At LifeSecure, emergency preparedness is kind of our thing. Our emergency kits are carefully stocked with essential supplies to help your home or office make it through disastrous situations, should they ever come knocking.
But, if you’ve bought an emergency kit, you should know it will eventually expire! Fortunately, we have a plan for that too.
Emergency Kits Can Expire?
Yes…well, parts of the kit at least.
Things like emergency water pouches or food bars, as well as certain medical supplies, have a recommended shelf life of 5 years. After that 5 year mark, certain materials and/or their packaging begin to break down. This means they may no longer be safe to use, or as effective as you need them to be.
What do I need to replace?
Every 3-5 years it is important to stock your emergency kit with fresh supplies of the following:
- Emergency Water (U.S. Coast Guard Approved)
- Emergency Food (U.S. Coast Guard Approved)
- Batteries
- Light Sticks
- First Aid Supplies like Antiseptic Towelettes
Your first aid is the only tricky item here.
All medicines should definitely be replaced every 3-5 years. It will also be a good idea to stock up on fresh medical tape and bandages, which will become weaker with time even if they aren’t used.
You should check the integrity of any blades in your first aid kit too. Fold a piece of gauze and cut it with the scissors included to ensure they are still effective.
Otherwise, tools and gauze can be kept if they’re deemed to still be in good condition. If you’re unsure about an item, it’s always better to replace it.
This Sounds Like a Pain
You’re right! Thankfully, LifeSecure makes it easy by offering replacement emergency kits for our most popular products.
These replacement kits only contain the items that expire! If it isn’t included in the replacement kit, then no need to worry about it! This way you don’t need to buy a brand new emergency kit every time the clock runs out.
Your replacement kit also comes with a new first aid kit, so you don’t need to sift through that either! We’ve done all the work for you.
Remembering To Check
Remembering to do one thing every 5 years can be quite a difficult task.
Instead, try marking your calendar to check in on your kit every year or every 6 months. This way you can also make sure nothing is missing from your kit. As an added bonus, you will definitely remember where you stored it should an emergency ever arise.
If you want to save time later, keep a list of relevant expiration dates in your kit so that it’s the first thing you see when you check in on it.
Speaking of which, have you checked your kit recently?