A Prepping Essential: The Grab-n-Go Binder
In panic situations, which happen around my house quite often, actually, people lose their wits. The extra adrenaline produced by the human body during times of intense stress, causes confusion and can even cause some of the same symptoms as a heart attack.
Can you imagine the level of adrenaline in your body if you suddenly got news of a dangerous chemical spill in your area or that a wildfire had taken an abrupt turn toward your neighborhood? Officials tell you to evacuate now. Besides the kids, what do you pack up first?
A Grab-and-Go Binder is a vital part of any family preparedness plan, and is one of the first things you should put together. This binder will contain all of your most critical information in one place for any type emergency, even if it’s just a quick trip to the ER.
For this project you’ll need a 1″ three-ring binder, a set of tabbed dividers, and a copy machine. A box of plastic page protectors will keep your documents clean and unwrinkled. The binder you create will be unique to your family, but here are some suggestions to get you started.
Label a divider for each of the following sections, and then begin inserting copies of your documents.
Financial Documents
1. copies of the fronts and backs of debit/credit cards
2. copies of house and car titles
3. copy of your will or living trust
4. names, addresses and phone numbers of all banks
5. other important documents related to employment and/or a family business
6. copies of your insurance policies (life, health, auto, homeowners, etc.)
Personal Documents
1. names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of relatives and close friends
2. copies of:
* marriage license
* birth certificates
* drivers licenses
* CCW permits
* pet vaccine records
* passports
* Social Security cards
3. a list of firearm serial numbers
4. legal documents pertaining to child custody or adoption
5. recent photos of each family member and each pet
6. color photos of your house and each room in the house
7. photos of anything of particular value
8. military documents
9. diplomas and transcripts
10. appraisals
Medical Documents
1. copy of health insurance cards
2. a list of blood types for each family member
3. names, addresses and phone numbers of all doctors
4. medical histories of each family member
5. immunization records
6. a list of current prescriptions, dosage, and pharmacy contact information
With your finished Grab-and-Go Binder, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that your family can focus on a quick evacuation without trying to retrieve scattered family records.
What to do with the originals? It’s probably best to keep them in a fireproof safe or a safety deposit box. If that safety deposit box is a good 50 miles or more from your home, so much the better in the event of a tornado or other natural disaster. Also, be sure at least two other trusted people have access to that box in case you become incapacitated.
Unless you’re extraordinarily organized, chances are these records and documents are scattered around your house. Set aside a block of time to track them down and organize your family’s Grab-n-Go Binder. Emergencies arrive unexpectedly. A Grab-n-Go Binder is one way you can prepare for them ahead of time.
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You could also get a CD storage clear plastic page and keep CDs with digital copies of family photos, scanned images of the documents on the list you provided, or just any other digital file you think you would not want to live without! Nice blog, Lisa!
Thanks for the suggestion, Jenny! I know we would hate to lose all our digital pics. It would be a good idea to put a second copy of the CD in a safety deposit box. Don’t forget to include pics of your home’s exterior, the interior of each room, and then a photo of any valuables you own. In so many cases when a home has been destroyed or severely damaged, it’s nearly impossible to put together an accurate insurance claim without the necessary information handy.
I’m so glad you found my blog!
Lisa
Would you put originals in here, or just copies?
I'd make copies of the important documents and keep the originals in a safe, lockbox, or a safety deposit box. In this day and age it's not too difficult to get original copies replaced, but it could be quite a hassle, especially in the aftermath of a natural disaster or something similar.
I'm glad you found my blog, and I enjoyed your comments. Hope you bookmark my site and come back often.
Lisa
Good post, thanks.
I'm glad you found my blog! Feel free to drop by anytime and share your experiences and opinions!
Lisa
Have you seen the Fly Lady web site? She is mainly a site to help women with keeping their houses clean. However she has awesome tips on emergency evacuation as well.
I am very glad that I found your site. My hubbie is celiac and I will make him healthy brownies with the pinto bean recipe!
Thank you for your dedication!
Yes, I've seen her site and have used a lot of her ideas. Not enough, though. When I use her system, my home is ready for company 24/7. As it stands now, I need about a 48 hour notice! Thanks for the reminder that my life went much more smoothly when I was taking her advice!
I think I'll apply the grab-n-go concept to my new food storage plan. I'll keep a running inventory with updated excel spreadsheets, then include categories of printed recipes and prep and cooking instructions. My storage cabinet looks so paltry in comparison, but I've just started and am excited to build on my plan. Thanks for an educational website.
That's a really good idea, Kat. I find that I grab tomato products most often, e.g. tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, pasta sauce. I'm constantly looking for bargains on those products, as a result. This summer I've committed myself to growing as many tomatoes as possible and canning my own.
BTW, keeping an inventory is actually quite motivating. If you have 20 cans of soup, let's say, that might be 20 lunches for your kids. You have almost a month's worth of lunches already! If your kids are bigger, figure on adding some pasta or rice to the soup to stretch it out a bit. It really is very encouraging to see how everything adds up. I have posted quite a few tips on food storage, including one or two on keeping an inventory. Don't forget to do the same with things like soap, shampoo, eye drops, etc. Good luck!
Good point about having it all in one place. I have to admit, I'm still working on actually DOING both of these, but the Life.doc binder leaves NO excuses for not getting this done. I need to do the valuables.doc as well. The other thing I want to do is copy all our photos and important computer files onto a portable back up drive so we can grab that quickly in an emergency.
I have gotten as far as having some of the important documents for us and my mother in law at my parents house in another state. (We're fully responsible for my mother in law at this point – she.s the .5 in our 2.5 kids.) But it's definitely not all the information that you list here.