Flashlight and extra batteries
First aid kit and manual
Emergency food and water
Manual (nonelectric) can opener
Essential medicines
Sturdy shoes
Respiratory (breathing) protection
Eye protection (goggles)
Battery-powered radio
Protecting yourself during ashfall
If you are indoors
Stay inside, if possible, with windows and doors closed.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
Use goggles to protect your eyes.If ash is continually falling, you may not be able to shelter indoors for more than a few hours, because the weight of the ash could collapse the roof of your building and block air intakes into the building. Listen to authorities for advice on leaving the area when ashfall lasts more than a few hours.
Exposure to ash can harm your health, particularly the respiratory (breathing) tract. To protect yourself while you are outdoors or while you are cleaning up ash that has gotten indoors, a disposable particulate respirator (also known as an “air purifying respirator”) may be considered. An N-95 respirator is the most common type of disposable particulate respirator and can be purchased at businesses such as hardware stores. It is important to follow directions for proper use of this respirator. For more information, see NIOSH-Approved Disposable Particulate Respirators (Filtering Facepieces) . If you don’t have a particulate respirator, you can protect yourself by using a nuisance dust mask as a last resort, but you should stay outdoors for only short periods while dust is falling. Nuisance dust masks can provide comfort and relief from exposure to relatively non-hazardous contaminants such as pollen, but they do not offer as much protection as a particulate respirator. Cleanup or emergency workers may need a different type of breathing protection based on their work activity. Note that disposable particulate respirators do not filter toxic gases and vapors.
Keep your car or truck engine switched off. Avoid driving in heavy ashfall. Driving will stir up ash that can clog engines and stall vehicles. If you do have to drive, keep the car windows up and do not operate the air conditioning system. Operating the air conditioning system will bring in outside air and ash.