The importance of an important document folder
I grew up in a bush fire prone area of NSW and fires just seemed to be such a ‘normal’ part of my childhood in Australia. Now as an adult I live once again in an area surrounded by bush, which is amazing. I mean I have koalas hanging out in my front yard but in the same breath I am also aware of the very real chance that one day we might have to evacuate due to fires.
There have already been a number of times on which we have left our home when we have not felt safe. I will admit that I am more cautious than most but catastrophic fire days with strong winds and temperatures in the 40’s are not something that I am willing to risk. Leaving earlier and heading down the hill with our daughter and cat to the in-laws place has always been part of our fire action plan.
What was not part of the plan
What is not part of the plan is the panicked rush around to collect all of those ‘important items.’ The fist time we did actually pack up and go, I was not prepared in the slightest. We always spoke about it but never actually put anything into action.
I will be honest and say I spent way too long trying to find things. I over packed the car and brought EVERYTHING I could. All the time I wasted trying to find this stuff and when we got home I just looked at it. None of it mattered really, it was just stuff.
The single greatest thing I was grateful for through was my important document folder. I have always loosely had one of these folders (thanks to 5+ years in the military) and I knew where this folder was without even thinking about it. My birth certificate, will, insurance, medical info etc was all there. Since then I have added to it including items for for my daughter and partner.
It is a simple A4 folder but it makes such a big difference
What I include in my folder
So I thought I would share a little about this folder and it’s contents. My folder contains the following items and obviously you can change this to suit your situation:
- Evacuation list (see below)
- Birth certificates
- Will
- Insurance details
- Super details
- Medical information
- Other important personal documents
- Important phone number, including family and friends. This is important because if your phone is damaged, lost or loses battery you still have these important numbers (because seriously who remembers phone numbers these days)!
Evacuation list
What is an evacuation list I hear you ask? Well remember how I said that first time we packed up and I was a bit like a headless chook? Well since then I have written myself a list (like the good little organiser that I am haha).
My evacuation list is on the front page of my important document folder and is a quick list of items that I need to grab before we go. It seriously dumbs it down for me and reminds me of the important stuff.
For example:
- Medications we need to take with us
- Cat carrier
- Keepsake boxes
- Photos
- Laptops
- Phone charger
- Reminder to check in with neighbours
- Packed bags (if I have time). This is low priority for me though as I have a little box in the car with spare clothes.
Sure there are heaps of other things I can grab but in a pinch these items are what I really NEED to take.
Note: the above information should be considered as a guide only.
Other resources
Here are some really great resources that you can reference for more information on bushfire safety and emergency planning in general.
- The Country Fire Service (CFS) in South Australia (SA) has a 5-min bushfire plan which is great place to start. The SA government website has a more detailed evacuation plan which is worth a look.
- Big weather and how to survive it is a really great show on the ABC that has loads of information on what to do during an emergency. I would definitely recommend it as it certainly opened my eyes about a few things.
- Keeping up to date with the local broadcast is a great way to stay informed. Here is a link to the ABC radio search page. It allows you to check the frequency of your local emergency broadcast. Here in Adelaide SA it is 891 AM.
- Alert SA is another great tool. This app notifies you when there is an event or incident in your area of concern. Make sure you take the time to set up your ‘zone’ otherwise it will send you notifications from the whole state rather than just our area.
The bottom line
I want to believe I will never actually have to use all of this in an emergency situation. But I can’t be 100% sure that won’t happen.
So put my mind at ease I have this plan in place. I have all of my important documents in one place. I have my reminders too if I need them.
And in the meantime if I ever need my both certificate I know EXACTLY where to look.
Share This:
Facebook
LinkedIn
Email
