I think this is a good idea no matter the time of year or situation, but I think I’m going to really work with my son on this. I think it would be good to get him in the routine of practicing these basic skills and help in planning. He’s a bit of a worry-er so I know talking about it and doing some prep will go a ways with him. I know we keep a lot of these supplies around the house in various places but it would be a good activity to get this more formalized. We certainly keep good supplies and stuff on hand, it’s just getting organized with it.
I hadn’t really thought about the gas and water lines but that makes total sense! The emergency folks will also certainly appreciate it if the need arises to enter the place.
Overall solid advice and topic here man!
I could write many thousands of words on this topic and others like it but no one would read it. I hope, by writing these things, to inspire people to take a more active role in their own safety, as you have been inspired to do, and build that desire into their children as we will have a much safer world if that happened. Imagine not-so-little-E applying skills you've taught him later in life to save himself or someone else...that would make me a proud parent as I assume you would be.
It's really so easy to do these things as outlined above, and it will almost certainly cause a person to have a greater awareness and probably want to do more.
Also, on the turn off the utilities thing...That's one of the first things a firefighter will do when attending a fire...makes sense for us to do it first.