[Fleecewife]

Police Scotland is allegedly in the clag for advising people to prepare an emergency grab bag to be available should they have to leave suddenly, or get caught out.  People don't like the suggestion it seems, as it makes them feel unsafe in their comfy environments.


What do others think of this?


I do have a grab bag for sudden trips to hospital, having had to suffer with clothes etc picked by Mr F, including a nightdress which didn't cover my backside 
We also have a grab bag equivalent in the car.  Cars do break down, they get stuck in traffic jams or snow or floods, or even accidents.  I don't however pack the same things that Police Scotland has suggested, but tailor the contents to us.  We have a shovel (useful for so many emergencies  ), plenty of water, snacks, rugs, boots, waterproofs, dog poo bags  , baby wipes, a tool kit, the instruction manual for our car, most of which says 'take to your approved dealer'.  So, that sort of thing.  A lot of the stuff suggested by Police Scotland I carry in my handbag anyway - no wonder it's so heavy.
I have a sort of grab bag for going to the polytunnel, where I can get lost in a time warp.  It has water, in a basket, which doubles as a harvesting carrier.
I have a son who is a helicopter flying instructor.  He ensures all his students take a grab bag with them on every flight.


I feel the social media ridicule is thoughtless and stupid - they'll be kicking themselves for their sm@rt@$$ comments when they are stuck somewhere without that grab bag 

[doganjo]

I do NOT think it is justified.

1. the Police don't say why we should have grab bags,
2. they don't state whether there should be one for every member of the family,
3. they don't mention pets (which are my family as well as my kids and grandkids)
4. they don't give a realistic list of contents (I agree with you that water and snacks would be essential)
5. they don't state how urgent it is to get a bag ready
6. they don't state where we are supposed to go with our bags

I think it is pure scaremongering - just like the 'building a nuclear shelter in your hallway with doors and blankets' one.

As a young mum, but a supposedly intelligent accountant, that scared the living daylights out of me - I was at home with a toddler and a baby with my husband at work with our one car, when they put that one out.
For a whole week I made him take the bus to work, and I had a suitcase ready in the boot, with a change of clothing for us and the weans, baby's bottle and dried milk (I was breastfeeding at the time so why i put that in god knows), food for us and the dog, some cash. And I was ready to jump in and drive us to his work the second I heard the 4 minute warning.
At the end of that week, Sandy patiently sat me down with a glass of wine and said 'let's have a wee chat about this.  How long does the 4 minute warning give you? ' Four minutes. 'And how long does it take to drive to the hpospital to pick me up?' 10 minutes.

We both collapsed laughing. 

[Fleecewife]

I agree that the Police have messed it up, for all the reasons you cite.  However, the basic idea is a good one.  It's just the Scouts "be prepared" dressed up differently.  After all sorts of events, vox pop is to be heard saying 'you never expect it to happen in your street' or 'you never expect it to happen to you'. But people should, if not expect, then at least imagine that it could happen to them, and mitigate the outcome by being prepared to some small extent, even if it's just a first aid box (with relevant, sensible contents).


I too remember that idiotic advice to make a nuclear shelter in your house.  I also recall a few years later when we were living in Edinburgh, with the children school age.  In the middle of one night, an air raid siren went off close by, and continued to wail, a horribly familiar sound.  Having previously lived on military bases for a number of years, nuclear war was all too possible, so the siren petrified me rigid. I ran downstairs and stood in the hall looking at the construction of our house - it would have blown down in a gale, let alone a nuke.  I thought of waking my children and bringing them down to this supposed safe spot, then realised that if we were all to die, it was better that they didn't know anything about it.  I left them sleeping, and went back to bed, and eventually the siren stopped.  There was never any mention of that in the local papers.


However, the police are not meaning for us all to be prepared for nuclear war - there's not much you could squeeze into a grab bag that would help in that situation.

[Buttermilk]

I think a lot of it has to do with all the emergency evacuations that have been in the news regarding flooding, or the threat of.  It would have helped people in Whaley Bridge if they had all had grab bags handy.

[henchard]

In these unsettled times, it’s good to know that the police are always on hand to remind us that we should be in a permanent state of fear and borderline terror about potential disasters hanging over our heads.

Now there may just be a case for having such a bag in case you're rushed into hospital, but  a torch and whistle? Grab bags are usually reserved for criminals on the run, people living in areas which expect an imminent natural disaster or people living in war zones do they know more about the looming Brexit disaster (and just where are we meant to run in that case anyway?).

