Safekeeping and Home Defense

Have a portable first aid kit ready to grab, near an exit door of your home. This can also be placed in a car or boat. Here is a list of recommended contents:   

Ace Elastic Bandages: 2” (wrist), 4” (elbow, Ankle), 6” (Knee, thigh)

Makeshift Sling (bandana, towel)

Makeshift Tourniquet (rubber tubing, rope, belt)

Gauze Roll

Cotton balls, cotton swabs

Square bandages (gauze pads, adhesive dressings)

Band-Aids

Tape   

Scissors

Tweezer

Safety Pins

Gloves (Nitrile if possible)

Instant Ice Pack

Saline Solution (to flush wounds, eyes)

Antiseptic: either in spray form like Bactine, or Alcohol Wipes, or Hydrogen Peroxide

Wound dressings: antibiotic cream like Neosporin, Vaseline Petroleum jelly

Aloe Gel for burns

Benadryl, Hydrocortisone cream for rash, allergy

Tylenol (acetaminophen) for fever or for pain   

Aspirin (for fever, pain, dissolving blood clots and thinning blood and to reduce inflammation) **Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen) or Aleve (naproxen sodium) help reduce pain and inflammation. Aspirin is cheaper and does more, if you can tolerate it. 

Whiskey (don’t laugh...it can be used to clean a wound, and to relieve pain and tension)

Foil blanket (hypothermia prevention, survival)

First Aid Manual

Having lived through Superstorm Sandy in 2012, I learned the hard way that credit cards won't work when none of the stores have power. Those that were open were cash only. And this went on for days. Decide how much cash you might need for 4-5 days and keep in ready at all times, in a locked and secure location in your home. Don't touch it. You might forget to replenish it and believe me, if you need it you'll be glad it is there. 

Keep 4-day's supply of nonperishable food and water in a dry storage area of your home. We have ours in a large plastic floor container containing a large pullout drawer. Be sure to consider foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks, juices and water and pet food. I try to rotate the contents every 2 years. For example, if I buy canned soups or broth, I try to pull what I have from the storage unit and replace it with the new items.  

On every floor of your home, have at least one escape route. this is not simply for fires, but for any situation where you need to get help or get away from danger. Use this practice not just in the home, but for any place you visit. Identify at least one escape route.

In this age of aggression, home invasion might be more common than you think. One trick I've learned to adopt is the identification and use of any reflective surface in your home or location, where you can see or get an indication of a shadow or movement behind you. A few seconds in advance may help you get out of the way of an advancing threat. Not simply a mirror, but it could be a window, a glass partition, a cabinet having glass panels, etc. After you've located an escape route, find the closest reflective surfaces. 

You might be a person that dislikes having firearms in the home. If so, plan to have other   means of defending yourself against an attacker such as a heavy frying pan, a hammer, knife, solid large flashlight, etc. The problem with these is they require fight at close range. Pepper sprays, air horns, etc. might help diffuse an intruder without getting too close.

There is no better way to protect your home than a shotgun. I advise having a 12-gauge shotgun with outdoor range practice, at least twice per year. Just the sound of your engaging the pump action from another part of the home will send terrors down the attacker's spine and might send them fleeing without having to fire. Shotguns use either slugs or shell casings filled with bird shot or buck shot. The advantage of shot casings is that you don't need to aim accurately. The downside is the scattering of shot that may penetrate walls and injure a family member on the other side of the wall. Slugs are large and lethal, but only one emerges from the muzzle and you'll need a steadier aim. A shotgun should be in every home, kept at easy reach, balanced with safeguarding for children. One method is to keep the slugs or shells close but separate from the firearm. You can keep a supply of shells in slots on a wearable vest or shoulder strap, kept locked but handy. Biometric safes are a good option for quick retrieval of shotgun ammo.