120 Hour 5 Day Plan

For many decades the professionals urged us to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit in a backpack, for each member of our household. 

Five years ago, when the Salt Lake City S.A.F.E. Neighborhoods catastrophic disaster program was expanded to include all of Salt Lake County, we began educating everyone to refresh, update and expand their 72-hour kits into a supply of essentials that would serve each family member for 96-hours – that’s 4 days and 4 nights. 

I have been urging kits-on-wheels, in carts or wagons (not backpacks) to accommodate the weight of adequate water and bulky items like an emergency toilet and sheltering/sleeping items. 

At a state training conference in October, 2019, Utah Department of Emergency Management personnel educated a roomful of state employees who serve the aging population that we now know, from the experience of other communities hit with major disasters, that each person needs an emergency kit that will meet essential needs for 120 hours.  That’s a 5-day plan. 

They wouldn’t urge this if it were not vital to make that change. 

What does the really mean?  A minimum of 5-gallons of water per person (42 lbs).  This is the best time to tell you the other news:  these same professionals are urging us to boost minimum water to 2-gallons/person/day to meet needs for drinking, sanitation, cooking, hygiene and first aid.  This is quite an adjustment. 

Additionally, include more snacks or meals in your 96-hour kit for that extra day and be sure to add more of your medications. 

The rest of your 96-hour kit items should be adequate for an additional 24 hours of self-care. 

Don’t let this change overwhelm or discourage you.  Take a gradient approach -- but begin now. 

Truth be told:  a 5-day emergency kit is a more realistic preparation for catastrophic disaster; help could easily take that long to arrive and reach community level.