Water and the first 72 hours

The first three days decide most outcomes. Do the same things in the same order, calmly, and write them down.

Hour 0 to 3: stop, check, gather

1. Check people. Everyone present, children and older people first. Treat injuries (see the medicine guide).
2. Check the danger. Fire, gas smell, flooding, unsafe buildings. If unsafe, leave and go to your agreed meeting point.
3. Fill every container with water now, while the taps still work: bathtubs, pots, bottles, clean buckets. Water often stops before anything else.
4. Charge what you can while there is power: phones, power banks, radios, torches.
5. Take cash and documents out: ID, medical records, medicine lists, property papers, a paper map.
6. Do not spend the first hours on the internet. If it works, use it for news and for the downloads you did not make; if not, switch to a battery or hand-crank radio.

Water

• Amount: plan at least 4 litres per person per day (about 2 to drink and cook, 2 for washing). Children, pregnant women and hot weather need more. Store at least 14 days if you can.
• Make unsafe water safe, in this order of preference:
  1. Boil. A rolling boil for 1 minute (3 minutes above 2,000 m). Let it cool covered.
  2. Bleach. Plain household bleach (5 to 9% sodium hypochlorite, no scent, no additives): 2 drops per litre of clear water, double for cloudy water, stir, wait 30 minutes. It should smell faintly of chlorine afterwards.
  3. Sunlight. Clear plastic (PET) bottles, filled with clear water and left in full sun for 6 hours (2 days if cloudy). Recommended by the World Health Organization for emergencies.
  4. Filters. Ceramic or hollow-fibre filters remove most bacteria and protozoa; boil or treat as well if viruses are a risk.
• Cloudy water: let it settle and pour it through a clean cloth first. Disinfection works badly in muddy water.
• Never drink water from places where sewage, chemicals or dead animals may have entered, even boiled.

Shelter and warmth

• Stay in your home if it is safe: it is already shelter and it is where your family will look for you.
• Keep one warm room. Close off the rest. Layers, hats and blankets matter more than heating.
• Never burn charcoal, run a generator, a grill or a camp stove indoors. Carbon monoxide has no smell and kills in hours.

Food in the first days

Eat what spoils first: fridge, then freezer (a closed freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours), then dry goods. Do not open the freezer more than needed.

Hygiene

Wash hands with soap and treated water before eating and after the toilet. Bury waste at least 30 m from water sources and 15 cm deep if there is no sewage service.

Talking and finding each other

Agree two meeting points in advance (near home and outside your neighbourhood) and one person outside your area everyone calls. Leave notes. See the communication guide.

Do this today, while the internet works

• Download the offline kit and keep it on a drive.
• Print this guide and the medicine guide.
• Store water, and know how you will treat more.