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4 Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed in Your Car

4 Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed in Your Car

We always talk about being prepared at home when disaster strikes but it’s just as important to recognize that roadside emergencies can happen spontaneously without warning. To understand if you’re adequately prepared for an emergency roadside situation, you must ask yourself if you can spend the night in your car safely.

Whether you find yourself with a flat tire or a dead battery, here are the top 4 tools you didn’t know you needed in your car:

1. Food & Water | It seems obvious that you’d need food and water if you find yourself stranded in your car, however, you’d be surprised how many people don’t keep an emergency stock available for themselves. Think about it, do you have a can opener and non-perishable cans in in yours right now? Try to keep at least a three-day supply of food and water in your car for emergency situations.

 

2. Flashlight | If you find yourself stranded in your car at night, would you feel safe walking three, five, ten miles in the dark? The good news is most cell phones are equipped with a flashlight; however, you’ll still want to have a battery-operated flashlight in your car. Usually it’ll have more power than your cell phone and you’ll be able to save the battery on your phone for phone calls or utilizing your GPS. Cyalume light sticks are a great option when you need a high quality light in tough situations.

 

3. Survival Blanket | If you find yourself stuck in bad weather and unable to leave your car or you don’t want to try to find help until daylight, you won’t regret having a survival blanket in your car to keep your body temperature stabilized.

 

4. Seat Belt Cutter | Not only can a seat belt cutter help you free yourself, it can also act as a window breaker. If you get into an accident and need to escape wreckage, having this essential tool in your car can easily be what saves your life. Keep one easily accessible on the driver’s side for convenience.

The Importance of Testing Emergency Lighting

The Importance of Testing Emergency Lighting

If you own a business or work in an office setting, it’s important to understand how often emergency lighting should be tested. Many emergency lights in your office are connected to your building’s electrical supply. This way, if the power does go out during a storm or natural disaster and you’re in your building, you’ll have at least an hour to follow all emergency lights and available exit signs to safety.

Fire codes require that all emergency lights be tested at least once a month for thirty seconds as well as testing on an annual basis for at least one hour. It’s necessary to test emergency lighting for at least thirty seconds as many batteries will maintain enough energy to light up the bulbs for a few seconds before quickly losing power. If you lose power, a Cyalume Emergency Lightstation is a great source of light for the entire office to get you through an emergency.

When testing is overlooked or put on the wayside, there can be serious repercussions beyond fees. Testing emergency lighting means you’re looking out for the safety of your employees and tenants within your building. If stairwells or hallways are not properly lit, people may be at risk of falling or tipping, resulting in serious injuries or even death.

Don’t wait until the last minute to test your emergency lighting. Stay on top of disasters before they happen by preparing for them ahead of time.

Cyalume’s Emergency Supply Kits: Sustain Supply Co.

At Cyalume, we offer a large variety of versatile products that are perfect for all types of situations. Despite being known for our glowsticks, we also offer a multitude of other products, one of which being an additional emergency preparedness line, Sustain Supply Co. For people who live in areas in which natural disasters are all too common, Sustain Supply Co.’s selection will brace you for any storm or emergency situation that you may encounter.

There are a large selection of products that are offered from Sustain Supply Co., the first of which is the Essential2 Survival Bag. The compact bag is filled with everything you and another person would need to sustain you for 72 hours. This includes enough food, water, and gear to get you by until you’re able to evacuate or get back to a store. Additional items included are flashlights, light sticks, blankets, whistles, and more.

The Comfort2 and Comfort4 are similar to the Essential2 in their purpose and many of their items. While both come equipped with the necessary equipment to survive in an emergency, the Comfort2 and Comfort4 include additional items to establish a sense of comfort during the chaos of a storm. They are designed to sustain two and four people, respectively, and come with a portable stove and the materials needed for it to function.

If you choose not to buy one of our preorganized bags, you can purchase all the items inside of them as well as additional products individually on the website. Sustain Supply Co.’s goal is to ensure your safety, so we provide you with the products you might need in the event of an emergency.

