Organization · 비상 대비·생활 안전

Household Emergency Go-Bag: Six Steps to Check Supplies and Expiry Dates

Tailor an easy-to-carry emergency bag to your household, check water, food, lighting and emergency contacts, and refresh dated supplies.

AI-edited · Human admin approved

Wikimedia Commons · U.S. Navy / Pacific Partnership 2026 / Wikimedia Commons / public domain. Original photo unmodified. · Public domain — U.S. federal government work; Public Domain Mark 1.0 ↗

One bag cannot cover every emergency. The American Red Cross recommends at least three days of evacuation food and water and separate home reserves for about two weeks. These are general US recommendations; adapt to local official advice, medical needs and what each person can safely carry.

Your try-it-at-home checklist

0 / 6 done

1. List household needs: Count household members and note needs for infants, older adults, disability-related equipment and pets. Write down emergency contacts and a family meeting point.
2. Inspect food and water: The Red Cross suggests at least a three-day evacuation supply. Do not overload one bag with heavy water; divide safely portable items from separate home reserves. Check packaging and dates.
3. Test light and communication: Switch on the flashlight, check spare batteries, charge a power bank and inspect a battery-powered or hand-crank radio. Do not use swollen or damaged batteries.
4. Check health and hygiene items: Include basic first aid and hygiene supplies. For essential prescriptions, confirm quantities, storage and replacement with a clinician or pharmacist. Replace expired medicines appropriately.
5. Protect documents and plan routes: Place necessary copies of IDs, insurance and emergency contacts in a waterproof pouch and add some cash. Guard private information and share local evacuation routes with the family.
6. Store accessibly and review: Keep the kit in an easy-to-carry container known to the household. Recheck food, water, medications and equipment about every six months, as the Red Cross recommends, and follow local emergency alerts.

American Red Cross South FloridaGet Ready: Gather Your Emergency Supplies for the 2025 Hurricane Season ↗Published May 12 2025; checked current page. Specifies 3 days evacuation water and food, 2 weeks for home, light, batteries, radio, power banks, hygiene, medications, documents, pet and baby needs, and six-month expiry checks. US guidance, adapt locally.Wikimedia CommonsFile:Pacific Partnership 2026 community go-bag training (9960199).jpg ↗2026 US Navy official-duty public-domain photo of community emergency go-bag training in Tacloban, Philippines; original opened. File metadata has differing individual photographer credits, so institutional credit used.Wikimedia CommonsCommons:Reusing content outside Wikimedia/technical ↗Source-level policy explicitly permits hotlinking direct Commons files. It does not waive the individual file's license and attribution.

Your try-it-at-home checklist

Further reading

You may also like

Preserve family letters and paper records in six steps

Store household chemicals more safely in six steps

Six steps to store a sleeping bag without long-term compression