of their Go Bag, it was just as he said it would be--no two bags had the same contents.
• Your Go Bag needs to be specifically tailored to YOUR needs, not based off of a list for anyone else (ie: medical people included scrubs and medical equipment that they would use for work, those who would be out and about during an incident were very specific about the firearms/ammo they would need, CEOs considered a portable hard drive with all of their corporate info backed up on it essential, etc).
• Your Go Bag should allow you to take care of ALL of your needs for 48-96 hours. Many people grab their Go Bag during a disaster and then they are off to help others. You cannot help others who are lacking food/water/medicines/shelter/etc. if you don't have enough food, water, medicine, or shelter to take care of yourself. If you don't have these items, you will be in the same situation as the people you are there to help.
• Your Go Bag should be tailored to the place/region you will be in.
• It is common practice to dump out, revise, and repack your Go Bag each season and/or before a deployment to various parts of the world.
• Everyone had more than one Go Bag; one for the car, one for the home, and one for the office. Be sure to keep your home Go Bag in an outside shed or near the door of your home/garage. Should the building be destroyed, you won't have to dig too deep into the structure to find your bag.
• Keep a written checklist of the contents of your Go Bag. This is good for quick packing and to ensure that you don't forget anything. Be sure to revise your checklist regularly.
• Be sure to add to your bag: a spare set of keys, a handwritten contact list, a power inverter which you can plug into any car lighter to charge your cell/radio/etc, copies of all of your important documents (passport, insurance, birth certificate), etc.
• PPEs are becoming more and more necessary: rubber gloves, masks, and eye protection are the basics.
• On a side note, we got into chatting about home preparedness and while I have the requisite 5 gallon bucket with plastic bags and a tight lid to use for a latrine if needed, one guy suggested adding cat litter to the set up--it allows you to use the bucket longer between bag changes and reduces the smell (just shake the contents a bit).