Hope this isn't a thread hijack. 
We have spent the last few months amping up our ability to evacuate quickly in case of wildfire (the Slave Lake AB fire helped to spur us on--wildfires completely decimated a town of 7000 a few hours north of us back in May, and we live in a suburban neighborhood on the edge of the city next to forested and grassland areas). The sunsets have been very red and the air smoky some days these past couple of weeks due to wildfires in the area and one never knows.
We have a grab list posted inside the front door coat closet of what to grab out of the closet (72-hour kit, emergency contact list, binder of important papers, passports, box of photo negatives and digital photo backup hard drive), the pet carrier is in the main floor laundry room, and everyone has a 72-hour kit at work/school (we get winter blizzards and there may be a time when everyone is stuck and can't get home so everyone has food, water, and basic supplies) plus the one here at the house, and we have the usual emergency kit in the car (first aid kit, basic tools, winter items).
The 72-hour kit at school is something that perhaps others don't do (and may not be feasible for younger kids) but our 2 teenagers each have 3 neoprene pencil cases in a drawstring gym strip bag in their lockers at their schools containing:
72-Hour Emergency Kit: Flashlight/batteries, Hand-warmers, Gloves, Toque, Socks, Matches, Candle, First Aid kit, Tylenol, Emergency blanket, Sewing kit, Duct Tape, Notebook/pen, Deck of cards, City map, $20 in coins, Emergency contact list
6 Water bottles and a 72-Hour Emergency Food Kit: 6 Granola Bars, 3 Trail Mix, 6 Fruit Leather, 3 cans Pork & Beans, 3 Fruit Cups, small Stainless Steel Bowl, Spoon, Emergency contact list
72-Hour Personal Hygiene Kit: Toothbrush, Bar of Soap, Washcloth Tablets, Sanitary Pads, individually wrapped Wet Wipes, Hand Sanitizer, Q-tips, Tissues, Emergency contact list
Each kid has an Emergency Contact list in each of the 3 kits as well as in their wallets with phone numbers for all family members including our out of town contact so they can check in either by cell phone or school land line. The bag 'o stuff fits easily into their school backpacks should they need to take it anywhere, and they also always have a change of clothing (gym strip) in their gym lockers plus whatever coat/jacket/outdoor layers they wore to school that day so we feel they are pretty prepared to go it alone for a while.
Hubs has a zippered nylon bag containing similar items (slightly different food choices plus a hand-crank radio, work gloves and basic tools) in his desk drawer at work.
We have spent the last few months amping up our ability to evacuate quickly in case of wildfire (the Slave Lake AB fire helped to spur us on--wildfires completely decimated a town of 7000 a few hours north of us back in May, and we live in a suburban neighborhood on the edge of the city next to forested and grassland areas). The sunsets have been very red and the air smoky some days these past couple of weeks due to wildfires in the area and one never knows.
We have a grab list posted inside the front door coat closet of what to grab out of the closet (72-hour kit, emergency contact list, binder of important papers, passports, box of photo negatives and digital photo backup hard drive), the pet carrier is in the main floor laundry room, and everyone has a 72-hour kit at work/school (we get winter blizzards and there may be a time when everyone is stuck and can't get home so everyone has food, water, and basic supplies) plus the one here at the house, and we have the usual emergency kit in the car (first aid kit, basic tools, winter items).
The 72-hour kit at school is something that perhaps others don't do (and may not be feasible for younger kids) but our 2 teenagers each have 3 neoprene pencil cases in a drawstring gym strip bag in their lockers at their schools containing:
72-Hour Emergency Kit: Flashlight/batteries, Hand-warmers, Gloves, Toque, Socks, Matches, Candle, First Aid kit, Tylenol, Emergency blanket, Sewing kit, Duct Tape, Notebook/pen, Deck of cards, City map, $20 in coins, Emergency contact list
6 Water bottles and a 72-Hour Emergency Food Kit: 6 Granola Bars, 3 Trail Mix, 6 Fruit Leather, 3 cans Pork & Beans, 3 Fruit Cups, small Stainless Steel Bowl, Spoon, Emergency contact list
72-Hour Personal Hygiene Kit: Toothbrush, Bar of Soap, Washcloth Tablets, Sanitary Pads, individually wrapped Wet Wipes, Hand Sanitizer, Q-tips, Tissues, Emergency contact list
Each kid has an Emergency Contact list in each of the 3 kits as well as in their wallets with phone numbers for all family members including our out of town contact so they can check in either by cell phone or school land line. The bag 'o stuff fits easily into their school backpacks should they need to take it anywhere, and they also always have a change of clothing (gym strip) in their gym lockers plus whatever coat/jacket/outdoor layers they wore to school that day so we feel they are pretty prepared to go it alone for a while.
Hubs has a zippered nylon bag containing similar items (slightly different food choices plus a hand-crank radio, work gloves and basic tools) in his desk drawer at work.
