On paper, an emergency kit is a self-contained bag that has all the 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 may be good enough to get people started preparing. However, in our experience, people do agree to prepare when an emergency strikes close to home. It can 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 it scares you.

To help you answer the question “what is an emergency kit?” we have set up two scenarios using a similar impact event. Scenario one describes a typical family response to an emergency. Scenario two shows us what a family can do if they start preparing for disasters.

Scenario one: family not prepared

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 it needs batteries. Now it can’t find the extra batteries. You open the refrigerator door to buy food, only to realize that the food is spoiled. The tap water stopped working and your children cry because they are hungry. You need to know what’s going on, so you turn on your phone and realize 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 heating stopped working. It’s cold, so you wrap your family in whatever blankets you can find. You start to smell something funny in the air.

Scenario Two: Prepared Family

You hear a loud noise, then all power goes out. It’s dark, so you get your 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 in the emergency kit so you can set up a game of “go fishing.” In the meantime, pull out the emergency radio and listen for updates. You have heard that a terrorist attack took place and that poison gas is spreading rapidly throughout the city. Police have ordered everyone to shelter in place.

He takes his family to a room with no windows and uses duct tape to seal all the cracks in the doors without scaring his kids or losing his turn to go-fish. Her children begin to complain of being hungry. So take emergency freeze-dried food out of your emergency kit and provide a delicious gourmet meal for your family. All she needed was water from her emergency water bags. You take a quick inventory of your supplies and realize you have enough food and water to last you for three days.

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