As disaster-preparedness has gone more mainstream, several disaster first-aid kits have appeared on pharmacy shelves (the Department of Homeland Security even sponsors one), “but none of them are really optimal,” explains Dr. Susan Briggs, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. As head of the federal government's International Medical Surgical Response Team for the East Coast, Briggs headed the U.S. medical response to Ground Zero and Hurricane Katrina, and has worked virtually every kind of national disaster. Her problem with the mass-marketed kits, she explains, is they fail to include the most essential element of any home emergency medicine stockpile: Your family's medical records and prescriptions. That's why Briggs suggests you forego the $30 you would have spent on a pre-packaged kit and spend it instead on your own, tailored to your family's medical needs. Use the following checklist as your guide. To waterproof your kit put batches of like items inside plastic Ziploc bags.
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Need a paper copy of the checklist? Simple print the checklist and take it with you anywhere. Alternatively you can print just the items left on your list.
