Could you last 3 days following a disaster? Here's what you need
The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says 53 per cent of Canadians are unprepared for a disaster
A basic emergency preparedness kit can be as simple as two litres of water per person to last three days, non-perishable food items and a flashlight.
But that's too tall an order for most of us according to a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. It found that 53 per cent of Canadians aren't properly prepared in the event of a disaster.
"You're allowing us to help you but you're helping us as first responders — by making sure that you're not needing to call to find out if there was an earthquake because you have supplies that can get you through those three days," said Paul Boissonneault, the president of the association.
Three days is the basic requirement for power outages and storm situations.
The first week of May is emergency preparedness week, and Boissonneault said now is the time to make a kit if you don't already have one.
Customize your kit
He said it's important to consider your family's needs when building a kit.
"It's going to fluctuate with the number of people and the type of composition of members you have in your home," he told host Gloria Macarenko.
Boissonneault says to remember to include easily-forgot items like baby formula, medications and cash in kits as well.
"You want to make sure it's accessible and in a location that you're able to grab and be able to go at a fairly quick availability. So you want [to] be sure it's maybe near the front door but, it could be in a closet still but make sure it's not covered with things," he said.
Boissonneault advises that one of the most important tips is to make sure your kit is regularly maintained.
"It's not always bottled water. Sometimes people use water supply bags, which have to be changed out every six months. In the case of medications, make sure those are current medications and not expired."
Boissonneault said it's important to know the risks a disaster presents and to prepared accordingly.
"There's many situations that aren't as large scale some examples in Canada like the ice storms in '98 and the Toronto ice storm last year, we can talk about Lac-Mégantic and what took place with the transportation of dangerous goods, the Alberta floods [and] currently we have 30 wild land fires burning in B.C."
Watch the above video where Boissonneault shows Our Vancouver host Gloria Macarenko what items you need in an emergency preparedness kit.