Surviving a 7.1 earthquake!

[uglyeye]

Hi All.

I hope you are all well,

Down here in Christchurch, New Zealand, we experienced a 7.1 earthquake on 4 September at 0435hrs! Within 30 minutes I was on my way to work, leaving a home with no power or water and unknown damage! It was pitch black and could see only what my flashlight allowed.

The extent of the damage to our city became obvious as the once flat roads became more and more undulating closer to town, and the damage to buildings was obvious when trying to drive around the debris.

And what did I think to grab from home....... A toothbrush and toothpaste, along with a bag of oranges!

SO, I strongly suggest that you all get prepared with three days food and water. Make sure the BBQ gas bottle has gas in it, and know who your neighbours are, especially the old ones who may need your help.

I now have my food and water supplies organised, along with supplies for the pets, and have also prepared a small pack with food for 1 day, change of clothes, and light sticks so no need to worry about batteries. Don't forget the battery radio.

[Kiwiology]

Good on you mate, glad to see you're doing OK down south

Now, did SERT from Auckland come down and give you guys a hand?

[uglyEMT]

Glad to hear your OK!!

YES!!! Go packs, jump kits, disaster kits, whatever you want to call them are essential. Most folks think that in a time of disaster you will be able to organize yourself. By that time its too late.

I actually have 4 made up. One in each car, in case I am not home, one in my home and one at a friends house in a different state. That way if we have to leave our area I am already set with an alternate location. Also have a disaster plan made up with your family and an out of town friend that way you all know what to do and who to contact.

As far as supplies in the kit

Water!!! Water!!! Water!!! The average person needs one gallon per day just for drinking, elderly, ill or pregnant persons need more (close to 3 gallons) also if there is a medical emergency you may need extra water. Hot climates will also add to the water need.

Food. MREs are great 3 squares a day per person and it has enough calories in them to keep your energy level up. If MREs are not in your kit, canned food (remeber a manual can opener) is also good. Try and keep the basic food groups in there so your diet is balanced and your calorie intake stays elevated for energy. Dont forget some comfort food candy bars always come in handy.

First aid supplies. Well I wont go into much detail here, heck this is an EMS website LOL we probably carry enough to outfit a BLS rig anyways

Cloths, Bedding and Sanitary supplies. A change of cloths per person also footware. Dont forget the warm cloths in cool climates and loose cloths in the warmer climates. Footware I would suggest boots for everyone, dont want to be walking around debris in flip flops or plain sneakers. Bedding.. get a yoga mat or camping bed roll. Rolls up nice and tight as not to take up to much room and helps on the hard ground so you can sleep. Blankets and a pillow, I would suggest a blow up travel pillow that way you can deflate and not take up alot of room when not needed. Sanitary supplies, toilet paper is always nice, females dont forget your supplies as well, bleach for disinfection routines and a good all purpose household cleaner comes in handy. Remember to get none scented bleach, 2 drops of bleach to water will disinfect it and make it safe to drink! Hand sanitizer and / or waterless hand soap is also a must to keep yourself clean and stop the spread of diseases such as disintery. If you can get a bucket with a tight fitting lid.. I will let you figure out what for

Tools. Mess kits, or paper cups, plates and plastic utensils , Emergency preparedness manual , Portable, battery-operated radio or television and extra batteries, Flashlight and extra batteries, Cash or traveler's checks, change, Nonelectric can opener, utility knife, Fire extinguisher: small canister, ABC type, Tube tent, Pliers, Tape, Compass, Matches in a waterproof container, Aluminum foil, Plastic storage containers, Signal flare (you would be surprised how handy they are), Paper, pencil, Needles, thread, Medicine dropper, Shut-off wrench, to turn off household gas and water, Whistle, Plastic sheeting, Map of the area (for locating shelters

Medications. DONT FOGET THESE!!! make sure you have medications in the kit, no not your medicine cabnit ones, get some and put them in the kit. Ask your doctor, some will write a script for disaster kit supplies that doesnt affect your normal perscription size and / or refills. Dont forget the baby supplies if necessary. Formula will require extra water so be prepared there and adjust as necessary.

