The Washington State Military Department (WSMD) has created a simple one-year guide—Prepare in a Year—to help people tackle one task per month. We will follow it here to help you prepare in one category every thirty days so that you will make progress monthly and feel ready by the end of the year. If you are preparing your family, make sure your family members know what to do as well. If you are preparing your business, make sure your colleagues or employees are up to date.

Our task for September is to Organize Under-the-Bed Supplies.

Under-the-Bed supplies are those items you can reach for when you’ve been awakened by a crisis, such as an earthquake. These are basic items that you need in order to take any further action, such as evacuation. You keep these items under the bed so that you don’t have to get out of bed in order to retrieve them because, without them, just getting out of bed could expose you to injury.

All household members who can get out of bed by themselves should have these items.

Here’s the list:

• Sturdy shoes to protect your feet from broken glass and other fallen objects.

• Work gloves to protect your hands from broken glass and protruding objects.

• Flashlight & light sticks so you can see at night, when the power is out, or when there’s smoke or dust.

• Hard hat (or bicycle helmet) to protect you from falling objects like chimney bricks, branches, and furniture.

• An OK/HELP card (or a sheet of paper and marker) to post on an exterior door or window. This is important if your neighborhood has gone through Map Your Neighborhood and people are prepared to check on one another and look for the OK or Help sign at each house/apartment.

• Tape or adhesive bandages to hang the OK/Help card in the window or on the front door.

• A copy of your out-of-area contacts in a zipable plastic bag (so it doesn’t get destroyed by water). If you need to evacuate, you want to have this with you so you can reach out and let people know your status.

• A whistle to call for help in case you are unable to move.

You might also consider knee pads and goggles, if you have the space.