Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness: List of Essentials

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Ready yourself at home with this emergency preparedness list of essentials for rural living.

by Jeremy Chartier

Rural living is dangerous by nature; you’re usually far from emergency services and comprehensive medical care might be low on the local utility’s priority list if power lines should go down. But those of us who live the rural life know you need to be self-reliant and prepared. Let’s discuss some essentials for neighborhood emergencies and why we keep them on hand.

Essentials for Neighborhood Emergencies

Injuries, accidents, and illness are more likely to claim a life in a rural setting than a natural disaster, but it’s even more critical to be prepared when inclement weather comes to town. Emergency services get bogged down, overwhelmed, and even blocked from reaching you in weather events. For that reason, here’s a short list of essentials to have on hand.

Medical Kit

You don’t need to be a skilled medical technician to save a life, but I recommend taking something like the American Heart Association’s First Aid class. Many moons ago, I taught this class and CPR, and as a medical provider, I can heartily endorse this miniature crash course. But even without training, a 911 operator can direct you on how to use some basic things to save a life.

Controlling Bleeding

Medical kits should include basics like plenty of gauze, both square and rolled, and a bleeding control device, such as a tourniquet. Some things that many people may forget to include are medical gloves to protect you and give you a better grip while dealing with messy situations. Also include trauma shears for cutting clothing and bandages. I suggest adding some form of breathing barrier or Bag-Valve-Mask if you’re trained in CPR.

A basic medical kit is an often-overlooked item that can save lives.

Basic Medications

Keep some chewable aspirin, which a 911 operator may direct you to give someone having a cardiac event, and Benadryl for allergic reactions. Both are over-the-counter drugs at your local drugstore. What’s not easily obtained is specialty or prescribed drugs you or someone in your family may need. Keep prescribed medications such as EpiPen, Nitrostat, or rescue inhalers with your kit. Keep them in their original boxes with copies of the prescriptions attached to avoid problems.

Keep these items in a sealed box, such as a plastic bin with a gasket-sealed lid, ammo can, or other waterproof container. Mark that container, keep it in the same easily accessed place, and ensure everyone in the family knows where it is.

Fire Prevention

Fires in rural settings can balloon out of control quickly, and rural services will take longer to reach you, so prevention is critical. Be extra cautious with heat lamps, space heaters, stored flammables, open flames, grills, and hay. If it burns, it should be kept separate as much as possible. Store your fuels in a small shed far away from other structures. Keep stacked hay, especially if it has a high moisture content or got wet, in a structure away from your barns or house.

Extension Cords

Extension cords are also a hot spot for farm fires. Never cheap out on extension cords, despite how tempting it may be. Spring for the thicker gauge wire; it’ll handle higher draws better than the cheap ones. Shoot for a 12-gauge wire instead of the thin 16-gauge extension cords. I know they’re expensive, but they’re safer.

Fire Alarms

Don’t be a hero because heroes without training and equipment end up paying the ultimate price too often. Make sure you install smoke detectors in your home and your barns. The sooner you know something is afoot, the sooner you can react, and the better chance of stopping the threat. Call 911 at the first sign of smoke or fire. Check where your loved ones are, and make sure they’re safe. Remember, life and limb are your top priorities.

Extinguishers

I see many agricultural fairs in my area that keep five-gallon pails of water at each entrance to their barns. This cheap solution will work for some fires, but water freezes in the winter, and it conducts electricity. Neither is preferable. Keep the largest ABC-rated fire extinguishers that you can afford at entrances to your barns and home. They can be expensive, but they work, don’t freeze, and won’t conduct electricity when you use them. Remember to slow down and look at the fire and the extinguisher. Follow directions and sweep the extinguisher’s spray across the base of the fire to put it out. When you’ve made an effective attack, get out! Don’t breathe the smoke, don’t hang out in an area with a fire, and keep low to avoid the heat.

Fire Dangers

Skin burns will haunt you for a long time, but breathing hot gasses burns your airway, which will respond by swelling, likely resulting in a closed airway and inevitable death. Smoke inhalation is also a massive life threat, and you need medical attention if this happens. Again, don’t be a hero. Be smart and be safe. You can replace a structure; you can’t replace yourself or your family. If you did put out a fire, and emergency responders urge you to go to the hospital afterward, they have a good reason. Don’t fight them on it, don’t blow them off, get seen before bad things happen.

Obstructed Roads

Blocked roads hinder emergency services and keep people from getting where they need to go. In a rural setting, downed trees are commonplace. A quality chainsaw should be a priority for those living in wooded areas. Remember to keep the tools, spare chains, bar oil, and non-ethanol fuel in reasonable quantities because you likely won’t be able to run to the store when the big storm comes to town. Keep a quality set of chainsaw chaps and a helmet with eye protection for when you’re using your saw. Always be cognizant of electrical lines, and don’t assume the line is dead. Just because you don’t see it arcing doesn’t mean it’s de-energized. Don’t cut a tree when it’s involved in electrical wires.

These are just a few essentials for neighborhood emergencies, and yes, they sound simple and boring, but so many people only pay attention to these things once they have an emergency. Get ahead of the curve and be ready to preserve life, limb, and property on your homestead.

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At 12 years old, Jeremy Chartier became involved with his local 4-H group, later joined the local FFA chapter, and showed livestock until his college years. After graduating from the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture at UConn, he joined the University of Maine’s Poultry Service Provider training program. Today Jeremy sells started pullets to local backyard farmers, is still involved with 4-H as a poultry showmanship judge, and writes about his passion for farming.

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Originally published in the November/December 2024 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.