VLES Designs

VLES Designs is founded by Karina and Stuart Warshaw.  Karina is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend and lover of community.  In 1999 she answered the call of her local volunteer fire department and signed up. Many hours of training later, she became a firefighter and EMT. As a firefighter she worked with the other members of her team to fight fires, attend to motor vehicle accidents, help with flooding incidents, etc. As an EMT, she was called upon in multiple situations involving people’s health. Calls came 24/7 and were answered every time.

Things changed for everyone on 9/11. As a firefighter/EMT she now had to think about terrorism response. As a mom, she now had to think about how she was going to keep her own family safe.  A number of years after Karina joined, Stuart joined the fire department and, together, they responded to calls. Then came Hurricane Katrina and, along with most of the country, they watched in horror as thousands of people were displaced, and worse. The situation was completely overwhelming for emergency responders and community members.

A couple of years later they moved back to NYC and Karina became a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member in NYC. We were trained by the FDNY, the NYPD, OEM and FEMA instructors. One of the things they emphasized was having a GO-bag so each individual could help themselves, their families, friends and neighbors during emergency events.  Then, Karina and Stuart personally went through Hurricane Irene  as well as Hurricane Sandy.   It was during these hurricanes that the importance of having a GO-bag became even more clear.

We designed the VLES GO-bag as the bag we would want to have in an emergency situation. The bag itself is strong and smart, the contents we put in are logical and useful. The Family Plan is essential. Along with the personal items that you add, your VLES GO-bag will be indispensable when unexpected emergencies occur.