Why are the graphics all faded like the old nuclear warning things from the 80s? To specifically engender fear and help keep a populace under control? The elite want the public scared,  obedient and spinning on their hamster wheels too busy and petrified to see what is going on in society as they work their zero hours contracts and more and more money is passed upwards to the elites at the top (busy preparing their emergency second, third and fourth homes in different tax havens no doubt).

We're being played folks and most people haven't got a clue.

[Alex_]

Do you have a link to where they advised it?

[henchard]

https://mobile.twitter.com/polscotcontrol/status/1170645529686134784

[Fleecewife]

Yesterday, my SiL set out for work, driving across Edinburgh in the rush hour.  Just at a notorious bottle neck her car died, totally dead, nothing.  Big build up of traffic behind her, bad tempers all round.  She eventually arranged for rescue, but it took the chap 3 hours to get there.  She was dressed for the office, lightweight clothes, just not suitable for standing around in a cool Edinburgh September morning!  She ate her lunchtime piece.  She looked around for her grab bag - not there after she had cleaned the car over the weekend.  Nothing to drink, no warm clothes.  Eventually the rescue arrived, with the driver saying he hadn't even had his breakfast yet.  They ate the orange cake between them, which she had been taking into work to share at coffee break time.
Now if she had had her grab bag, she would have been warm, fed and comfortable.


[member=8543]henchard[/member] that's all a bit OTT, there's not enough money available for anyone to dominate the masses for some secret purpose of their own. Anyone who is rich is too busy enjoying themselves to bother with oppressing others.  You're the one doing the scaremongering.  You probably just caught the craze from social media.
Why ridicule the torch?  I carry a small torch everywhere, it's one of the most useful items.  The whistle would be for if you are lying unnoticed in a ditch after crashing your bike or bicycle, or lost on a walk.  Every hill walker carries one. There are uses for most of the stuff the Police have recommended, but I think what you carry should be tailored to the circumstances that day.


[member=162324]Alex_[/member]  it was plastered all over the BBC Scottish news yesterday https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49637873

[Rosemary]

I think it's good advice - but we're all a bit paranoid with the state of the UK. If it had been a normal year, folk would hardly have noticed.

[doganjo]

Ok, say you are a couple, with a parent living with you, and two teenagers.
You have grab bags for all of them.  Kids go to school, but have school books so can't carry grab bags with them too. 
Dad has dementia so you have to carry his bag as well as your own if there is an emergency, and also keep an eye on him.

Far better for safe zones to be set up at local community points - community halls, libraries, gp surgeries, chemists etc

They should have everything available anyway and everyone would be advised in advance what their emergency contact point would be.

[Argyll]

Zombie apocalypse? Seriously though, family of three, cats, dog, hens, sheep...that's a lot to even think about evacuating! Be prepared for bad weather, car breakdowns etc, but one does have to wonder!

[Steph Hen]

Yes it’s a good idea to have a grab bag. A friend of mine had knock at the door and told to evacuate middle of the night as near by buildings were on fire.
When I used to drive an hour and half in Scotland in winter I had the works in my old banger: food water, camping stove, boots, coats, blankets, first aid, shovel, loads of stuff. Still will if going further afield.
But I do think they like fear mongering and keeping us scared. 

[doganjo]

Yes it’s a good idea to have a grab bag. A friend of mine had knock at the door and told to evacuate middle of the night as near by buildings were on fire.
When I used to drive an hour and half in Scotland in winter I had the works in my old banger: food water, camping stove, boots, coats, blankets, first aid, shovel, loads of stuff. Still will if going further afield.
But I do think they like fear mongering and keeping us scared.

That's just common sense, but to be in your own house and told to have a grab bag is just plain scaremongering.  I'd grab my handbag - which has my passport, driving licence, cash and bank cards in it - so I can buy anything I need

[Penninehillbilly]

It can't harm to have a bag ready with a few basics in, and maybe a reminder list of other everydaythings you should throw in at the last minute. Something like a friend or family member  stranded, in an accident or some emergency.
Maybe not exactly what the police are suggesting, but it's worth thinking about. With things tailored to our own lives

[Profile deleted]

I have a wind up torch in my car.   No mouldy batteries in my glove box. 
Sounds like the type of task PS have given to a graddy newbie, it seems so ill-thought through
The US preppers gladly show us the content of their "grab bags" on YouTube and they often contain an assortment of semi-automatic pistols and ammo.  Great if you want to rob your way to survive.
I know for the most part it would be safer to build resilience at home and not to bolt into the woods...that's just fantasy and they will be making a  line for home after one day out !!!

For those of us that have space and forethought , the options go from a good larder to home gen power and so on.   

Running puts you at risk, unless you need to move from a chemical spill or flood