Importance of Survival Kits

Through our survival kit preparations, I have learned how important it is to have a survival kit of some sort in my car, especially living here in South Dakota. Survival kits can mean the difference between surviving and not making it in a difficult situation. Every year you hear about people who die in blizzards or get stranded, and they may have been able to survive if they had a winter survival kit in their car. I feel that people need to be informed about what they need to survive in a blizzard and how to use the contents of the kit. Overall, it is really important to have the necessary items for survival in your car in case you are ever caught in a blizzard. This class really reinforced the idea and importance of survival kits, and it is great being able to donate a survival kit to somebody in need.

Service Project

For our service project, I was an active group member. I attended class to help research and help prepare the presentation. Also, I made a majority of the board and finished up the middle portion with some of my group members. Additionally, I presented on Tuesday night to the Boy Scouts. Through this project, I learned the importance of team work and working together and sharing ideas with my group. I felt this project taught me a lot about the importance of serving the community and helping the Boy Scouts learn valuable information that could save their lives. All in all, the service project was a fun opportunity to get to know my classmates and help benefit the community.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/1999/February/059cr.htm

Throughout my research on Japanese-American Internment, I have found the United States Department of Justice website to be a valuable resource. The site listed above is from the U.S. Department of Justice and discusses the redress program that was designed to compensate the Japanese Americans that were interned during World War II. I found this article particularly interesting because of the information which was new to me and also the quotes from Attorney General Janet Reno. I was surprised that this program gave out more than $1.6 billion to over 82,000 Japanese American citizens. Overall, the Department of Justice has been a valuable resource to me as I research my topic further.

http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/

This website lists several items that should be included in a basic emergency kit. The recommended items include water (one-gallon per person per day), food that is non-perishable, battery-powered or hand-crank radio, flashlight, extra batteries, first aid kit, dust mask, moist towelettes, garbage bags, plastic ties, wrench or pliers, can opener, local maps, and a cell phone with a charger. Some additional items to consider include prescription medications, glasses, infant formula, diapers, cash, traveler's checks, blankets, extra clothing, fire extinguisher, matches, books, games, and many other items. I felt this was a pretty good list; however, I would add some sort of bright colored flag, snow shovel, tin can to melt water, candles, and some other items if stuck in a South Dakota blizzard. Overall, there are numerous items that could be placed in a disaster preparedness kit; it just sort of depends on where you live and if you have pets/infants/older people that you travel with as to how many additional items you need to include in the kit.

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/cooking.shtm

This website is from the U.S. Fire Administration and discusses all sorts of cooking fires and preventative measures. The website briefly discusses how and when to fight cooking fires. The website touches on using a lid to cover a grease fire to smother the flames, turn off the burner, not to move the pan, and to leave the lid on until the fire is completely out. The website also discusses fires in ovens and microwaves and how to handle these kinds of fires. Basically, you should leave the oven door or microwave door closed to prevent flames from burning you or your clothing. In the instance of any fire, you should always dial 9-1-1 right away in case the fire does get out of control. Overall, this website offered some good information regarding cooking fire safety and some ways to avoid fires.