Prepare Your Family for Survival: How to be Ready for any Emergency or Disaster Situation

by Linda Loosli

Parents care about keeping their families safe, hydrated, fed, and healthy on a daily basis; yet, every year families face unforeseen situations that threaten those necessities. It could be a natural disaster like a hurricane or blizzard, or a man-made emergency situation like a power outage or food shortage. Is your family prepared? In Prepare Your Family for Survival, readers learn the basics of water and food storage-where to start and what to work toward for serious preparation-as well as 72-hour kits and evacuation plans. Readers also get helpful guides to follow once their family is in an emergency, like how to stay clean with a limited water supply, how to cook with emergency cooking devices, and how to survive in the dark.
Linda Loosli is the founder of the prepping blog Food Storage Moms. She is an expert on emergency preparedness. With this book in their possession, readers will sleep soundly at night knowing that their families won't be caught unprepared for the next emergency.

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2015

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Level-headed advice about how to prepare to survive a disaster at home or away from home. It has plenty of detailed, specific lists. It's for every family who wants to be prepared for natural disasters, unlike other books that are for preppers readying for doomsday.

The author runs FoodStorageMoms.com.

Notes
Water
Store 1 gal/person/day of water for drinking, and 4 gal/person/day total for drinking, cooking, hygiene, washing dishes.

Best to store water in food-grade, BPA-free, sturdy plastic.

Store water in empty milk jugs or 2-liter bottles (after washing with soap and water and sanitizing with tsp of bleach in quart of water).

Water Preserver will keep water fresh for 5 yrs.

Purify water by adding 8 drops of regular (unscented) bleach to each gal, or boil for 1 min.

Author likes Sport Berkey Portable Water Purifier and Big Berkey.

Food
Food to store
• Cans of tuna, chicken, spam, roast beef, beans
• Cans of green beans, carrots, peas, other veggies
• Cans of applesauce, mandarin oranges, pineapple, other fruit
• Rice
• Instant milk
• Pancake mix
• Biscuit mix
• Cereal
• Peanut butter
• Jam
• Crackers
• Salsa

Shelf life of food
• Canned: 2-5 yrs
• Dehydrated: 5-8 yrs
• Freeze-dried: 20 yrs

Cooking and baking basics
• Baking soda and powder
• Broth or bouillon
• Butter (powdered or canned)
• Cornstarch
• Eggs (powdered, precooked, freeze-dried)
• White flour (bags last 12-18 mos; cans 5 yrs)
• Milk (instant milk powder, non-instant milk powder, evaporated, sweetened condensed) (powdered lasts 25 yrs; canned 6 mos)
• Oats
• Oils (last 1-2 yrs), shortening (lasts 3-5 yrs)
• Salt
• Seasonings
• Soup base (in #10 cans)
• Sugar, sweeteners
• Honey
• Maple syrup (lasts <1 yr)
• Artificial sweeteners, Stevia
• Supplements (Vitamin D, multivitamin, etc.)
• Vanilla extract or vanilla beans
• Vinegar
• What (preferably hard white)

Long-term storage foods
• Freeze-dried (last 20-25 yrs) or dehydrated (5-8 yrs) vegetables
• Beans, legumes (instant beans in #10 cans last 25-30 yrs; regular beans in #10 cans last 10 yrs; small cans last less; dried beans last 1+ yr and require water and cook time)
• Grains
-• Pasta (in #10 cans last 6-8 yrs; whole wheat pasta lasts 6 mos)
-• Brown rice (lasts 6-12 mos; white lasts 4-5 yrs)
-• Quinoa (20 yrs)
-• Chia (2 yrs)
-• Crackers
-• Ramen noodles (1 yr)
• Meats, seafood (canned tuna, chicken, roast beef, salmon, sardines; freeze-dried ham, sausage, turkey, roast beef, ground beef)
• Cheese, dairy
-• Instant milk
-• Freeze-dried cheese (10-25 yrs)
-• Freeze-dried yogurt bites (3-5 yrs)
• Canned meals (chili, ravioli, spaghetti, etc.)
• Freeze-dried meals
• Soups
• Spreads, condiments
-• Mayo, mustard, ketchup (last <2 yrs)
-• Jam, jellies (1-2 yrs)
-• Peanut butter (jars, powder, #10 cans)
• Snacks, treats
-• Granola bars
-• Nuts (1 yr)
-• Popcorn (not microwaveable)

Cooking
A butane stove can be used indoors. Store enough canisters.

