On paper, an emergency kit is a self-contained bag that has all the necessary supplies you need to survive. It is actually one of your last lines of defense against the spread of disease, hunger, cold, thirst, and fear. The basic explanation of an emergency kit can be good enough for people to start preparing. However, in our experience, people really agree to prepare when an emergency occurs close to home. It could be as simple as a power outage or as extreme as a tornado. The fact is that you realize that you are not prepared and that scares you.

To help you answer the question “what is an emergency kit?” we have created two scenarios using a similar impact event. Scenario one describes a typical family’s response to an emergency. The second scenario shows us what a family can do if it begins to prepare for disasters.

Scenario one: unprepared family

You hear a loud noise, then all power goes out. It is dark. You can’t find the flashlight, when you find it, you realize you need batteries. Now you can’t find the extra batteries. You open the refrigerator door to get food, only to find that the food is spoiled. The tap water stopped working and her children cry because they are hungry. You need to know what’s going on, so you turn on your phone, only to find that it’s not working. All networks are down. You don’t have a radio, because who has a radio these days. It’s getting dark and the heat stopped working. It’s cold, so you wrap your family in whatever blankets you find. You start to smell something strange in the air.

Scenario two: family ready

You hear a loud noise, then all power goes out. It’s dark so get the emergency kit out of the closet. You take out the emergency candle and light it with the matches that are inside. Light up the whole room. You take out your emergency flashlight and give it to your son. You ask him to find the deck of cards inside the emergency kit so you can prepare a game of “go fishing.” In the meantime, take out the emergency radio and listen for updates. He learned that a terrorist attack took place and that poison gas is spreading rapidly throughout the city. The police ordered everyone to take shelter at the scene.

You take your family into a windowless room and use duct tape to seal all the cracks in the doors, all without scaring your kids or missing your turn to “go fishing.” Your children begin to complain of being hungry. So, take the emergency freeze dried food out of your emergency kit and provide a delicious gourmet meal for your family. All he needed was water from his emergency water bags. He takes a quick inventory of his supplies and finds that he has enough food and water to sustain himself for three days.

An emergency kit helps your family better cope with many types of emergency situations, from power outages to spoiled food to heat generation. An emergency team is there to help you when you need it most.