Dennis

Do you really need to carry all that stuff? Unless you expect your neighborhood to be underwater, wouldn't it be easier to camp out in (what remains of) your home (or the backyard ... or a local park). So you could go back and fetch more of the wwater when you need it. Take a look at how much water your family is using each day. I try to plan for my family having access to about the same amount of water for a couple of weeks. It adds up. You could just fill a (clean) 44 gallon drum with water, add some purification chemicals, and store it in your backyard.

First-aid. Well ... you're the nurse. The main thing is that you're going to have to clean and sterilize wounds. There's time for infection if you don't do this. Wouldn't hurt to have some injectable lidocaine (wound cleaning hurts). Bandages & splinting materials, of course. You've got a tough problem with analgesics, because the medical system won't kick them loose. Codeine, or better vicodin, would be great if you could nab a little. A broad spectrum antibiotic would help too. Keep in mind that you will b enormously busy after a natural disaster - because the neighborhood will be coming to YOU for medical assistance! Think about that.

Take it steady. Learn how to b resourceful and improvise. You can improvise a pretty good cooking stove with scraps of metal and chicken wire, or you can use Coke cans or tuna cans. You need some fuel, and it's worth keeping some denatured alcohol around fo that. Try this stuff out now while you've got plenty of time. That way it will be no sweat if you ever really need to do anything.

Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. But o matter who those people are in your neighborhood - they definitely will NEED a nurse. You will be able to negotiate a trade of your skills for just about anything you need ... food, water, batteries etc. So no need to freak out.

cheers,
Pete