Emergency Preparedness Recap

Thursday, July 10th we had an informative Emergency Preparedness Night. Sister Weatherspoon and her husband took us through a lot of wonderful information on how to get ready for a disaster. Historically, our area sees hurricane activity in the months of August and September, the timing for this meeting couldn't be better!

First we had a fun mixer activity where we were sent on a hunt to find several items that you would want in an emergency: flashlight, water, diapers, food. Super fun!

Sister Weatherspoon talked us through the basics of creating an emergency binder. She recommends you keep this in a secure place where you have access to it easily. You can grab and go in case of emergency. Here are some things that she recommended we put in each binder:

• An Evacuation Map, color coded with escape routes (highways and back roads)
• Shelter and Contact info in case you need to find shelter outside your area
• Copies of  important documents including copes of financial records and Child ID info.
• Living Will
• Insurance Cards, Car info, House info

Brother Weatherspoon (who is a physician) walked us through the basics of first aid kit readiness. He uses a backpack to hold all of his gear, you can just keep it in your car and update as needed, it's recommended you check this often, every six months to make sure medicines and supplies are full and not expired. Another suggestion was to take a CPR class.  Here is a link to CPR and basic life saving classes in our area: EVMS Life Saving Course, Red Cross Virginia Beach.

First Aid Kit:

• A card with your current prescriptions and dosage, as well as extra meds in case of emergency
• Tylenol, Tums, Neosporin or Bacitracin, alcohol swabs or wipes, hydrocortisone cream, anti-fungal cream, mosquito repellent
• Band-aids and moleskin, ace bandages, a large amount in water proof bags
• Gauze, a small flashlight, a tourniquet, sterile gloves
• Different kinds of medical tape, water proof, paper, etc
• Rope to use as a splint, scarves or bandannas to use as eye coverings
• Scissors: two types, one for fabric one for bandages

Sister Weatherspoon showed us her awesome 72 hour kits that she put together for her and her family. Each contains enough food for 3 days! She puts a date on the outside that says when she made it, so she can check back for expired food. When the container is empty you can use it for water, clever! 

There are lots of websites and information online about disaster readiness. Don't be overwhelmed, take on one project at a time was Sister Weatherspoon's advice. Take care of your 72 hour kits one week, get your binder organized another, and then take care of your first aid kit. The point is to be prepared, not scared!

Here are a few links from Sister Weatherspoon, click on each link to go to the webpages:

Hurricane Evacuation. YourOwnHomeStore. DisasterAssistance-Where should you Go?

Also, here is the recipe for the Chocolate chunk banana baked oatmeal bites a few of you asked about. You can use food storage items including powered milk and eggs in substitution for the real stuff.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Baked Oatmeal Bites

Download Printable Version
Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick oats)
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs (or reconstituted egg powder)
• 1¼ cups milk (or reconstituted powdered milk)
• 1 cup mashed bananas* (about 3 medium)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ºF. Lightly grease roughly 18 muffin cups with non-stick spray.
2. Combine the oats (note: if using old-fashioned oats, I ground mine in a food processor for a bit to make the oatmeal flour), brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir together.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it a good stir until fully combined. Add the chocolate chunks and stir again. {Note: Use 1 cup of chocolate chunks for a regular amount of chocolate, or up to 1½ cups if you like it really chocolatey.} 
5. Spoon the oatmeal mixture into the prepared muffin tins. (Note: These will not rise a lot–if at all–so go ahead and fill each cup at least ¾ full.)
6. Bake uncovered for about 18-20 minutes, or until oatmeal is lightly browned and starting to turn dark at the edges (and/or a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean).
7. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, or these are great to throw in the freezer (in a freezer baggie) and have on hand for a quick breakfast/snack/dessert. Just toss one in the microwave (on the defrost setting) for about 1 minute (or about 20 seconds on HIGH) and it’s ready to go! 

Yields 16 – 18 oatmeal bites.

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