Could you pack in half an hour? The Swiss grab bag and home supply, item by item

The authorities tell your area to leave. Could you pack what matters in half an hour? That is the question the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection (BABS) asks in its Notfallplan. If the answer is not an easy yes, start here.

The other situation is the opposite: you stay at home for days, without shops or power. Swiss federal guidance prepares you for both with two different things: a bag for leaving fast, and a supply for staying put.

If you must leave now: five things

The BABS plan keeps the first list short on purpose:

1. mobile phone with charger or battery
2. passport and/or ID
3. personal medicines
4. wallet with cash and cards
5. food and drink for one day

If you have a little more time

• battery-powered FM radio and a torch
• spare clothes, plus sturdy, weatherproof, warm clothes and shoes
• your emergency pharmacy (see below)
• toiletries and towels
• health insurance card and insurance policies
• family record book, property documents, pension and income statements, savings books, securities and wills
• small valuables
• toys, if children are coming

Keep a folder of your most important documents ready, and choose a suitcase or rucksack you can carry easily. That is what turns half an hour into enough.

Before you close the door

1. Follow the authorities' instructions (radio, apps).
2. Close doors and windows.
3. Switch off electrical appliances and shut off gas lines.
4. Take food, special or baby food and medicines.
5. Do not leave pets shut in at home. Ask in advance whether you may bring them to your shelter.

If you must stay home: the supply

The Federal Office for National Economic Supply (BWL) says a household supply is meant to bridge a temporary shortage, not to see you through a long crisis. What it and the BABS plan recommend:

• Water: at least 9 litres per person. That is about one six-pack of 1.5-litre bottles. The BWL says this covers drinking and cooking for three days, not washing or flushing; the BABS plan states 9 litres per person for 3 to 4 days.
• Food for about one week. From the BABS list: rice or pasta, oil or fat, tinned vegetables and fruit, flour, ready meals and soups, hard cheese, dried meat, coffee, tea, muesli, dried fruit and nuts, pulses, crispbread, chocolate, UHT milk, sugar and honey, and special food for any dietary need. Include things you can eat without cooking, and food for pets.
• Light and news: a battery radio that receives DAB+ and FM, a torch (a wind-up one is listed), spare batteries, candles, matches or a lighter.
• Cooking without power: a gas stove or similar. Barbecues and open fires only outdoors.
• Other: some cash, personal medicines, soap and toilet paper.

When the power goes out

The BABS plan advises eating food from the fridge and freezer first. Eat baby food, ice cream, meat products and anything with raw egg at once, and do not refreeze thawed food. Depending on the appliance and the temperature outside, food in a fridge or freezer lasts between 10 hours and 3 days. The BWL notes that frozen food stays safe longer.

The emergency pharmacy

The BABS plan lists: disinfectant, 50 hygiene masks per person, an anti-diarrhoea remedy, painkillers, a thermometer, tweezers, wound ointment, dressings (plasters, gauze, elastic bandages), tape or bandage clips, bandage scissors, and your personal medicines. If you take a medicine regularly, keep a stock of it, or even carry it, and discuss your preparations with your family doctor.

A plan on paper

A bag is only half of it. The BABS plan asks you to:

1. write down the phone numbers of relatives, including your children's school and carers;
2. agree meeting points;
3. decide where you would stay for a few days if your area were evacuated;
4. talk beforehand with neighbours who may need help, such as older people or people with an illness or disability.

The Alertswiss website and app carry the official warnings and the plan in electronic form.

Why both Swiss offices say: use it

A supply is only useful while it is still good. Both Swiss documents advise storing food and medicines cool, dry and out of the light, checking best-before dates, and using and replacing the supply regularly as part of normal cooking. Check the contents twice a year, replace what is near its date, and tell everyone at home where the bag and the supplies are. The BWL offers a supply calculator to work out amounts for your household.

If you compare with the US list

The American Ready.gov kit agrees with the Swiss lists on the core: water, food, a radio, light, medicines, cash and documents. It counts water differently, at one gallon per person per day for several days (a US gallon is about 3.8 litres), and adds items such as a whistle to signal for help, a dust mask, plastic sheeting and duct tape, a manual can opener and local maps.

The one rule

A bag you can grab in half an hour, nine litres of water per person, a week of food — and use it, so it stays fresh.

This is general guidance. Adapt it to your household, your medicines and any local instructions.

Sources

• Federal Office for Civil Protection (BABS): Notfallplan (emergency plan)
• Federal Office for National Economic Supply (BWL): Kluger Rat, Notvorrat
• Alertswiss: preparedness and the Alertswiss app
• Ready.gov: Build a Kit