Have You Prepared For Emergencies In Your Car?
Sitting back watching the many wildfires around the world going on right now, should get you thinking about what you would do in that situation. Not to mention, the floods in Europe that just occurred recently. If you had to leave the area and your home, you probably would do so in your car. But are you prepared for an emergency of any kind while being in your vehicle? Chances are, you are far from prepared. You are in fact, underprepared with some of the simplest survival and emergency tools and equipment not even in the vehicle. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, millions of drivers have no clue what to put in their car to help them in this type of scenario. So let’s explore what you can do.
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The red cross
The Red Cross has a lot of good information on what to keep in your vehicle should you or someone else get hurt. These are things you can use to help yourself, a passenger or someone else that has been involved in a car accident.
- A first aid kit is a must. You will need a medium to large sized medical kit which can be protected. Either place these things in a bag or a plastic box so it can withstand an impact and still be reasonably intact.
- You should keep a satellite phone in the trunk, so you can always find where you are and give emergency services coordinates of where you are.
- Carry a notepad and pencil, in case during a crash your phone has been broken or you left it at home. You can write down information about the injured party or use it to communicate with someone with a language barrier.
- A penknife and survival kit is a great idea. A penknife can be used to cut things, unscrew things, used for eating and even start a fire. A survival kit will have a box of matches, a sewing kit, water purifying tablets, etc.
What to do
If you are in an accident and both parties are not seriously hurt, you could leap out of the pan and into the fire should you say the wrong thing. If you are in an accident and unsure what to do, you should speak with a car accident lawyer. They will coach you through what to say and what not to say, either to the other involved party or the police. Not to mention, within a few days of the report being filed by the other party of the police, the insurance company will be on the phone with you. The lawyers advise you to not say anything until you are ready. Listen to what they have to say and avoid getting a severe penalty for something that was not your fault.
Dealing with a fire
If you are involved in an accident and there is a fire, either your car or the other party, you should have some way of dealing with it. A small fire extinguisher can be placed in your trunk and it’s good for a small to medium-sized fire. Not to mention, you can also carry a fireproof set of gloves to help you pull out debris that is on fire such as a tire. Make sure that the fire extinguisher contains foam and not carbon dioxide. In case you are rear-ended, the ruptured fire extinguisher won’t cause an explosion.
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Being lost
If you’re ever lost, you need some simple equipment that will alert someone of your presence. This goes for both day and nighttime.
- Flashing orange beacon. This is something you can plug into your car and place on the roof. It will flash like a typical hazard vehicle light, but it can also be programmed to flash with an SOS message. Not to mention, you can program it to flash in morse code sentences such as ‘lost, send help’.
- Glow sticks. A cheap way to let people know where you are. Break the glowsticks to activate the luminescence and wave them around.
- Signal flare. Shoot these up into the sky to let people know where you are. This is great if you have rolled down a hill in your vehicle and can’t manage to walk to safety.
- If you’re a gun owner, you can keep these along with your firearm in a secure pistol case or backpack. You also might want to bring a key ring, pepper spray, tactical pen, taser, and other self-defense kit items. You never know when you might be under attack with no help in sight.
Do you have any of these things in your car? If not, now is the time to get a start on building a basic emergency equipment bag that can help you or someone close by during an emergency.