Partnership with Secouristes Sans Frontières

Partnership

SSF Evacuation Bags

During a disaster, the time between the event and the deployment of rescue teams can leave people feeling abandoned. Depending on the situation, individuals may need to administer first aid, sleep outdoors due to the loss of shelter, and face the lack of communication, food, or, most critically, drinking water. These challenges, combined with the trauma of the disaster, can be overwhelming. To address such extraordinary circumstances, Secouristes Sans Frontières and Lyophilise & Co have developed various evacuation bags.

The equipment included in these bags has been rigorously selected by Lyophilise & Co based on SSF's specifications to meet the needs of individuals or families in crisis situations. Since 2010, Lyophilise & Co has advised and supplied numerous NGOs, fire services (SDIS), embassies, and delegations, building a solid expertise in providing suitable products for difficult-to-access areas and crisis scenarios.

The SSF evacuation bags, available on the Lyophilise & Co website, contain various modules packed into water- and dust-proof backpacks. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the equipment they may include:

• First aid: bandages, compresses, survival blankets, gloves, rescue guides
• Cooking/food/fire: storm matches, emergency food packs with 3 days of long-life food, snacks, wood stove, mug/cooking pot
• Water: 1.5 liters of potable water in pouches, water bottles
• Lighting: lantern, Petzl headlamps with a 10-year storage life
• Communication: whistle, multi-use FM radio, flashlight, rechargeable battery
• Shelter: emergency bivouac, survival blanket
• Hygiene: cleansing wipes
• Personal items: waterproof pouches to protect identification documents

A glimpse of the evacuation bag for a family of four

Optional equipment is also available to adapt to specific situations and enhance user comfort. For every evacuation bag sold and any equipment recommended by Secouristes Sans Frontières, Lyophilise & Co will donate 10% of the proceeds to the SSF Endowment Fund. This helps SSF build a stock of equipment and an emergency fund to deploy its teams worldwide.

Since 1978, the humanitarian association has dispatched rescue workers, doctors, nurses, logisticians, and search-and-rescue dog handlers in response to earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes worldwide. While some disasters are difficult to predict, educating populations in high-risk areas (flood zones, earthquake-prone regions, or areas frequently struck by severe storms) can save lives in mainland France and its overseas territories. According to the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, "Two-thirds of France's 36,000 municipalities are exposed to at least one natural risk."