A pharmacist is calling on households across the UK to put together a 22-item emergency kit to keep at home, following the government's launch of its Be Ready campaign — a three-year public awareness drive encouraging families to stockpile a basic three-day (72-hour) supply of essentials.
The guidance targets everyday emergencies such as severe storms, flooding, power cuts, water outages, and short-term loss of communications or internet access. Officials stress the campaign does not signal that a specific crisis or attack is on the horizon.
Government's Be Ready Campaign
Rather, it brings the UK in line with European counterparts including France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, where 72-hour household preparedness is standard practice. The government argues that when households can meet their own basic needs for three days, emergency services can focus on those most in need and restore essential services more rapidly.
Residents are advised there is no need to panic-buy or spend large sums at once. Instead, the guidance recommends gradually building up modest stockpiles during routine shopping trips. The Be Ready checklist covers water, food, hygiene products, torches, blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothing, a radio, power bank, money, important documents, pet food, baby formula, nappies and wipes.
Pharmacist's 22-Item Medical Kit
The checklist also includes a first aid kit — with items such as waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer, antiseptic, eyewash solution, sterile dressings and gloves, medical tape, and tweezers — alongside "essential medication" and "medical supplies". On these aspects, the government states: "Always leave enough time to request repeat prescriptions so you have less chance of running out in an emergency. It's important to request prescriptions up to five working days before you need your medicine."
Jason Murphy, Head of Pharmacy at online pharmacy Chemist4U, highlights that the checklist falls short of detailing precisely which "essential medications" households should include. He has compiled a checklist of medical essentials he believes every UK household ought to consider keeping readily available, and outlines why those reliant on prescription medication — such as asthma inhalers, adrenaline auto-injectors or diabetes supplies — should prepare in advance.
Murphy said: "The Government's new Be Ready guidance is a useful reminder that households should be prepared to manage for a few days if an emergency disrupts access to shops, pharmacies, or other services. But when it comes to health, simply saying 'first aid items' and 'essential medication' can leave people wondering what they actually need."
He suggests a "well-stocked first aid kit" should ideally contain 15 items, including assorted plasters, sterile gauze dressing, adhesive or medical tape, crepe or cohesive bandages for sprains, a triangular bandage, antiseptic wipes, burn gel or burn dressings, tweezers, scissors, disposable gloves, an instant cold pack, a foil emergency blanket, eye wash or saline pods, a first aid guide with emergency contact numbers, and an optional CPR face shield.
Murphy also maintains it would be "sensible to keep a small supply of common medicines and health essentials at home", listing seven key items — taking the complete list to 22: paracetamol, ibuprofen where suitable, antihistamines, anti-diarrhoea medicine such as loperamide, oral rehydration salts, indigestion or heartburn remedies, and a thermometer.
Preparing for Prescription Needs
Personal emergency medications such as asthma inhalers or auto-injectors should be accessible, labelled to the individual, and checked regularly for expiration dates. Keeping aspirin on hand can be critical; chewing a regular-strength aspirin during a suspected heart attack helps reduce blood clotting while waiting for emergency services.
Murphy added: "If you rely on prescription medication, don't wait until you're down to your last few doses. Order repeat prescriptions in good time and be especially careful with life-saving medicines such as asthma inhalers and EpiPens. Running out of these in an emergency can quickly become serious."
He continued: "If you have a condition like diabetes, being prepared means more than having enough medication. Make sure you have spare testing strips, sensors, and any other equipment you use every day. Insulin also needs to be kept cool, so plan ahead for how you would store it if there was a power cut."
"Being prepared doesn't mean filling your cupboards with every medicine on the pharmacy shelf. You need enough to deal with common injuries and illnesses at home, plus enough of your prescribed medication and equipment that a few days of disruption to pharmacies or healthcare doesn't put your health at risk. And don't just pack a kit and forget about it. Medicines and sterile dressings have expiry dates, so check everything every six months and replace anything that's out of date. A first aid kit is only useful if what's inside still works."