4 Safety Tips for Winter Camping

We love camping, and we know our customers love it, too. At Cyalume, we don’t believe a change in the weather should stop you from doing what you love. Fall and winter camping can be a thrill, but it’s imperative to your safety that you bring the correct equipment and make proper preparations beforehand.

  • Be Aware of Daylight | During winter months, you may notice a shortage of daylight hours. It’s important that you and your group return to camp before nightfall so you can find your way around your site.
  • Wear Correct Clothing | If you’re camping in the winter, you’ll want to ensure you’re properly clothed for the weather. You do not want to expose yourself to temperatures that can cause hypothermia if you don’t have to. To prevent hypothermia, stay dry, hydrated, and well fed.
  • Stay Hydrated | One of the most important things you can do to keep yourself safe is to stay hydrated. Drinking the correct amount of water does not just pertain to summer months as it’s necessary to keep hydrated in every weather situation as dehydration can cause dizziness, muscle cramps, and even confusion.
  • Be Aware of Elevation | When camping, it’s best to be aware of elevation as altitude sickness can occur. You’ll need to make sure your body can adjust if you decide to climb during your camping trip. If you find yourself suffering from dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath or a headache, you’ll want to begin to descend back to a lower elevation until your body can regulate itself.

The Best Place to Store Emergency Supplies

Having emergency supplies is important but it’s just as important to know where to store them. Before throwing your supplies on one area, consider each emergency situation and then decide where you plan to keep everything.

Different disasters call for different supplies and safety areas. You’ll want to avoid storing your supplies out of reach since finding a ladder or stool during a storm or disaster, especially if your electricity goes out, may prove difficult. You also won’t want to store your supplies under anything heavy as it may not be easy to grab them in a moment’s notice.

Consider where the safest spot in your house or apartment may be. Is it your basement, your bathroom, or maybe even a supply closet under the stairs? Perhaps you don’t have a safe place located in your home and have decided you must leave when disaster strikes. Place your supplies along your escape route so that backtracking isn’t necessary. If you don’t plan to leave your home, keep your supplies stored in weather protected containers.

It’s also important to consider where you spend most of your time when you’re looking for where to store your supplies. If you find yourself in your car or at work more often than at home, it may be best to keep an emergency kit in those areas instead.

Remember, it doesn’t matter where you store your disaster kit as long as it’s easily accessible during a storm. From all of us at Cyalume, be safe in and out of your home!

When to Evacuate and When to Stay

In the event of a natural disaster, chaos is almost sure to ensue. Evacuation orders are followed by bumper to bumper traffic and a plethora of closed roads. Orders to stay are met by rushes to the local supermarket to get as much food and water as you can afford. No matter what, people put themselves and their families in front of everyone else during a life-threatening situation. However, it isn’t uncommon for people to be overconfident in their own discretion in the event of a storm.

Decided whether to evacuate or stay is not a choice that should be made by the householder. You may believe that a natural disaster is not going to affect you, however, you can never be 100% sure what will happen with Mother Nature. No matter how sturdy your house or how often someone assures you that storms never hit in your local area, if an evacuation order is issued on the news then the best course of action is to evacuate. Travel lightly and get to a safer place as soon as possible.

However, sometimes the order is not to evacuate but rather to stay put within your home. If this is the case, it is important to try to stay away from any potential flying debris and/or windows that can easily break when met with high speed winds. Try to listen to the radio or television for any potential updates on the hurricane and wait until an official message that the storm is over is broadcast to go outside.

Remember, in the event of a natural disaster, the experts know best.

Safety Tips: lightning

With hurricane season upon us, the frequency of electrical storms, or storms that produce lightning as well as rain, will be steadily increasing. Due to the more normal appearance of lightning, understanding how to properly react if caught inside a thunderstorm can be lifesaving.

