Again, you want copies of any official documents in the binder. Keep the originals in a safe place like a Safety Deposit Box. Be sure to note where the originals are located on your copies.
Showing posts with label Vital Records Binder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vital Records Binder. Show all posts
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Family Vital Records Binder - Week 4
Your assignment for Week 4 is getting all the information about your family's cars into one place. Vroom vroom!
Again, you want copies of any official documents in the binder. Keep the originals in a safe place like a Safety Deposit Box. Be sure to note where the originals are located on your copies.
Again, you want copies of any official documents in the binder. Keep the originals in a safe place like a Safety Deposit Box. Be sure to note where the originals are located on your copies.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Family Vital Records Binder - Week 3
Your assignment for Week 3 is to gather medical information for your family.
I used a business card style page protector for the contact information for doctors, dentists and veterinarians (my dogs are my kids - definitely an important part of the family and this section is the first place I'd go looking for their medical information!).
My dentist gave me a little grief about getting a copy of my x-rays. He said they lose their value as a diagnostic tool after about 6 months. When I explained what this binder was and that including them was for identification purposes, he finally gave them to me.
Also, I did not try to gather up immunization information or medical records from every single doctor I've ever seen. If you do try, you will likely be better off scanning and saving it to a CD than dealing with that much paper here. I just wrote out my history as best I could remember and got a photocopy (stamped PHOTOCOPY so it couldn't be used to actually get a prescription) of my medication prescription. You might also think about including a list of any vitamins or herbal supplements you take since they can affect many medications effectiveness. I would just photocopy the labels that show the RDA information or pull it off a used up bottle and slip into a sheet protector in this section.
If you have a Living Will, DNR Order or desire to be an organ donor I would include that information here, too.
Outside a widespread disaster, this whole section could be extremely important and helpful if someone else ever needs to make medical decisions for you. For example, if you are injured in a traffic accident these are details that would help your family and doctors make the best decisions about your care.
NOTE: Make copies, or use duplicates, of your insurance cards in the binder. You need the originals for your everyday normal life now. Likewise with insurance policies. Keep the original documents in a safe place, like a Safety Deposit Box, and put copies in the binder with a notation with where to find originals.
I used a business card style page protector for the contact information for doctors, dentists and veterinarians (my dogs are my kids - definitely an important part of the family and this section is the first place I'd go looking for their medical information!).
My dentist gave me a little grief about getting a copy of my x-rays. He said they lose their value as a diagnostic tool after about 6 months. When I explained what this binder was and that including them was for identification purposes, he finally gave them to me.
Also, I did not try to gather up immunization information or medical records from every single doctor I've ever seen. If you do try, you will likely be better off scanning and saving it to a CD than dealing with that much paper here. I just wrote out my history as best I could remember and got a photocopy (stamped PHOTOCOPY so it couldn't be used to actually get a prescription) of my medication prescription. You might also think about including a list of any vitamins or herbal supplements you take since they can affect many medications effectiveness. I would just photocopy the labels that show the RDA information or pull it off a used up bottle and slip into a sheet protector in this section.
If you have a Living Will, DNR Order or desire to be an organ donor I would include that information here, too.
Outside a widespread disaster, this whole section could be extremely important and helpful if someone else ever needs to make medical decisions for you. For example, if you are injured in a traffic accident these are details that would help your family and doctors make the best decisions about your care.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Family Vital Records Binder - Week 2
Your assignment for Week 2 is all about getting important addresses together.
You'll need all of the addresses of people who are important to you both personally and professionally. I started with a list of names and then started going through my address books on my phone, email, hard copy... and I included phone numbers and email addresses where I could and it was appropriate. What I didn't have and thought I might want, I sent messages to friends, family and other associates asking for their information.
When you've got all the details, type up your lists and print them out. Insert into sheet protectors and put in your binder.
This section could be a great resource even in 'normal' times!
Or if something happened to me and someone else had to step in and try to piece my life together to get me the help I needed...
You'll need all of the addresses of people who are important to you both personally and professionally. I started with a list of names and then started going through my address books on my phone, email, hard copy... and I included phone numbers and email addresses where I could and it was appropriate. What I didn't have and thought I might want, I sent messages to friends, family and other associates asking for their information.
When you've got all the details, type up your lists and print them out. Insert into sheet protectors and put in your binder.
