With a lot of different years doing a lot of different work, one thing is really critical to have a physical binder with simple tabbed instructions.
Today it alleviated an event because the binder has resources that I needed, and clear ways to get there. Today’s was a strip map, which I personally think are excellent tools, because they let you convey the path you are taking to get somewhere, which helps get you thinking in very simple steps to the next thing.
The other thing that we had to plan around today was a severe storm, that dumped a ton of water. The strip map really made it much easier to look at the simple instructions and understand what choices make the most sense for the effort required.
Adjacent:
Improving Alerts: Evidence-Based Strategies for More Effective Warnings
In my experience this is good for all sorts of emergencies, from medical emergencies to needing to evacuate.
A paper binder with a pen, some sticky notes and clearly written information does not need:
A software update
Battery
A screen
A physical binder cannot be compromised by some remote access system. You won’t ever get Binder4J or heartbleed, heck it can’t even be effected by Y2k. It is also not susceptible to other failures like a UI interface change the next time you log in.
What I like to have:
Nearest Urgent Care
Nearest N Level Trauma Center
Primary and alternate routes
Non emergency phone numbers for agencies
Names and phone numbers for close friends / emergency contacts.
Copies of insurance cards