Documents. These are always good to have. When I am not traveling my passport is kept in my kit. Driver liscense is also good to have (if you have one) You can also go to your local DMV and get a photo ID. It is good to keep in the kit for government identification purposes, also aids in filing claims afterwards if you can verify who you are LOL All other important documents you have should be kept readily available if not in a safe deposit box somewhere. Nothing worse then trying to rebuild your life from the ruins and also having to prove everything.

As I mentioned earlier have an out of town or state contact. If you have to evacuate its a good place to be. If your seperated from family its a contact person to relay messages through. Its a person less likely to be affected by the disaster thus is reliable. It never hurts to have more than one.

HAVE A PLAN!! All this stuff is great to have and carry but if you and your family dont have a plan already in place chaos can overwhelmed and then its useless.

Hope this helps folks that didnt know where to start with a kit. Remember also if you live somewhere where disaster is likely to happen your kit will be more complex possibly then someone where one may not happen. The stuff I outlined up top is a basic kit that FEMA has outlined and when I say basic I mean bare minimum, I wouldn't take anything away personally.

[uglyeye]

Good on you mate, glad to see you're doing OK down south

Now, did SERT from Auckland come down and give you guys a hand?

I don't know if SERT came down from Auckland sorry. I do know USAR arrived from around the country, but didn't see them much. I think they were based at Woolston Fire Sataion. We did have other ambos arrive. 2 or 3 trucks from Timaru within hours, for the first day, then crews from around the country. It was great to have them. As you can imagine, the workload increased for us, and is still up there, along with long job cycles where roads are impassable and so it is the long way round to get to people. We are also seeing an increase in stress related jobs. To date we have had over 1400 aftershocks. The biggest for a month just 2 nights ago at 5.0. I think these aftershocks will go on for months yet. Maybe you will get the chance to come down and work for a week or so.

Glad to hear your OK!!

YES!!! Go packs, jump kits, disaster kits, whatever you want to call them are essential. Most folks think that in a time of disaster you will be able to organize yourself. By that time its too late.

I actually have 4 made up. One in each car, in case I am not home, one in my home and one at a friends house in a different state. That way if we have to leave our area I am already set with an alternate location. Also have a disaster plan made up with your family and an out of town friend that way you all know what to do and who to contact.

As far as supplies in the kit

Water!!! Water!!! Water!!! The average person needs one gallon per day just for drinking, elderly, ill or pregnant persons need more (close to 3 gallons) also if there is a medical emergency you may need extra water. Hot climates will also add to the water need.

Food. MREs are great 3 squares a day per person and it has enough calories in them to keep your energy level up. If MREs are not in your kit, canned food (remeber a manual can opener) is also good. Try and keep the basic food groups in there so your diet is balanced and your calorie intake stays elevated for energy. Dont forget some comfort food candy bars always come in handy.

First aid supplies. Well I wont go into much detail here, heck this is an EMS website LOL we probably carry enough to outfit a BLS rig anyways

Cloths, Bedding and Sanitary supplies. A change of cloths per person also footware. Dont forget the warm cloths in cool climates and loose cloths in the warmer climates. Footware I would suggest boots for everyone, dont want to be walking around debris in flip flops or plain sneakers. Bedding.. get a yoga mat or camping bed roll. Rolls up nice and tight as not to take up to much room and helps on the hard ground so you can sleep. Blankets and a pillow, I would suggest a blow up travel pillow that way you can deflate and not take up alot of room when not needed. Sanitary supplies, toilet paper is always nice, females dont forget your supplies as well, bleach for disinfection routines and a good all purpose household cleaner comes in handy. Remember to get none scented bleach, 2 drops of bleach to water will disinfect it and make it safe to drink! Hand sanitizer and / or waterless hand soap is also a must to keep yourself clean and stop the spread of diseases such as disintery. If you can get a bucket with a tight fitting lid.. I will let you figure out what for

Tools. Mess kits, or paper cups, plates and plastic utensils , Emergency preparedness manual , Portable, battery-operated radio or television and extra batteries, Flashlight and extra batteries, Cash or traveler's checks, change, Nonelectric can opener, utility knife, Fire extinguisher: small canister, ABC type, Tube tent, Pliers, Tape, Compass, Matches in a waterproof container, Aluminum foil, Plastic storage containers, Signal flare (you would be surprised how handy they are), Paper, pencil, Needles, thread, Medicine dropper, Shut-off wrench, to turn off household gas and water, Whistle, Plastic sheeting, Map of the area (for locating shelters

Medications. DONT FOGET THESE!!! make sure you have medications in the kit, no not your medicine cabnit ones, get some and put them in the kit. Ask your doctor, some will write a script for disaster kit supplies that doesnt affect your normal perscription size and / or refills. Dont forget the baby supplies if necessary. Formula will require extra water so be prepared there and adjust as necessary.

