A home emergency kit: what to keep, where to put it, and when to check it

This guide accompanies chapter 1, entry 26, on fire extinguishers, fire blankets, escape hoods, and first-aid kits. It covers what to keep at home. For actions during a fire, cardiac arrest, severe bleeding, burns, or carbon-monoxide exposure, see chapter 13. Smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms are covered in chapter 1, entry 3; gas hoses and cooking appliances in entry 4.

The focus is accidental injury, not illness. Evidence that simply purchasing equipment reduces injury or death is limited; the final section explains that limitation. The official lists and product certifications below are from mainland China. Readers elsewhere should use the relevant local standards and emergency numbers.

1. What the official lists contain

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management published an 11-item basic household emergency-supplies list in 2020. The descriptions below follow that document.

No.	Item	Description in the 2020 list
1	Drinking water	Enough for each person’s basic needs for three days; the document states at least 3 liters per person
2	Ready-to-eat food	Three days of basic food needs per person; compact, energy-dense food
3	Fire extinguisher and fire blanket	For an early-stage fire; the list also describes a blanket as an aid during escape
4	Escape breathing hood	A filtering self-rescue respirator intended for escape from fire
5	Flashlight	Waterproof and explosion-resistant; recharge or replace batteries regularly
6	Multitool	Combined knife or saw, screwdriver, pliers, and similar tools
7	Radio	To receive emergency broadcasts
8	Emergency whistle	To make an audible distress signal
9	Wound-care supplies	Hemostatic powder, adhesive dressings, gauze bandages, and similar items
10	Disinfecting wipes	For personal hygiene
11	Surgical masks	For infection protection

The water figure is the wording of this particular 2020 list, not a universal calculation of total household water needs.

Source: Ministry of Emergency Management (2020). National Basic Household Emergency Supplies Recommendation List. https://www.mem.gov.cn/kp/shaq/202011/t20201129_372149.shtml

Local versions offer more detail. Beijing’s emergency management authority published basic and expanded lists. Its basic list has three categories: emergency supplies, tools, and medicines. Items include a hand-crank rechargeable flashlight with radio reception, a whistle, towels or tissues or wipes, an escape hood, multifunction scissors, an emergency escape rope, and an extinguisher or fire blanket. The medicine and medical-material category includes anti-infective and cold medicines, surgical masks, gauze bandages, and povidone-iodine swabs. Their inclusion in a list is not an instruction to self-prescribe medication.

The expanded list has five categories: food, personal items, escape and self-rescue tools, first-aid supplies, and important documents. Beijing’s guidance also recommends buying from legally qualified, reputable suppliers; prioritizing the basic list; learning correct use; inspecting supplies regularly; and replacing expired items promptly.

Sources: Beijing Emergency Management Bureau (2020), revised household emergency-supplies lists. https://yjglj.beijing.gov.cn/art/2020/12/23/art_6058_664632.html; detailed item list reproduced by Beijing’s Xicheng District government. https://www.bjxch.gov.cn/zt/kpzc/xxxq/pnidpv858729.html

A national update followed on September 23, 2024: the Office of the National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Commission’s guidance on strengthening emergency rescue and disaster-relief supplies systems and capacity, document 国防减救办发〔2024〕13号. Annex 2 is a household emergency-supplies directory. It has five categories—emergency food, daily necessities, tools, medicines and medical supplies, and important records—with 16 basic items and 31 expanded items. Verification pending: the source could not obtain a text version suitable for checking each item; the official attachments were a WPS file and a scanned PDF. The individual 16 and 31 items have therefore not been verified here.

2. Three fire-safety items

Fire extinguisher. In China, portable extinguishers are subject to compulsory product certification. Look for the CCC mark and the applicable standard, GB 4351—2023. Stored-pressure types other than carbon-dioxide extinguishers have a pressure gauge. The pointer should be in the green zone; a red or yellow reading calls for attention rather than assuming the unit is ready for use. The retirement periods cited from XF 95 are six years for water-based units, ten for dry powder, and twelve for carbon dioxide, counted from manufacture. The date is marked on the cylinder. The source suggests ABC dry powder for general household use, with units near the kitchen doorway and home entrance. Do not hide one in a cupboard directly above the cooker, where a fire could make it inaccessible.

Fire blanket. The official list groups this with the extinguisher and describes both covering a burning pan and assistance during escape. A kitchen drawer can keep it within reach. For a small pan fire that can be approached safely, turn off the heat if safe, cover the pan, and do not immediately lift the blanket. Follow the product’s instructions, inspection requirements, and replacement guidance; the source’s claim that a blanket “never expires” should not override those instructions.

Escape hood. The Chinese product category is a filtering fire self-rescue respirator. The cited standard is GB 21976.7—2012, Escape apparatus for building fire—Part 7: Filtering respiratory protective devices for self-rescue from fire. The source checked that this compulsory standard took effect on June 1, 2013 and was confirmed valid at its 2023 review. Look for the standard number and CCC mark. The source recommends one suitable unit per household member, within reach by the bed rather than locked away. The filter has a limited rated operating time and is single-use: it is an escape aid, not permission to remain in a fire.

