Well, last Friday was quite the energetic day in these parts. Reno’s Caughlin (Pine Haven) fire should have been called “The Entire Southwest Reno Fire” to be more accurate! Never have we experienced 60mph gale force winds with fires spotted throughout the southwest region of town. It was incredible. Many friends narrowly missed their houses being burned to the ground and had to evacuate with only a 30 minute window. Eventually, our house was included in the evacuation plan but we were still safely far enough away from the active fires. Honoring precaution, we still packed the car and were ready to leave. Living with multiple food allergies and asthma made me realize the great learning opportunity that was upon me: teach the kids how to manage an emergency AND their health needs !
Note: my friend who took this photo had only 30 minutes to pack. He explained to my kids the importance of knowing ahead of time what to pack in an emergency.
What we packed to evacuate
Parents:
- All asthma equipment (nebulizers, tubing, masks, extra spacers and peak flow meters)
- All asthma maintenance medications. When I say all, I mean all back-ups-everything!
- All asthma rescue medications
- Extra Epi Pens®
- Benadryl
- Jars of Sunbutter
- Boxes of “safe” crackers
- Canned “safe” foods, such as tuna, soup, beans, fruit (special note: we are not fans of canned foods, but I keep them on hand for emergencies)
- Jars of “safe” pasta sauce and pasta
- Extra set of eye glasses
- Cereal
- Toiletries for adults and kids
- Clothing for a few a days
- Pictures
- Computer and all flash drives
- No jewelry since I keep it in the safe deposit box as well as important papers
Daughter:
- 5 pairs of underwear
- 9 shirts
- 5 pairs of shorts
- Pajamas
- tooth brush and tooth paste
- about 20 stuffed animals some as big as a dog
- the Princess and the Peanut children’s book
- a picture of daddy
- umbrella
- bath robe
- Backpack that always holds Epi Pens® and Emergency Medicine Kit
Son:
- Unnamed amount of underwear
- Pajamas
- pants
- shirts
- Asthma medications (keeps a supply in his bedroom-maintenance and rescue meds)
- Shh…his favorite childhood stuffed animal…don’t breathe a word about the stuffed animal!
- Computer
- Backpack that always holds Epi Pens® and Emergency Medicine Kit
What we learned from packing for an emergency
- Keep all Asthma equipment and medications in one area. It worked beautifully that I keep all asthma medications and equipment on one shelf. So, I simply made a clean sweep of the shelf into a nice sized reusable grocery bag. I always have on hand one set of nebulizer tubing for each child.
- Keep a supply of several days of food allergy safe foods in one area. Keeping a hefty supply of food allergy safe foods in the pantry was fabulous too! Again, all kept in one area so I was not hunting and pecking to find items. The bottom line is that if we showed up at a hotel or friend’s house, the odds of finding safe foods is low with our variety of allergens: peanut, tree nut, dairy, sesame and poppy seeds.
- Keep a toiletry bag of shampoo, soaps, etc. ready. I did not refill the shampoos or soap in my travel bag since our last trip and I had to stop and refill those as most hotel shampoos are not safe since there is no labeling. Also, my daughter sometimes gets eczema and needs her own soap. Therefore, I committed myself to keep thing kid’s toiletry bag always ready to go with safe tooth paste, soap, shampoo and conditioners.
- Teach the kids to give priority to medical items and safe foods when packing. It is easy enough to buy new clothing, but not as easy to find Sunbutter or other foods.
Even though, we never were in full danger, other than being blown away in 60mph winds, I am grateful for the opportunity for my children to understand being prepared for an emergency, what is most important (life–us), and for the beauty of watching a community come together to help and support each other. I feel confident now that as they head off to college, God forbid they are put in an emergency situation again, they will hopefully remember loading the nebulizer into the car!
Special note: Today, offer up serious gratitude to our fire fighters, who came instantly from all over Northern Nevada and California and fought in horrible conditions. It was incredible to see how many structures/homes were saved check out the Reno Gazette Journal for photos–they are amazing. Our hearts are broken for those who lost their homes and we all hope they can rebuild and heal from this experience. This is truly a Thanksgiving to be thankful for.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..