Naturally, many people tend to run for cover during a thunderstorm, as something above you should prevent the lightning from striking you, thus rendering you safe. However, many forms of cover do not actually protect from lightning, and while it is certainly safer to go inside, it does not guarantee safety. Concrete floors and walls are typically reinforced with metal bars to maintain the structure of the building, which allows the potent electricity emitted by a lightning strike to travel through the concrete and cause injury. One-third of injuries from lightning strikes actually occur indoors because people are unaware of the dangers their house can pose to their wellbeing.

Electrical systems within your home are another common cause of injury, as lightning can travel through items such as radios and television systems. It is imperative to remember that both electrical and water systems within your home have the capacity to carry an electrical current, so avoiding the usage of any such systems will decrease the already slim chances of being affected by a lightning strike.

While very few people actually feel the effects of a lightning strike, those who do will certainly testify to its immense power and advise that any small precautions you can take to avoid a lightning strike are certainly in your best interest.

Emergency Vehicle Lighting Solutions

In the event of an accident, preparation is key to ensuring that no secondary damage occurs as a result of the initial damage. If emergency vehicles do not respond quickly and properly, a small accident can turn into a disaster that affects the wellbeing of many as well as their family members. However, this can easily be avoided as long as the responders and their vehicles are adequately equipped.

Emergency vehicles use lighting solutions in multiple ways. From directing traffic to alerting pedestrians of their presence, their wide range of applications include numerous options available for the lighting. Light bars, which are strips of LED lights that can range in size, can transform the top of a car to a beacon when turned on, easily alerting people miles away from your car.

While light bars are extremely effective for alerting pedestrians of your presence, sometimes it is imperative to remain under the radar until the time comes, meaning that stealth is essential. For this, undercover visor lights with multiple flash options that cannot be easily seen from outside the vehicle are highly effective.

If the circumstance does not require people from far and wide to be aware of what is occurring, using a smaller lighting solution can be more effective. Using glowsticks, which are easy to activate and create a bright light, is optimal. If the scenario does not require much attention, worrying any passerby is entirely unnecessary, making glowsticks the perfect choice for this scenario.

While it is impossible to prevent all accidents, being prepared to minimize the damage that occurs afterwards is the best that emergency responders can hope to do.

What Cyalume Product is Best for You and Your Family

With a large variety of products comes a large target audience. Finding the best Cyalume product for you and your family depends entirely on what you need. Cyalume has a wide variety of products to choose from for this specific reason, whether it be our glowsticks, luminous tape, flare alternatives, or another item, almost anyone can find a common use for multiple products.

Identifying which Cyalume product is right for you only requires a bit of self-questioning, as each is designed to be used in certain scenarios. If you are a more aquatic person, spending time on boats, the beach, the pool, our glowsticks would be the best product for you as they are entirely waterproof. If you have children who you are attempting to amuse, the ChemLight® mini light sticks can be used both to provide lighting and conjoined to form makeshift jewelry. The personnel marker light is optimal for anyone working in the office.

We have designed each of our products to function in multiple scenarios. If you’re curious what lighting solution is right for you, contact us today! We would be more than happy to help on your journey towards a better emergency lighting solution.

Emergency Preparedness for Elementary Schools

Elementary school is a time for learning and creating friendships for most children. Although most recall elementary school as a time flooded with excitement and enthusiasm, elementary schools are very sensitive environments. In the event of any emergency, from a fire alarm sounding to a potential intruder, younger students will react in a much more severe fashion than older students may.

While this reaction is entirely warranted from the children, as even the teachers are sure to experience some feeling of panic or fear, it is essential to maintain control over the classroom. Power outages are bound to happen and being prepared for any possible situations in advance is the best way to ensure the safety and happiness of both children and staff.

In the event of a power outage, having an alternative light source is almost always necessary. Cyalume glowsticks provide the perfect remedy for any lighting difficulties. Our light sticks provide a 360˚ illumination, which largely aids in lighting up the room.

The importance of being prepared for any circumstance is essential, especially in schools. Students and staff need to be safe from any potential dangers. Cyalume is an essential part of these preparations as it functions as both a source of light and a source of relief for the kids.