Verification pending: the source obtained the standard’s title, status, and implementation date, but not its detailed provisions on minimum oxygen concentration or rated protection time. Those limits must not be guessed.

Smoke is a major danger in fires. Escape planning—including staying low in smoke, checking doors before opening, and using stairs rather than lifts—is covered in chapter 13, entry 24. Smoke alarms are covered in chapter 1, entry 3. Put alarms and an escape plan ahead of treating these three purchases as a complete solution.

3. What to put in a first-aid kit

The national list gives only a short wound-care description. The more specific kit below works backward from the first-aid actions discussed in chapter 13.

Bleeding control: a windlass tourniquet—the type tightened using a rod—plus sterile gauze, bandages, a triangular bandage, and medical tape. When and how to use a tourniquet, and why it should not be periodically loosened to “let blood through,” are covered in chapter 13, entry 12.
Wound care: povidone-iodine swabs, saline, adhesive dressings, sterile dressings, disposable gloves, scissors, and tweezers.
Burns: the immediate step discussed here is 20 minutes under cool running tap water, rather than applying an ointment. See chapter 13, entry 14.
Medical information: a card listing household members’ allergies, chronic conditions, and regular medicines, ready to hand to emergency personnel.

For someone with a known risk of severe allergy, an adrenaline/epinephrine auto-injector may also be needed. It is a prescription medicine; arrange it with a clinician. See chapter 13, entry 15, on recognizing and responding to anaphylaxis.

This specific kit is grade C evidence: experience and consensus, rather than direct research establishing this exact shopping list. The official document gives a broad wound-care category; the detailed choices are inferred from the first-aid actions in the handbook.

4. Lighting, communication, and signaling

The official list specifies a waterproof, explosion-resistant flashlight. Keep it charged or replace its batteries regularly. A whistle lets a trapped person signal with less effort than repeated shouting and can be easier to hear amid background noise. A radio receives emergency broadcasts. Beijing’s version also includes an escape rope and multifunction scissors; listed equipment still requires appropriate knowledge of its safe use. A phone power bank is a practical addition many households already own.

5. Set aside ten minutes for an annual stock check

Extinguishers: check that the pressure gauge is green and compare the manufacture date with the retirement period.
Smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms: use the test button and follow the device’s testing and battery instructions. Chapter 1, entry 3 discusses annual replacement for replaceable batteries; an annual kit review does not replace any more frequent alarm testing required by the manufacturer.
Escape hoods: check the packaging seal and labeled shelf life.
First-aid kit: check medicine and dressing expiry dates and the tourniquet’s securing mechanism.
Flashlights and power banks: check the charge.

Beijing’s guidance calls for regular checks and prompt replacement of expired supplies. Tying the stock check to the same date each year makes it easier to remember.

6. Purchases to think twice about

An AED for an ordinary home. The source quotes a cost above RMB 10,000 and does not identify evidence supporting routine household purchase. For cardiac arrest, begin chest compressions, have someone call China’s emergency number 120, and send someone to fetch a nearby public AED. See chapter 13, entry 1.
Uncertified “fire masks” or “gas masks.” Article 24 of China’s Fire Protection Law requires covered fire-safety products to be certified by a legally qualified body before production, sale, or use. A generic industrial filter for workplace contaminants is not equivalent to a fire-escape respirator. Check the required CCC certification for the relevant product category.
Prepacked emergency gift sets. A bundle may be padded with cheap flashlights or masks. Buying the extinguisher, blanket, hood, and first-aid supplies separately can make costs and certification easier to check.
Excess food and water that will expire unused. The cited basic list uses a three-day starting point. The source warns against buying more merely to stockpile; see chapter 5, entry 24. Three days is not a universal maximum: local hazards and official guidance may require a different reserve. Rotate what you store so it remains usable.

Source: Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2021). Fire Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, 2021 amendment, article 24. https://www.beijing.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengcefagui/qtwj/202307/t20230726_3207767.html

7. How much difference does equipment make?

The evidence here is weaker than for some of chapter 1’s other actions.

A Cochrane review combined 98 studies involving 2,605,044 people to examine home safety education and provision of safety equipment. The overall injury incidence rate ratio was IRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.78–1.01: roughly an 11% lower rate at the point estimate, but the interval includes 1, so no difference remains compatible with the data. Home-delivered interventions had IRR 0.75, 95% CI 0.62–0.91, about 25% lower. Education without equipment provision had IRR 0.78, 95% CI 0.66–0.92, about 22% lower. The pattern suggests that teaching and changing the home environment matter; it does not establish that handing out equipment is the active ingredient. The review did not establish reductions in burns or poisoning.

Safety practices did improve. The odds of having a working smoke alarm were higher, OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.30–2.52. For an escape plan, OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.45–2.77; safe medicine storage, OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.27–1.84; and a fitted stair gate, OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.19–2.17. These correspond to roughly 81%, 101%, 53%, and 61% higher odds respectively—not the same percentage increases in the proportion of households.

Source: Kendrick D et al. (2012). Home safety education and provision of safety equipment for injury prevention. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005014.pub3

Reasonably priced equipment can be part of preparation. Owning it is not the same as being safe. Working alarms, a practiced escape plan, and removing household hazards deserve attention alongside the shopping list.