<p>I enjoyed this article — very in-depth look at what to bring and not bring to college. Hope it helps someone! <a href=“http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/27/HOGP0DRMUK1.DTL[/url]”>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/27/HOGP0DRMUK1.DTL</a></p>
<p>I was struck by one tiny thing in this article: they mention that Mills is in “earthquake country” but don’t suggest that students maintain even the smallest personal earthquake kit.</p>
<p>er, what would go in a “personal earthquake kit”??</p>
<p>We all had to pack earthquake kits for our kids in elementary school, but that was snack items and a blanket in the event that the school was stuck caring for the kids for 24 hours or so at a time when transportation was disrupted. </p>
<p>I know what should be around the house (bottled water, flashlights, candles, etc. – planning for power outages & disruption of water supply) - but it seems to me that the college should have those things on hand, other than a flashlight the kids shouldn’t need to bring anything. The article actually did recommend a “small stash” of fresh water - which would be a good idea except for the fact that the kid is likely to drink the water early on and forget to replace it. </p>
<p>First aid kits might be good on general principal, but your problems post-earthquake are not likely to be solved by bandaids. The thing about earthquakes is that you never know when they will hit or where you will be - so kits aren’t much help.</p>
<p>Since coming to “earthquake country,” I have always made sure I have several days supply of bottled water (in the house and in the car), a flashlight (in the house and in the car), cash (in the safe and in the car), non-perishable, can-be-eaten-cold food, and a bottle of bleach. While these are all normal everyday things, I simply make sure I restock well before we run out–which is the same as having a kit. I also have first aid kits in all the cars and a blanket or towel as well. </p>
<p>All our cars have a “just in case” envelope with $100 in twenties, which the kids know can be used in these situations: out of gas, flat tire, need a tow truck, too tired to drive without stopping for the night, no money for food, earthquake, major storm, etc. So far, in three years of kid driving, it’s been used once: for a flat tire. </p>
<p>Note that all of this is general emergency planning. Having been on the local school’s emergency planning committee, I wouldn’t want to <em>count</em> on the school having any of these things, esp. the fresh water. Better to have the kid think in terms of keeping their own gallon jug of water handy.</p>
<p>Carolyn; I have to hand it top you. Wasn’t your daughter scheduled for surgery today or tomorrow? And here you are thinking about packing for college. So, how did the surgery go? I speceifically checked back here at C.C. to see how it went for you and your daughter. I</p>
<p>ahemm…as I was saying, I sincerely hope all is fine. S is doing very well and he is eating most foods at 4 weeks post op except for anything chewy, crunchy, steak is out too. (but with more mad cow maybe we should all cut it out more often) Numbness is there, but as we understand this can last some time.
Wel, just wanted to check in and offer some support. Our prayers are with your family.</p>
<p>Good reminder, BHG. I believe Carolyn said the surgery is for tomorrow. The best of luck, Carolyn!</p>
<p>I plan on doing shopping for D apartment but not till we get there.
IT is a two bedroom- 2 bath and her room mate has already been living there all summer- but who knows what he already has- I expect the basics- but you never know.
It will be a smaller general living space than in the dorm- she says the living room is quite small so it will be a trick to make it more spacious especially if she wants her damage deposit back.avi
I think having a few jugs of water is a good idea- maybe even her backpacking stuff which has a water purifier and a small stove-
DMD
did you see this on KOMO in regards to emergency numbers?
I thought it was a good idea- we already have my brothers out of state number- but it would be good to have a place where identification is easily accessible
<a href=“http://www.komotv.com/stories/38220.htm[/url]”>http://www.komotv.com/stories/38220.htm</a></p>
<p>This thread is interesting for me…DD’s first choices are Santa Clara University, and U of San Diego. So should I be putting together an earthquake survival kit?? How does that differ from a blizzard survival kit (something that would be a more likely thing at our New England schools)?</p>
<p>Hi EK! Yep, saw somewhere about the ICE numbers and we had a phone programming time over last weekend, while we were all at dinner. Such a good idea!</p>
<p>Carolyn; I have to hand it top you. Wasn’t your daughter scheduled for surgery today or tomorrow? >></p>
<p>Backhandgrip, it’s tommorrow. 4:30 PM (California time). Good news is the surgeon has decided to try a different approach than originally planned which should (hopefully) avoid the need for future surgeries and the prosthethic hinges. Bad news, he’ll be taking a few inches of bone from her hip, and she’ll spend the night in ICU, as well as an extra day or two in the hospital. </p>
<p>Daughter and I spent today cleaning the kids bathroom (at her insistence), checking on her horse (she won’t be able to ride for 6 weeks, may not get over to see him for awhile), and pigging out on Pizza and frozen virgin margaritta’s (her choice). </p>
<p>She’s as ready as she’s ever going to be and says it will all be worth it when she can eat without pain. I just keep looking at her face and hoping it won’t change too much. I think she’s beautiful just the way she is now. </p>
<p>Thanks so much — knowing that your and Cur’s kids have both made it through similar surgeries has been so heartening and helpful. All will be well. I’ll be back next week. :)</p>
<p>I have heard of using replacement bone. I have heard that it worked well. Can imagine she will experience quite a bit of pain but this is a good time to have it done with the entire month of August for recovery. You know, everything went so smoothly for our S, everyone was so right about the powers of young people recovering quickly from surgery.I was both amazed it went so well and routinely, and ashamed of myself for being so consumed and worried about the entire procedure. Now, I can see why my kids are always rolling their eyes at me! Maybe I’m a little too much of an overreactor about everything concerning them!
