Cooking Without Power

This was printed in today's ward bulletin. I'll add something after.

"Disruption of gas and/or electrical power means that most stoves will be out of commission. The most common alternative is a propane BBQ. Ensure that you have a second bottle of propane safely stored for backup. Or store wood, especially if you have a wood burning fireplace. You can cook with a Dutch oven in your fireplace, or with briquettes outside. NEVER BURN BRIQUETTES INSIDE. Attend a lesson on Dutch oven cooking. There are other fuel sources that can be stored safely (e.g. wet fire fuel), but realistically a BBQ and a Dutch oven will get you through."

On the warning of briquette use indoors, this is largely due to the amount of carbon monoxide that they can produce. For more information, check out the following link: http://www.ehow.com/info_8122802_dangers-charcoal-briquettes.html

For some Dutch oven recipes, check out Dutch Oven Dude. Lots of good stuff there. Feel free to leave some of your own in the comments.

72 Hour Kit Part 2

Time for Part 2 of what to include in your 72 hour kits.

• Enough food for each person in your household for 72 hours. Naturally this is food that is non-perishable. While eating gourmet meals is not the goal, neither is a box of granola bars per person. Also, if you have a baby or two in the family, make sure that you have sufficient formula mix for them
• A manual can opener. Having canned food means nothing if you can't get into it
• Water. Each person should have 2 L of water per day, or 6 L of water total. This will easily become the heaviest part in your kit, so if you have more than one kit, spread the water around in smaller bottles.
• Emergency contact numbers. You may think that your cell phone will be enough for all emergency numbers, but do not count on that being your only source for those numbers. A small pad of paper with emergency numbers on it will be perfect if something happens to your phone. Keeping the pad in a Ziploc bag is a cheap and easy way to water proof it
• A whistle to get people's attention
•  An extra set of keys for your house and at least one vehicle
• An emergency reflective blanket

As always, keep your kits in an easy to reach part of your home and make sure that all members of the household know how to access it. For the food and water, make sure you go through and rotate each item. I would suggest that each 6 months take half of what you have in your kits and use them, replacing them with fresh food and water. If you get in the habit of this, you won't find the food has spoiled when you need it the most.

What to include in your 72 hour kits

Aside from the usual food and drinking water needed for each member of your household for the 72 hour period, here are some things that come highly recommended:

• first aid kit/supplies 
• medicine as required, ranging from headache and cold medication for general use to specifics such as insulin for diabetics
• a change of clothing for each person
• cold weather clothes such as hats, mittens, woolen socks, etc.
• matches (waterproof is best)
• some cash (at least $100,. best to have it in small bills. Travelers checks are good too)
• Flashlight (if it is one that requires batteries, include extra batteries as well

There are several more good ideas to put in our kit, but make sure that the kit is in a spot that is easy to get to and that you can carry with you very easily. Some suggestions that I have heard include a large suitcase, backpacks, and duffle bags. You may also want to consider having the kit divided into two or more kits, depending on how many able-bodied people in your home that could carry a bag.

Post if you have questions or comments!

Welcome to the Rockyview Ward Emergency Preparedness Blog

Welcome to the blog! It is my intent to keep this blog up to date with all you need to prepare your family and yourself for emergency situations.

This year the Stake Presidency has asked that all members of the Calgary Alberta West Stake to have their 72 hour kits ready. A 72 hour kit should include enough food, water, medicine, clothing, and emergency supplies for every member of your household for three days. This kit can be divided into separate kits so that more than one member of the family can carry them. These kits should be easy to transport and accessible in an emergency. You can look at the links below for more information.

http://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng#10

https://shop.redcross.ca/en/P-395056001081/72%20HR%20Disaster%20Preparedness%20Kit.aspx

http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/kts/bsc-kt-eng.aspx