Pat Ingelse

If an event such as a fire destroyed your home, how easy would it be for you to retrieve important documents like insurance papers, your driver’s license, your passport, wills and so forth? One simple, inexpensive solution is to scan these documents and store them on a flash drive.

Flash drives (also called thumb drives or memory sticks) can be purchased at an office supply store at a minimal cost. Use a marker or sticker to label your drive “ICE,” which means “In Case of Emergency.” Scan in your documents and save them to the drive.

Things to put on the drive could include:

• Driver’s license or ID
• Social Security card
• Veteran/discharge papers
• Medicinal information (current prescriptions/dosages)
• Doctor’s information
• Insurance information (both home and health)
• Current photos of family members
• Emergency contact list with addresses and phone numbers

A few key things to remember:

• Store your flash drive in a small, sealed plastic bag to prevent damage from the elements.
• Keep a copy wherever you believe it will be safe and readily available after an emergency. You should keep it either in a fire-proof box or safe, or somewhere outside your home (such as in your car, at your workplace or at a relative’s), so it won’t be damaged in the event of a disaster.
• Keep the information on it up to date.
• Password protect your drive.

A simple step like this can save you a great deal of time and frustration in an emergency. More information on saving important information on a flash drive is available at http://fema.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Be-Ready-In-A-Flash-Create-a-Survival-Flash-Drive/355555-14692.