What you need in case of an emergency

Get 2 large ziplock storage bags -- put the following information in one bag and then put that bag into the other bag incase the first one gets punctured and wet.

Put a photo of yourself in the bag.

List your full legal name, date of birth, social security number, full home address and phone number.

List people that you want contacted in case of an emergency along with their full name, date of birth, Driver's License Number, address, and phone number. Be sure to include cell phone numbers and employer's information if you have that too.

If everyone is evacuated in case of a hurricane, many people will not be at their home phone number or address. If you include additional information about them, perhaps the police can locate them if they have been evacuated too.

If you know people that live out of state, be sure to list them too.
Be sure to let your friends and family know that you are listing an out of state person that will be your contact in case you have to evacuate and then everyone can call that person and find out where everyone has been moved to.

Be sure to inclue a list of all your doctors and their phone numbers and addresses.

Also, list all prescriptions you are taking along with the dose and how often you take the pills.

Also, list all your medical conditions as specifically as possible. If you know your blood type include that too.

Include anything that you think a doctor might need to know about you if you were unconscious and about to die.

If you have a power of attorney for health care, directive to physican include copies of those documents in the ziplock storage bag.

Why?

Say you are unconscious and taken to a hospital. If you have all of this information, it could literally save your life. In a hurricane, most electricity will not be working. Therefore, many doctors will not be able to be located because of equipment failure or they have also been evacuated.

Say you are taking a blood thinner and you are bleeding severely from an injury, the staff at any hospital needs to know what medications you are on so that they can save your life.

Have this information in one or two ziplock storage bags and have it close to your body -- not in a suitcase or your purse.

If you are really effecient, take this information and have it sealed in plastic so that it is permanent and cannot be damaged.

A little bit of work now could save your life later!