HINT: Format your 'Christmas List' as address labels and use a fun font so it takes the work out of sending cards in those hurried days after Thanksgiving. Print (or photocopy) onto label stock and you're ready to go!
This section could be a great resource even in 'normal' times!
Or if something happened to me and someone else had to step in and try to piece my life together to get me the help I needed...
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Family Vital Records Binder - Week 1
This is a project I started several years ago and kind of lost steam and then... well, life happened. I've been meaning to get back to it for awhile because it's something I firmly believe is really important, but darn it!! Life keeps happening.
The place I found this is a blog called Prepared Not Scared. It doesn't look to be very active any longer but if you go there and dig around you will find yummy recipes, cute graphic items like calenders and games and some really great preparedness ideas! Tricia Smith, the woman who writes (wrote?) the blog was the Family Preparedness Coordinator for her Ward in Bountiful, UT at the time I first started my Vital Records Binder. All credit for the ideas, organization, order, thought process... EVERYTHING... is hers. I am just copying what I think is a really great idea and inviting you to follow along as I post how I'm going about accomplishing it.
The plan, as I remember it, is that it should take a year to complete everything in the Binder. And it is a comprehensive set of documentation that, should something terrible ever happen, is a grab and go item to help you restart your life after the disaster.
Your assignment for Week 1 is to gather your materials. You will need a large (3-inch plus thick) 3-ring binder along with full page sheet, business card, and CD protectors (all available at office supply stores) that are punched to fit in the binder. You'll also need to download and print the tabs to divide all the sections of the binder from each other. Once printed, go ahead and slip each tab into a sheet protector and put it in your binder.
Click HERE to view, download and print the tabs. I'm having trouble creating a shareable file for the labels that go on the sides of the tabs but I'll keep working on it and post them as soon as I can. Once they are available, or if you want to create your own, they are just attached with clear packing tape.
When you're done, it should look something like this!
Take a few minutes and thumb through the tabs reading what goes into each one and you'll see just how comprehensive this project is!!
A few people who've seen my beginnings of a binder have complained that it's bulky and heavy and hard to tote around and they can save everything on a flash drive that's easy to just slip into their purse or bug-out bag. If you are comfortable that the days following any kind of major disaster will include readily available electricity, computers, and printing services then that is a good option for you. I'm not so sure my faith in technology is that strong. I think it could take weeks to have those services up and running so I'm choosing to make the binder.
The place I found this is a blog called Prepared Not Scared. It doesn't look to be very active any longer but if you go there and dig around you will find yummy recipes, cute graphic items like calenders and games and some really great preparedness ideas! Tricia Smith, the woman who writes (wrote?) the blog was the Family Preparedness Coordinator for her Ward in Bountiful, UT at the time I first started my Vital Records Binder. All credit for the ideas, organization, order, thought process... EVERYTHING... is hers. I am just copying what I think is a really great idea and inviting you to follow along as I post how I'm going about accomplishing it.
The plan, as I remember it, is that it should take a year to complete everything in the Binder. And it is a comprehensive set of documentation that, should something terrible ever happen, is a grab and go item to help you restart your life after the disaster.
Your assignment for Week 1 is to gather your materials. You will need a large (3-inch plus thick) 3-ring binder along with full page sheet, business card, and CD protectors (all available at office supply stores) that are punched to fit in the binder. You'll also need to download and print the tabs to divide all the sections of the binder from each other. Once printed, go ahead and slip each tab into a sheet protector and put it in your binder.
Click HERE to view, download and print the tabs. I'm having trouble creating a shareable file for the labels that go on the sides of the tabs but I'll keep working on it and post them as soon as I can. Once they are available, or if you want to create your own, they are just attached with clear packing tape.
When you're done, it should look something like this!
Take a few minutes and thumb through the tabs reading what goes into each one and you'll see just how comprehensive this project is!!
A few people who've seen my beginnings of a binder have complained that it's bulky and heavy and hard to tote around and they can save everything on a flash drive that's easy to just slip into their purse or bug-out bag. If you are comfortable that the days following any kind of major disaster will include readily available electricity, computers, and printing services then that is a good option for you. I'm not so sure my faith in technology is that strong. I think it could take weeks to have those services up and running so I'm choosing to make the binder.
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