“GO-BAG”
It was in the middle of the night –
My husband and I were suddenly awaken by our son, saying “Everyone, wake up! There’s an emergency…!”
My three-year-old had jolted out of sleep. He was shouting but what was coming out from his lips was his broken voice. He said that he heard an emergency alarm. We got up that night only to find out that the sound was coming from his dad’s hand phone. What a relief.
This recollection took me to another event which made my adrenaline rush, and this happened seven years ago –
I was rushing down the staircase from a 6th storey building, 4 months pregnant and carrying a 6-month-old baby. I was terrified by the shaking and all I ever thought of was my son and the baby in my tummy. My husband was still at work and fortunately, I was with the company of good friends (Kaye and Bryan with their 2 year old son, Sebastien) who took the situation as calmly as possible. The Sumatra earthquake brought tremors to Singapore; it wasn’t my first earthquake experience, but being alone with my babies made me scared too.
We’re currently living abroad and when my husband is away for work, I always have two things in my mind.
- That I can never be away from my children
- And should always be cautious all the time.
And no matter how much I hate dealing with an emergency situation alone, I should be prepared anyhow.
Let me share with you another important thing that I always think of taking with me (aside from my three kids) in case of an emergency, specifically during an emergency evacuation. A go-bag.
What is a GO-BAG?
“A bag packed with essential items, kept ready for use in the event of an emergency evacuation of one’s home.” (https://www.google.com/#q=what+is+a+go+bag)Our regular day to day bag goes like this:
What’s inside our “regular bag”
What we have in our REGULAR BAG are some day to day essentials for my three Xiǎo niǎo.
- Water bottle
- Sandwiches or biscuits
- Tissue (wet and dry)
- Face towel
- Extra pair of shirt and pants
- Little toys to keep ‘em busy (an activity book, an action figure, or a toy car)
- Plaster/band-aid
- Rubber band
For us moms, we cannot leave the house without these essentials too
9. MKC (money, keys and cards)
10. A hand phone
11. LCMP (Lipstick, comb, mirror, and a powder)
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Here are the “must haves” for our GO-BAG
Here’s an example of a GO-BAG. If you could add an unopened bottled water, and some dry or canned food with an easy open can, the better
In my situation since I have three kids, our GO-BAG should be light and easy to carry (preferably a back pack). Here are the things that must be included in our go-bag.
1. Important papers and documents
- passports
- marriage and birth certificates
- medical records
- insurance documents
- diplomas and TORs
2. Money
3. Spare Keys
4. Extra hand phone (fully charged, and stored with important numbers)
5. Extra clothes for everyone
6. Water bottle
7. Extra Food
8. Extra toys to keep my children busy
9. Radio
10. Flashlight
11. Batteries
12. First-aid and survival kit
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Some additional tips:
Put your go-bag in the most accessible part of the house as not to miss it.
Keep in mind that you should always secure the safety of your children first, the go-bag is just the least priority.
Here’s another “go-bag” version of Disney Junior’s Safety Patrol.
Click the link below and share this with your children 🙂
safety patrols’ “prepping up in case of an emergency” episode
How to prep the kids for an emergency evacuation
Safety Patrol image courtesy of Disney Junior
