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Health For Members

Chocolate, painkillers and cheese: The emergency pack Switzerland wants you to have

The Local
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Chocolate, painkillers and cheese: The emergency pack Switzerland wants you to have
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Here’s a peak inside the government’s care package recommended for every Swiss household in the case of emergencies.

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There’s few things the Swiss love more than preparation. As The Local Switzerland have written about previously, Switzerland has a stockpile of everything - from coffee to opiates. 

READ: From coffee to nuclear fuel: What you need to know to understand Switzerland's strategic stockpiles 

In the same spirit, the Swiss government has issued an indication of what the average Swiss household should have on hand in case of emergencies - particularly something like the coronavirus, or a military invasion. 

As the official government advice says: “We must be aware that the global economy is becoming increasingly interconnected. This means that complexity increases and the dependencies increase.”

“Switzerland has practically no natural resources. This makes it all the more dependent on uninterrupted access to resources such as oil or food.”

The advice includes a printable list with checkboxes to ensure you have everything you need. 

'My Personal Emergency Kit': The Swiss government's official emergency ration pack.

The government does however encourage sensible shopping, saying that panic-buying is not necessary. Despite this bottled water and canned goods have been reported as scarce in some Swiss supermarkets.

So what does the government tell you to save for a rainy day - or a rainy three days to be precise? 

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Drinking

Nine litres of water per person is recommended, with the Swiss government suggesting that each person will go through three litres per day for drinking and cooking.

Water for personal hygiene - essential during such an outbreak - is not included in the three-litre quota.  

Coffee and tea as well as UHT milk are recommended. 

Bottled water: Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash

Food

Although there’s nothing like hunkering in with your friends and family for a nice fondue during the apocalypse, the Swiss government’s advice on food is comparatively conservative. 

They recommend stockpiling rice, pasta and ready-to-eat meals, as well as enough oil for cooking. 

They aren’t complete killjoys however. A good stock of chocolate is recommended, while the government also encourages cheese storage - although just how to do it isn’t exactly specified. 

Other less perishable items are also encouraged, like dried fruit and meat, canned food and the most Swiss of all food inventions: muesli. 

Everything else

Soap, toilet paper, batteries and a way of cooking food should the power cut out are also recommended. 

The government also encourages people to stock up on personal medications and painkillers. 

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Anonymous 2021/04/16 13:11
That link to bwl.admin.ch in the body text above is broken. ;-)

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