Guess the point is, this will go well for your daughter. Some distress, but she will heal and recover quickly.We will say a prayer for her, too.
Modern medicine is wonderful and everyone in the hospital will do so much for her to make her comfortable.She is in such good hands.
Try to get some rest. You are going to have a long day and night tomorrow! Some hospitals let a parent stay with their child in the room. Think you may do that? Take care!</p>
<p>dmd77 - I really don’t think a gallon size jug of water is appropriate for a college student to pack in their suitcase. If they want to buy the water once they get to college, fine - but the article is about what to bring from home – maybe your idea of packing for college also involves loading up the family minivan with all sorts of supplies and driving off to college… but mine involves carrying one’s own stuff to and from the airport and dragging it up the stairs at the dorm. So I think the flashlight + batteries that they suggest should suffice.</p>
<p>thumper – you really don’t need more than the article suggests. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to decorating the dorm room – in earthquake country, you don’t put heavy objects on high shelves, and special care needs to be taken with fragile objects. Bottled water is a good idea to have on hand, but in urban areas it is highly unlikely that there will be long-term problems. The more important factor is the construction of the dorm itself - and that’s out of your control - but earthquakes do not cause widespread and uniform devastation like hurricanes. Instead the damage can be much more sporadic – a building collapses on one block and the next block over the buildings are fine. (Not so in 3rd world countries, but in California the architecture is more likely to be build to withstand shaking).</p>
<p>Backhand, It’s still up in the air. According to the surgeon, we won’t be allowed to stay overnight in the ICU. But, the hospital called today and said that since she’s a minor, one of us has to stay in the hospital for the first 24 hours after surgery. So, I’m not sure if that means we’ll be bunking it in the waiting room or what. Since the surgery starts at 4:30, and the surgeon now says 6-8 hours, I figure she won’t even be into ICU until after midnight. </p>
<p>But thanks again for your kind thoughts. I know it will go well, and I’m actually looking forward to just getting it over with so we can go on to the healing part.</p>
<p>DD’s first choices are Santa Clara University, and U of San Diego. So should I be putting together an earthquake survival kit?? >></p>
<p>As Calmom says, a flashlight with batteries will probably suffice, at least at USD - we don’t get many huge earthquakes down this way, just some rumblings every now and then. 
We did put together a survival kit after 9-11, but I’ve often wondered what good it would do if the house collapses on top of it. I suppose we could keep it in one of our cars but, again, what good will it do if the car is stuck away from home? With summer temps out where we live often topping 100 degrees, and lots of wild critters on our property, keeping it outside isn’t a realistic option.</p>
<p>hummmm…
Also, what about cold weather schools. Is everybody bringing everything in August? Like gloves, hats, coat, skiis, ? I don’t know what to do. Gosh, I really need to do a lot of laundry in August.</p>
<p>I honestly think that the student should bring the clothing needed for the first 6 weeks or so after arrival, and either ship the rest from home (if coming from a cold weather climate), or buy the rest locally or ordering on line. </p>
<p>I do have to say that as a west coast parent with an east coast kid, it was kind of fun adding the scarf and gloves and knit cap to the goodie box with the Peperridge Farm cookies and ramen. The gloves, etc. also made good padding to keep the rest of the contents of the box from rattling around. What fun is it for your kid to go off to college if there’s nothing left for you to mail? </p>
<p>If this is the first time you are sending a kid off to college, the thing that you are probably not aware of is how soon the kid ends up back at home. Not only that, but my son got a visit from dad in late October for parents’ weekend, and I packed several items with his father to deliver. (I’m divorced, so we split responsibilities: I went in September for the dropoff, with dad doing the next visit). Unfortunately, his dad forgot to deliver the items on the other end – typical - but at least it was a good idea. Son did go shopping for a heavy winter overcoat at home in December over winter break - by then he had a lot better idea of what he wanted & needed, and of course he had packed lightly for the break and could wear the coat rather than pack it).</p>
<p>Carolyn, my prayers are with your daughter tomorrow, it sounds like a much bigger surgery than just a little jaw surgery - is an oral surgeon doing this, or a plastics, ortho or ENT? Sorry, professional curiosity. You will probably end up sacking out in the waiting room tomorrow night, but usually in Childrens’ hospitals they try to get post-surgical patients out of the ICU ASAP, because they always want a parent in the room if possible, even with teens.</p>
<p>All the CC regulars will be thinking of you.</p>
<p>Cangel, he’s both a plastic surgeon and a malofacial (spelling?) specialist. Unfortunately, due to insurance, she won’t be at Children’s. She is, however, going to be at an excellent hospital. I hope she’ll get out of ICU quickly - she thinks it is going to be like an episode of ER, no matter how many times I explain the difference. :)</p>
<p>Calmom, I must say I love the image of someone carrying a gallon of water to school, but I interpreted the article differently (and on rereading, I still do)–it’s about what you might actually want in your dorm room, not just what you’d <em>bring</em> from home. </p>
<p>Carolyn, my S is recovering nicely from his wisdom teeth–routine stuff, nothing like what your D is experiencing–and you have my best wishes for your D’s speedy recovery. Wouldn’t it all be easier if we could just do this stuff for them? I hate seeing my S in pain.</p>