Living in Southern California means being prepared for earthquakes. I learned that lesson the hard way when we got hit, big-time, in 1994 with a whopping 6.9 quake that left me more than shaken. In short, I was not prepared and that was the last time I'll ever let that happen again.
To say I've purchased an abduance of emergency supplies is an understatement. I have copious amounts of water, *nasty* dehydrated food, clothing, blankets, candles, batteries, blah, blah, blah-- all the usual stuff one would need should you lose power, clean water or god forbid, your home for a short period of time. It's kept in our garage and in a storage area in the back yard.
Honestly, my family and friends think I'm a bit over the top *borderline hysterical* with my "natural disaster supplies" but I remember vividly in 1994 that ours was the house they all showed up to after that earthquake and my supplies were limited to what I had on hand-- which wasn't much! So I'm prepared-- for one and all.
By the way, it was the 1994 earthquake that rattled my nerves and health so badly that I had a gigantic flare up and was finally diagnosed with lupus. It was a scary time and I ended up sick as a dog.
Call me slow, but it just dawned on me to gather an extra stash of meds for an "emergency", because the ramifications of missing doses in a time of crisis is the last thing I'd want to happen. I bit the bullet and paid for them myself since insurance wouldn't cover "emergency supplies". Ouch.
But now, I'm not sure what to do with them.
If we're hit with an emergency of some sort, what happens if I can't get to the bathroom my supply is stored in. I can't keep them in the car-- Los Angeles heat would surely melt them, and outdoors with heat and mositure isn't a safe place either. I'm kind of at a loss...
So since all parts of the country have "emergencies", my questions is-- Do you have an back-up medication supply and if so, where do you keep it?
Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.
Until next time...
Joanna J. aka Lemon-Aid
Photo Credit: © flucas - Fotolia.com
That's an interesting question since you're supposed to keep most medications in a cool, dry place. What about splitting your emergency supply between two places? One at your house and one at your work, or one at a friends'? I have a 3-months' supply that I've spread between my house, my purse & my in-laws' house.
ReplyDeleteI never even thought about that. I live in Alabama and we had those tornadoes hit us in April...if we'd been a few streets over in the main damage zone, I would've needed emergency medicines. Luckily, even though the power was out for a week, I had enough medicine to last me awhile. I had no damage to my apartment, so I wasn't even thinking about medicines. Thank you for bringing this up. I need to set some emergency meds aside.
ReplyDeleteI remember that earthquake (the Northridge one right?), that was before I moved to the south a few years later. My son was just over a month old and I just remember being woke up in the middle of the night screaming to my husband "grab the baby", sure was scary! I sure don't miss the earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, yes thank you for the reminder. I need to get my emergency medical plan and medication plan together. I'm very unorganized at the moment since I've been in this flare, all the more reason to get it together.
Thank you again!