So what is this grab bag chat all about then?

[ElephantsSitOnSmellyPants]

Police forces across the UK seem to be tweeting about how people should have a “grab bag” handy in case of an emergency evacuation. Something called 30days30ways. “Preparedness month”??

Naturally there are a lot of people on Twitter who appear fairly concerned about this. Asking why on Earth we are being advised of this all of a sudden. Just what are they expecting? I don’t usually get my knickers in a knot over stuff I read on twitter but I must admit it’s a little odd.

If nothing else, in the (likely) event that there is nothing behind this, I think it’s quite irresponsible to tweet such a thing with no explanation.

When I was working (repping so high mileage) I also had a toothbrush/paste, a spare pair of pants and a corkscrew.

I have no problem with people doing it, i had one for a while for medical purposes for DS. But it served to highlight how akward it is unless you have a specific idea what your using it for. The medical bag specifically covered me for and unplanned 24 hour stay in hospital. But it cost a noticeable amount to set up and keeping it up was a pain. It carried very different stuff than the police grab bag, although there was some crossovers.

Seconds to evacuate (fire flooding) i wouldnt be grabbing anything. Half hour to evacuate you'd have more of an idea of why and for how long so I'd get grabbing a hell of a lot more than the police bag.

But then i do store spare credit card, down puffers, first aid kit, waterproofs and space blankets in the car.

My objection isnt to readiness, but the police bag is very a strange and illogical selection of items for a part of the world where natural disasters are rare. Without further information it does just scare people.

It’s a shame the website is so shit really as it seems to be relying on social media posts and only hashtags to tie everything together; so it seems a bit disordered with tweets coming seemingly out of the blue.

In reality, each day focuses on something different - for example, there was a day where power companies were explaining what to do in a powercut, and another day with the Environment Agency explaining flooding risk etc.

There’s a lot of measured, sensible advice; and it risks being written off as “hysterical” by people who take individual tweets (I.e. grab-bag) out of context and think it’s Brexit related.

If things are that bad, as long as my family is alive and out of immediate life-threatening danger, then all else is secondary. I'd grab my handbag, the car keys, the photo of my late parents which is on a shelf near the front door (and deliberately kept there for that reason), and the cat. DH would probably grab his heart medication.

If push comes to shove, I think I could manage without a toothbrush.

You know I asked someone at a resilience forum why we didn't suggest households routinely prepare for a couple of days potentual.food / water / transport disruption (it was shortly after the German government guidance) and he said that it was collectively thought best not to as the British public would probably panic and wonder what was about to happen. I'm beginning to see his point

The only time I had one was when I was living in South Korea and tensions with the North were escalating. Passport, enough British and Korean money for an air ticket and for transportation to the airport, alongside a British mobile phone. That was sensible given the circumstances.

I wouldn't know where to start over here because what on earth would it be for? I refuse to live life expecting to be in a fire, flooded, or chemical incident. I'm trying to get an extra couple of weeks worth of meds in case Brexit ever happens...that's difficult enough!

Unless I know of a valid reason this is one trend I will happily let pass me by.

I think Sept is preparedness month in America.

I'm northern France so similar to UK and while I used to have one in the car when I was married to an abusive bastard with 2 babies I've not had one for a decade.

So what's meant to be in it?

Passport
Cash
(I've got copies of all paperwork on Evernote and Dropbox )
Lightweight coat
Water maybe
Torch
Some kind of phone charger and spare battery

What else?

Ah seen the article now.

Most people have enough food for a couple of days anyway. Even if your freezer goes for the chop you have a couple of days while stuff defrosts. We could do a week without thinking easily, (we have a lot of tinned toms and pasta!!)

Most people dont have milk and bread. When we had the snowy winters a few years back that was the thing that ran short. Other stuff was manageable. I think when the risk was imminent more people stocked spare at home, the subsequent transport interuptions didnt have the same impact. People do prep if they believe the need is pressing, but some long life bake at home bread or flour and UHT milk is very different from the earthquake and tsunami bag the police were recommending.

But a lot of people don’t prep, @VolcanionSteamArtillery - you only have to look on here to see posts of people saying they absolutely had to go out and do a full food shop with a DC with chicken pox because they had nothing in...

And don’t exaggerate, the police tweet did not mention tsunamis or earthquakes, simply a bag with some bog standard stuff in. Again, it comes down to poor planning and co-ordination of the campaign, really, as you’re meant to use any list as a starting point for consideration/discussion; and personalise your planning based on your own individual circumstances. Some people will want everything, some people just need to make sure their car keys are accessible so they can drive to their mum’s the next town over.

WTF is an emergency plan?

@Timandra it’s a Plan. For what you’d do in an emergency.

HTH.

@Dyrne, like this?

Emergency Plan

Manage the emergency in whatever way is appropriate to the nature of the emergency and whoever else is involved..

