An emergency kit at home

Components of an emergency kit (including a first aid kit)

An emergency kit is a set of items that are useful in a crisis situation. By preparing a kit at home, you are ready to evacuate quickly or stay at home for several hours or days, even without electricity, water, gas or internet.

What do you need to look out for?

Preparing an emergency kit is not complicated. Some tips:

Customised: the contents of an emergency kit vary from person to person. Make a list of the things you or members of your household absolutely need in the event of a rapid evacuation (e.g. specific medicines). Also think about the items you will need if your home is without electricity, water or Internet for a while (e.g. pet food). Keep a supply of these items in a permanent place.
72 hours: throughout the European Union, it is recommended to have an emergency kit at home, so that you can be self-sufficient for at least 3 days (72 hours).
Inexpensive: you do not need to buy an expensive emergency kit. Most of your belongings are already at home, or can be shared with neighbours (e.g. a radio).
An accessible place: store your kit in an accessible part of your home, where everyone knows where it is.

What is in an emergency kit?

Your emergency kit consists of two parts: a backpack or bag that you can take with you quickly, which contains a number of important basic items, and an emergency kit for the home, in case you need to take shelter and can't leave your home, or if you are without electricity, water, telephone or internet for a while.

Basic items you can take quickly

It is best to keep these items in a backpack or bag that you can take with you quickly.

Important documents. Remember to bring copies of your insurance policies.
A list of your family and friends' telephone numbers and a few emergency numbers (e.g. your gas, water and electricity supplier, the control centre of your alarm system, your GP, your insurance company).
Copies of all identity cards.
A pen and paper.
Do you or a member of your family need to take essential medication? Keep a reserve supply in your bag. Ask your pharmacist or GP for a list of medicines.
A mobile phone charger and an external battery.
Some cash.

If you have children, also think about:

Nappies
Change of clothes
Special baby food, if necessary
Some toys

If you have pets, also provide the following items:

Medicines or list of medicines.
Pet passport, vaccination record and contact details of the vet.
A collar, harness or carrier adapted to your pet. Do you have exotic pets? Make sure you can transport them safely, and that you include the necessary equipment (food, etc.) in your emergency kit.
A recent photo of your pet.
Some toys.

Things to have at home

Food and drinks

Bottled water. Envisage between 3 and 10 litres per person per day.
Food with a long shelf-life that does not require water or electricity to prepare, such as nuts, cookies and preserves.

Do not let these products go out of date. Use them regularly and renew them. Keep these supplies in a dry place. Be careful if you store things in your cellar or garage: these places are more exposed to flooding.

Health

A basic first-aid kit: bandages, dressings, compresses, scissors, tweezers, safety pins, painkillers, disinfectants, etc.
Tissues, wet wipes, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sanitary towels and disinfectant gel.
Iodine tablets. Only take these on the recommendation of the authorities. To find out more, visit: nuclearrisk.be

Light, heat and electronics

A flashlight, preferably dynamo-powered. If you prefer a battery-powered lamp, bring spare batteries.
A battery-powered radio. That way, you can listen to the media in the event of a power outage.
A lighter or matches.
Candles or tea lights.  
Blankets for extra warmth.

Children

Baby food.
Nappies.
Change of clothes.
Some toys.

Pets

Food, water and bowls.
A chew toy.
A collar, transport cage, excrement bags.
A photo of your pet.

 Other

A multifunction pocket knife. 
A whistle to alert your presence to the emergency services.
Cash to buy a few essentials when you can no longer pay online or withdraw money. Envisage enough money for around 72 hours, but do not keep large sums of money at home.
A can opener.

Why an emergency kit?

An emergency situation can have unpredictable consequences. You may have to stay in your home for some time (e.g. in the event of a fire involving asbestos) or evacuate quickly (e.g. in the event of flooding). You may sometimes find yourself without gas, water or electricity for a long time. You will then have to go without many basic needs:

Without water, you cannot shower, wash your hands or flush the toilet.
With no gas or electricity, you have no light or heating, and you can't cook. You can no longer use the lift or open or close roller shutters, doors or electronic garage doors.
If you need to evacuate, you will need important medication or other effects.
If you will be indoors for a long time, it's best to have enough food in the house.

The emergency kit will keep you going until things return to normal.

Help each other

An emergency situation often has an impact on a wider area. That means your neighbours, or your whole neighbourhood, will also be affected. Discuss how you can help each other.

Agree on whose house you can go to, or what things you can share. For example: in the event of a power cut, you can get together with several other people to share light and warmth.
Do you live in a block of flats, a student room or some other form of co-habitation? You can put together a shared emergency kit, rather than one for each student room/apartment. For example, you could set aside a space in a cellar or other shared room.
Draw up an emergency plan together.