Everyday Bag

I keep a small everyday bag stocked with important items that I grab anytime I leave the house, not just for emergencies. It clips under my wheelchair with two carabiners. Here’s what’s in it:

  • Wallet
  • Medications, both daily and rescue
  • Hand sanitizer, baby wipes, tissues, bandana
  • Lotion, lip balm
  • Sunglasses, ear plugs
  • Notebook and pen
  • A lanyard I can use to hang my phone around my neck
  • Bottle of water
  • Protein bar
  • N95 masks
  • An N95 mask with a SIP valve installed, and straws
  • Personal air purifier with a HEPA filter, charged
  • solar powered battery bank that can recharge my phone or air purifier
  • Cables

I also keep a few items in my wheelchair bag:

  • Poncho
  • Small towel
  • Turkish towel

Bugout Bag

Where I live I worry about a couple of specific situations: flood, fire, or the possibility of hospitalization. I keep a backpack packed in my bedroom closet that I can grab if I ever have to leave on very short notice for one of those things. Here’s what’s in it:

Paperwork

I keep papers in a jumbo size Ziploc bag to protect them from water. There are two categories of documents, one that is general, and one that is specific to my health needs.

Emergency documents

  • Passport
  • Copy of driver’s license
  • Car title and insurance
  • Lease
  • Renters insurance policy
  • NYSEG (gas and electric) bill
  • Emergency account info: bank accounts, etc
  • Emergency contacts: A printout of contact information for anyone important I might need to contact or use as a resource
  • Pet Microchip data and photos
  • Pet Vaccine records
  • When I have my documents completed, I will also have a copy of my will and power of attorney here as well
  • Local map

Emergency health care packet

  • Cover sheet: My most critical health information distilled down to a few large print bullet points on the front side of a single piece of paper.
  • A contact list of and for my health care decision making team
  • A detailed document for my health care decision making team about my illnesses and wishes. This is anything I can think of that would help someone keep me safe in a hospitalization situation.
  • Family health history
  • Medication list: List of all medications and supplements I take and dosages
  • Medication timetable: A written schedule of how I take my medications and their dosage
  • Pain Scale
  • Health Care Proxy
  • Copies of insurance cards and MMJ license
  • Documentation that is specific to my illnesses and management

Basic safety items

  • Cash
  • Headlamp + batteries
  • Whistle
  • Solar Charger and cable (alt flashlight)
  • Cables to charge electronics, including an extra of any unusual proprietary charging cables. For me that’s the watch I use for heart rate pacing.
  • Lantern + batteries
  • N95 Face masks
  • Gloves
  • Wipes
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Ziploc bags, trash bags and ties
  • Urinal
  • TP?

Personal Comfort and Autonomic Regulation

  • Tissues
  • Instant cold packs
  • Instant heat packs
  • Emergency blanket
  • Ear plugs
  • Eye mask
  • Lotion
  • Soap
  • Toothbrush + toothpaste
  • Face cleanser/wipes
  • Nail clippers
  • (Brush/comb) I don’t personally need this, but many would
  • Travel pillow

Medical

  • 3-5 days of pill boxes
  • Trioral packs (electrolyte powder)
  • Lidocaine

Food

Food is something that particularly concerns me as I have a severely limited diet and do not normally eat outside my home. Most shelf-stable food is also not safe for me, so I have to make some compromises.

  • Survival Tabs
  • Granola bars, protein bars, jerky, rice crackers, nuts, instant coffee
  • Water

Clothing

I don’t worry about this as much as most people would, because I’m not normally able to change my clothes very often. I’m mostly thinking about what I would do if my clothes got wet or muddy.

  • Underwear
  • Shirt
  • Pants
  • Flip flops
  • Scarf
  • Compression socks
  • Hat and gloves

Pet Needs

I have a medium size storage container with a tight fitting lid that can be easily grabbed. I try to rotate edible items through a few times a year.

  • I keep a plastic sheet protector taped to the inside of the box with important documents stored in it. Vaccine records, microchip information, and photos of your pets and you together.
  • A bottle of water
  • Enough food for a week is a good start
  • Bowls or something that can serve as them. I like to use heavy plastic takeout containers with lids.
  • Treats!
  • A toy or two
  • Medications if needed
  • Something that will help keep your pets calm, CBD, pheromone collars or sprays, or something like diphenhydramine or other medication recommended by your veterinarian.
  • A towel or two, old washcloth, baby wipes, a plastic bag – anything you might need to deal with an accident or other cleanup.
  • For cats, consider a disposable cardboard litterbox, or an aluminum roasting pan, or a plastic storage container with a lid. Litter and a scoop (and a bag to keep the scoop in).
  • For cats, also consider a harness and leash even if you don’t normally use one.
  • For cats or small dogs, consider the right carrier for evacuation. It might be a hard plastic carrier, a soft sided carrier, or a backpack. I like a backpack that is short enough to sit on my lap in my wheelchair so that I can see over it.
  • For dogs, you might want a spare collar, especially a Martingale style that is difficult for them of get out if if the are scared.
  • For dogs, extra poop bags and a bag to put used ones in.
  • While my dog used a regular leash with her walkers, I used a runner’s leash that went around my waist if I needed to take her out with my wheelchair.

Additional Items

If I had a car and time and was facing something like a flood or hurricane, there are certainly other things I would take. I think it’s useful to think about this list in advance and document it somewhere so that if the opportunity arises the thinking work has already been done.

I think I have a few vague criteria for these, things that would be useful and ease the recovery process, things that would create a bit of comfort and ease.

Some things I would add:

  • Several changes of clothes, maybe 5-7
  • Reading glasses, headphones
  • My current journals/planner
  • Laptop, stylus and charger
  • Tablet and charger
  • All my medications and supplements that I have and am currently taking
  • Pillows and a favorite blanket (I live with chronic pain and sensory issues)
  • Air purifier and Aranet4
  • Molecular COVID testing system

If I had even more time and space and expected my home might be destroyed I would add things that are either irreplaceable or would bring even more ease/comfort/joy in the weeks/month after:

  • All my journals and sketchbooks
  • Back up hard drive
  • A painting or two that I made
  • Some favorite mugs (these are comfort items for me)
  • Personal/family cookbooks
  • My favorite hard to replace crochet hooks
  • My watercolors and brushes
  • 1-2 specific items from each of my ancestors that feels like an important memory.
  • A stuffed animal or two, or other memory from childhood

Things I would not take

Crisis can make us make strange choices. I was not at home when my home caught on fire in the 1990s. But because I was on vacation, I had certain things with me. I went through the process of displacement and sense-making, of inventorying and replacement. And of over 30 years wondering what happened to the thing. It taught me a lot. Every retreat and bonding exercise I’ve done since about what I’d take in a fire, or what I’d want on a deserted island, has hit quite differently.

  • I don’t keep a lot of photographs around, and the ones I have are not easy to get to. I have enough things scanned and backed up that I would probably let this go.
  • Things I can easily replace through insurance: art supplies, books, music, bedding, household goods. Really anything in this broad category.
  • The rest of my artwork. This might feel hard. But there’s a lot. And it would be hard and awkward and time consuming. And there’s often no good place to put it. I’ve lost a lot of it already over the years, and it’s ok. There might be a couple extra pieces I’d grab, but not stacks and inventory.
  • My plants. It feels too difficult to try to tend to them in a crisis that’s going to already require a lot to tend to me and my animals.
  • Clothes and jewelry I don’t normally wear.
  • Random items just because I see them. I’m sure there might be an exception or two. But I would aim for thoughful planning and discernment.