Propane lasts indefinitely, so consider storing it with a propane grill or stove.

Light
Consider flashlights and lanterns that charge with hand crank or solar panels. Goal Zero brand is good.

Consider buying a solar phone charger.

Consider buying a hand-cranked emergency radio. Some come with solar panels.

First aid
First-aid kit
• Absorbent compress dressings, 5x9 in, 2
• Adhesive bandages, 25
• Adhesive cloth tape, 1 roll of 1-in tape
• Antibiotic ointment, 5 packets
• Antiseptic wipe packets, 5
• Aspirin (2 packets of 81 mg tablets)
• Bandages
• 3-in roller bandage, 1
• 4-in roller bandage, 1
• Triangular bandages, 2
• Breathing barrier with 1-way valve, 1
• First-aid instruction booklet
• Hydrocortisone ointment, 2 packets
• Instant cold compress, 1
• Non-latex gloves, 2 pair
• Scissors for cutting bandages, gauze, etc.
• Space blanket, 1
• Sterile gauze pads, 3x3 in, 5
• Sterile gauze pads, 4x4 in, 5
• Thermometer (non-mercury)
• Tweezers

Additional items to consider
• Anti-inflammatories for headaches and pain relief (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen)
• Masks (N-95)
• Hand sanitizer
• Insect repellant

Hygiene
Consider storing paper dishes and plastic utensils in case you don't have enough water to wash dishes.

Store disinfectant wipes and bleach for cleaning house.

[Little · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every couple of years I go on an emergency survival planning kick. If you've never thought about the topic before, you could probably do worse than this book, but it is still far from my first choice for a preparedness guide.

Loosi's advice tends to be somewhat one-size-fits-all, and as such a lot of it didn't seem to fit me terribly well. For example, my most likely emergency situation is a snowstorm that knocks out utilities and strands us at home. This book includes a number of different outdoor cooking options, but only one that might be appropriate for cooking inside a home, and even that comes with a warning not to use it in a poorly ventilated space. Like, for example, a closed room where you're huddling for warmth with your family?

Loosi talks about keeping bleach to clean your home and sanitize your water, but she doesn't mention that bleach looses its potency, and so old bleach isn't a sure bet for water purification.

She talks about rotating food supplies so they don't spoil, which is great, but includes #10 cans of freeze dried chicken in her typical cooking rotation. The whole point of freeze dried chicken is that it lasts for 25 years! You don't need to keep it in your daily diet to stop it from spoiling. And it's so expensive, why would you?

She has only one suggestion for an emergency toilet.

I could go on. Bottom line: don't seek this book out, but if it comes across your path, it's not a total waste of time to peruse it.

[KMcd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very comprehensive writing and guide. Perfect introduction to being prepared or supplemental material with other books of the same genre. Good information that seems to be well researched. I really appreciated the checklists as well. This book is a good first step for individuals and of course, families looking to be more prepared.

[Raymond White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda Loosi knows her stuff when it comes to preparedness. Her book is insightful, well written and above all useful. I've written a book on this subject that was well received on Amazon and yet her book is featured prominently on my Preparedness bookshelf. Her www.FoodStorageMoms.com website is well worth visiting as well--and while you're there sign up for her newsletter/blog.

[Alessandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to get through in a few sittings. I appreciate that she provides at least two solutions for every challenge. I'll likely not go all out, but I feel reassured and better prepared for the next disaster having read this and implemented some of her recommendations.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book really helpful. It was practical and not over the top. I would definitely recommend reading this book if you want to plan for potential storms and power outages.