A Backup Plan for the Not-So-Smooth Ride

"It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark," goes one popular saying. How anyone knows what the weather was more than 5,000 years ago isn’t the point —the point here is preparedness.

And while last week’s  may have reminded us what to keep at home for long power outages, many of us still neglect to stock our cars.

An emergency supply kit for our cars and trucks is an essential, according to the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Here is a list some life saving items to keep on hand:

1. They might not hear you now: Have a fully charged cell phone. As we learned with the Halloween weekend storm, cell phone towers can be severely damaged. You don’t need your new phone; you can even keep on old cell phone in your glove compartment. By law cellular carriers must complete 911 calls.
2. Flashlight: Personally I keep a Maglite, in my glove compartment and a spare flashlight in my purse. A flashlight can be your best friend if you have to put on a spare, jump start your car, or push it off the road a bit more.
3. Start me up: Jumper cables. No ones wants to hear the click, click, click of engine that won’t start. Leave that for the horror movies or thrillers.
4. See and be seen: Don’t put yourself at risk for becoming road kill. You need to be visible. Always have road flares or a reflective triangle on hand in your car.
5. First aid kit: A first aid kit is a must have in any well-stocked car. Include Band-Aids, gauze bandages, and Krazy glue, which works like a charm to seal minor cuts. (It should never, ever be used on a deep wound, though.) Dermabond, an FDA approved ‘skin glue’ costs at least $29 for a single use tube.
6. Life hammer: This little tool that retails for about $14.95 can cut a seatbelt, punch through a window. Enough said.
7. Wardrobe change: This can change with the seasons. In winter it’s recommended to have a jacket or coat, long pants, long sleeve shirt, sturdy shoes, hat, mittens, and scarf handy. A poncho or raincoat is also useful. Fleece blankets, sleeping bags, or emergency silver blankets are also good to keep in the trunk.
8. Don't be a Donner Party: In other words keep some MREs or other non-perishable foodstuffs in your car such as granola or power bars. Depending on where your driving, if your on a road trip heading north, the road conditions can be such that it might take hours or days for someone to reach you. A few bottles of water can go a long way too.
9. Sorry, we don’t take that card: Ice glazing your windshield? Don’t use a credit card to try and scrape it off. Keep an ice scraper in your car. Well you’re at it, a folding shovel is useful to dig some snow out from under your tires and even put a little dirt there to get more traction.

Now, there are ready-made emergency kits available. But it may be more effective and more economical to assemble one à la carte. Remember: it’s important to be prepared, because when disaster strikes there may not be time to.