A major part of your emergency preparedness strategy is medical. In cases of financial, natural or personal disaster disease, injury and illness is very common. If there’s ever a time to be prepared to care for yourself, it’s a disaster. One of the very many ways to prepare to take care of yourself and your family is with essential oils. I am personally a big advocate of essential oils in every day use, but even more so in the case of an emergency. And this is why:
Pros
No expiration date - When stored in a cool place, pure essential oils will last forever. No rotating necessary.
Versatility - All essential oils can be used for multiple ailments. This is nice because you can have a small selection of foundational essential oils and treat several different things. No need for a different pill for every problem.
Ease of Storage - Essential oils come in sealed amber bottles. You can buy a case that holds all of your oils in a foam grid to keep them safe. Having the oils in the vials keeps them safe from flooding. And having them in the case will keep them safe in the scenario of an earthquake.
Mobility - Because you can have your entire selection of essential oils with you in a mobile case, if you need to evacuate you can easily grab and go your entire medical kit.
Safe for Children - A big issue I have with storing a years’ worth of medicine is the fact that if little tots get their curious hands on it, you can have a serious problem. When you buy 100% certified pure essential oils and when diluted correctly, they are completely safe for children.
Cons
Expertise Necessary - If you aren’t familiar with the uses of essential oils, I do not recommend you store them in the case of an emergency. As I always say – familiarity is key. If you aren’t familiar with your emergency tools – including essential oils – they can be misused and cause harm.
Cost - If you make essential oils part of your emergency plan your budget will be much higher than over the counter medication. DO NOT purchase essential oils from the dollar store. If you’re going to add them to your kit, spend the money on 100% certified pure oils only! It’s not worth the money you may save if it isn’t safe to use on you or your family. Essential oil kits of this grade start at around $150.
I hope this sparked some of your interest. Essential oils are my number 1 medicinal suggestion if you have the budget and are willing to take them time to learn how to use them. If you don’t want to spend the time to learn about them please don’t bother adding them to your kit. You and your family will be safer with what you are familiar with. Happy prepping!
I have been using essential oils for over thirty years and although I do not know which ones you use they are NOT safe for children in their undiluted form.
They are concentrates, and always need diluted in oil or water. Pennyroyal could kill you as can others. Be careful in your doses and keep out of the reach of children.
For this purpose, I have clarified in the article to not plan on storing or using the oils unless you are familiar with them. I’m sorry if recently the ‘cons’ weren’t viewable in the post, I was having some issues with the format and they should be clearly visible now. This is what I’m referring to in the “Expertise Necessary” section. Essential Oils are safe for children when used/diluted appropriately. Sorry about the confusion!
Thank you for your concern and reply.
I agree that essential oils are definitely an important part of any first aid kit and if stored cool, dark, and capped last indefinitely!
We disinfect the air with Lavender oil in steaming water, good for sick rooms.
I also put it in a small spritz bottle, add distilled water and shake it before use and spray the light switches, faucets and door knobs.
I suppose I took too liberally the idea that many readers aren’t as experienced with essential oils. I have removed the sentence as requested. I absolutely love lavender for so many uses! Everything from rashes to being used as a sleep aid. I wish EO’s were more socially accepted for remedial purposes.
Do you have any suggestions for where to get started learning about how to use essential oils?
Yes! I would start by purchasing and studying this book: Modern Essentials: A Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils . They mention doTERRA specific essential oils in there (the brand I use) but the same information is applicable for the same oils available in other brands. It is a wonderful resource!