First post on here prep me

[HarryOtter]

What do I need to consider so far I have on my list:

Medicine the usual paracetomal, ibuprofen, first aid kit.
Batteries
Torches
Candles
Tinned food
Bottled water
Blankets

What else? What do I need to consider its just me and 3 kids. Dd has Sen and that concerns me. I'm not being dramatic but for example worst case scenario, how would I get her to listen to me and react appropriately?!

I think a lot of this is thinking. Do you have what you and your particular family need in the house or car (or as a plan in your head) for the following situations?

• mains water switched off for 12 hours due to burst water main
• power cut for 12 hours due to electricity fault
• water and power both off for 12 hours for some reason
• can't buy any food from shops for a few days due to illness
• everyone forced to leave the house in a hurry because a neighbour's house has a gas leak (and possibly spend the night in the local church hall)
• public transport near you stops due to fire/fault/snow and you have no way of getting home from work or school or nursery

Start by getting ready for those. They're both the most likely and the easiest situations to prepare for, and they get you started.

The next step would be to take each of those situations and picture them a bit worse - imagine a few days rather than 12 hours for the utilities being off, imagine it's a sinkhole, gas explosion or fire in the street and you won't be allowed back to your house for a few days till it's been declared safe. What else might you now wish you'd got ready?

The stage beyond that is to imagine extra complicating factors like bigger natural disasters, terrorism or epidemics of illness, but you don't have to go that far ever or straight away.

How would you get your dd to listen to you now if you had to get out of the house quickly because of a fire? You don't give her age or SEN but is there a type of toy she loves and would follow you through anything to get to? If so it could be perfect preparation for your particular family if you had a new one of those hidden in your oh fuck rucksack ready to grab as you go out of the door in an emergency.

Would you be able to practise things with her?

I practise fire drills with the dc (under 5's), and we've practised power cuts. They think it's a game, I'm hoping that they will be able to respond appropriately if necessary.

They also have special things of their own for use in an emergency (their own torches (poundland bargains), 'special' blankets, some sweeties, etc) which makes it a bit less scary for them.