Documents. These are always good to have. When I am not traveling my passport is kept in my kit. Driver liscense is also good to have (if you have one) You can also go to your local DMV and get a photo ID. It is good to keep in the kit for government identification purposes, also aids in filing claims afterwards if you can verify who you are LOL All other important documents you have should be kept readily available if not in a safe deposit box somewhere. Nothing worse then trying to rebuild your life from the ruins and also having to prove everything.

As I mentioned earlier have an out of town or state contact. If you have to evacuate its a good place to be. If your seperated from family its a contact person to relay messages through. Its a person less likely to be affected by the disaster thus is reliable. It never hurts to have more than one.

HAVE A PLAN!! All this stuff is great to have and carry but if you and your family dont have a plan already in place chaos can overwhelmed and then its useless.

Hope this helps folks that didnt know where to start with a kit. Remember also if you live somewhere where disaster is likely to happen your kit will be more complex possibly then someone where one may not happen. The stuff I outlined up top is a basic kit that FEMA has outlined and when I say basic I mean bare minimum, I wouldn't take anything away personally.

WOW! What a huge long list of stuff!

Yes, there are many things you may need, but a plan is probably the most important option.

Personnally I couldn't pick up all this stuff and move it in a hurry. so have parred it down to absolute essentials. The neighbours and I all have various items that can be shared. eg 2 x bbq between several homes, 2x gas heaters, Water, water everywhere....... food to feed an army if all put together. We have also decided it should all be stored outside, in very large plastic storage boxes, so it doesn't end up in a vehicle that gets crushed, or a house that collapses.

Working around the city we found so many groups of people out in the streets once the sun came up, we talked to many of them, and the story was always the same. They were all neighbours who were organising who had what, and get that water on the BBQ for a 'cuppa', then prepare breakfast for all.

Pulling up at an address in an ambulance bought out more neighbours than usual, and everyone was willing to assist the scared and alone people. they were gathered up by the neighbours and feed and watered. We were extremely lucky that only 2 people sustained injuries with the initial quake. yes, that's right, just 2 people with notable injuries.

Many injuries later in the day when guys 'had to get on the roof to check their chimneys' while we were have violent aftershocks! Then they wonder why they fall! i guess men will be men!

We were also very lucky that there was no rain, and mild temperatures. ACTUALLY WE WERE ALL VERY, VERY LUCKY

Edited October 5, 2010 by uglyeye

[rat115]

There was a lot of good news coming out around that earthquake with the low injury count. Glad to hear that you made it through safe and sound.

Good points. We work the emergencies and disasters. We need to be the first to have our plans and a basic 3 day survival kit put together.

Remember to keep an eye on the things that you are storing in your kits and rotate them out as needed becuase you don't want to end up with health issues due to expired foods and such. Meds are important to have in the event of an emergency, but they expire too.

Stay safe out there.

Uglyeye and others in NZ... Stay safe through the aftershocks.

[Kiwiology]

I don't know if SERT came down from Auckland sorry.

Knew I should have stayed in USAR. SERT were probably too busy looking flash in thier green jumpsuits anyway.

Glad to hear you guys are OK.

I already have my survival pack for when the New World Order come .... my guess is it works for an earthquake too

[uglyeye]

Knew I should have stayed in USAR. SERT were probably too busy looking flash in thier green jumpsuits anyway.

Glad to hear you guys are OK.

I already have my survival pack for when the New World Order come .... my guess is it works for an earthquake too

You could always volunteer to come down over the next couple of months and work with us.

[uglyEMT]

Knew I should have stayed in USAR. SERT were probably too busy looking flash in thier green jumpsuits anyway.

Glad to hear you guys are OK.

I already have my survival pack for when the New World Order come .... my guess is it works for an earthquake too

and dont forget you have an off the grid place to crash when it comes too

[Kiwiology]

You could always volunteer to come down over the next couple of months and work with us.

Righto, you can drive and I'll do the hard work in the back such as taking blood pressures and giving R40s