End of emergency plan

A couple of years ago I was frequently having to dash to my parents if my dad became unwell and I needed to look after my mum - and at this time I did keep an overnight bag packed for this purpose.

Wouldn't have considered the idea of a 'just in case' bag but can see it's a good idea - particularly if you live in an area which is liable to flooding.

@Timandra it's specific to each family I guess
As a child we had to have an emergency plan as we lived in a pub, so I knew from v young where the safe keys were and to hand them over straight away if someone broke in. Also what to do if there was a fire and which exits to use

My most recent one was someone chucking a lit firework in my living room, I had about 10 seconds before it exploded. The police said I was v v lucky as it landed next to me, I grabbed the cat and ran, slamming the door as it's a fire door and it exploded as I shut the door

Small things like I keep my keys so I can get out my bedroom window and then be able to get straight into my car if needed

More like “cock, the powers gone off, where’s the nearest torch and how do I stop the kids from killing each other without being able to resort to screen time”

Or: “Bollocks, the waters gone off, how do I wash the rest of this bloody conditioner out of my hair / cook the pasta planned for dinner”

Or: “Fuck, the house is on fire, how do I get the kids out and save the only photo from our wedding where I don’t look like a meringue?”

Sorry. I should have said before:

There is a picture of an emergency plan inside the rucksack tweeted by the police.

I cannot for the life of me think what I would write in such a plan.

I completely get having the keys accessible and knowing fire escape routes but you wouldn't dig them out of a packed rucksack to read a plan at the point of needing that.

Ah, relating to the rucksack I would imagine it’s things specific to if you need to leave the house.

For example, if your DH is at work, where do you meet him? Do your kids know to wait at school for you to collect or are they expected to start walking home? In an emergency you might get in a flap so agreeing a family plan of “we’ll meet at Auntie Muriel’s house” could save a lot of faff.

Maybe even a map of the local area in case the local roads are flooded/blocked by trees and you’re low on phone signal? Details of insurances etc and contact numbers for doctor/family/school etc.

If you follow the hashtags you'll come to earthquakes and tsunamis, then you realise thats what the bag contents is thought out for. And frankly for an earthquake or tsunami situation it totally makes sense, whistle to get rescuers attention, radio to help with communications etc.

Most likely emergencies in this country
Fire: get out. Store irreplaceable items in fire resist box, fair chance a fireman will get to them in time
Flood: if your in a flooding area sign up to flood warnings on the met office. Own sandbags. An
Food supply disruption: Most likely cause will be snow or wind. Store flour UHT milk.
Gas leak: wouldnt be stopping for anything myself. Chances are theyll get it fixed quickly too.
Car breakdown or stuck on motorway: keep in car warm stuff, blankets, space blankets, something to eat and something to drink.
Everyone should own and maintain the contents of a first aid kit in the home and car anyway

I have no problem with resilience prep, but this bag makes little sense for the likely disasters we'll face in this country. Which is why people are suspicious. Do those in the know know something we the general populus don't?

do a full food shop with a DC with chicken pox because they had nothing in... thats what they wanted to do, not what they actually could do if they genuinely had no choice.

I wonder if the Emergency Plan reference is aimed at workplaces. Our office has a grab bag as part of health and safety policy. I think the plan has emergency contact info for staff and next of kin.

I have wind up radio and torches, I might actually house them in a bag now - so the campaign has worked for one person!

I think people see ‘emergency plan’ and think it has to be some grand apocalypse event; but it could be as simple as you’re in City X for work, DH is in City Y, and the children are in City Z. Weather turns shit, bringing down some power lines and making phone signal shit. What’s the plan for picking the DC up?

In my volunteer role I go to help people in the aftermath of house fires all the time, who are sometimes literally stood there in their boxers and nothing else.

I don’t think this is really comparable. In a fire aren’t you supposed to get out and stay out? The advice is always don’t take anything with you. If people faffed around grabbing bags they probably wouldn’t be alive.

@VolcanionSteamArtillery Other day’s advice deals with the stuff you’ve mentioned. Today’s advice is about grab bags - nothing suspicious, just they’ve got to cover 30 different topics and so some of them may be more applicable to you than others.

The media are jumping on the grab bag thing as they can play it off as hysteria, no one gave a shit when they were tweeting about flooding and Powercuts because they’re sensible to prepare for, and so, boring.

It’s an international campaign hence the inclusion of some things you may not think are relevant and I suspect a lot of lazy copying and pasting from agencies that haven’t checked if it’s relevant

Of course people should get out the house safely, but I personally don’t see grabbing a bag that is literally right by the door i’m running out of anyway, “faffing about with bags”. Of course i’m not going to take it if the fire is licking at my heels, but if the fire has started in the kitchen at the back of the house I may well have time to spend the 0.5 seconds to reach out and grab the bag on my way out...