A disaster can strike even at work! Here are some ideas from the Red Cross on what you can do to prepare yourself for a disaster at work. These ideas would make a great Enrichment night project, especially for those working in areas where earthquakes strike or in high rise buildings.

• American Red Cross - preparedness main page. has information on how to prepare at home, work, school, and in your community.

Jenny's Office Emergency Preparedness Kit

Here is the emergency kit I made for my husband to take to work. I've based this kit on the Red Cross Emergency Tube, which has a water pouch, a dust mask, and a glow stick. I added a few things to this office emergency kit that I thought might be useful in an emergency.

Our main worry here is earthquake, so I included items I hoped might be of use in that type of disaster.

The cost of my kit was about $25.00. You could do it cheaper, but I bought the expensive $8.00 Maglite mini flashlight, plus the meds, mask, and first aid kit. If you already have those things on hand, you can do it cheaper.

At a minimum, an office emergency kit should include a light source, preferably hands-free, water, a mask, any medications you require, and first aid kit.

Contents

All of this fit easily inside a gallon Ziploc bag. Items with a '*' should be considered optional.

• 2 lightsticks with hook and lanyard (to draw the attention of rescue workers)
• 1 carbon-filtering dusk mask (for smoke, dusk, debris, etc.)
• 2 juice pouches (I'll be replacing this with some Aqua Blox for easier storage.)
• 1 travel first aid kit (2 2x2 inch gauze, 2 knuckle Band-aids, 2 medium Band-aids, 2 small Band-aids, 2 butterfly closure Band-aids)
• * 1 travel bottle of Tylenol
• * 1 travel bottle of Visine
• * 1 travel bottle of hand sanitizer
• * 1 travel size wet wipes
• * 1 Ace bandage
• * 1 large 4x6 inch stick on bandage
• * 1 King Size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (peanut butter is a high-protein food that provides energy quickly)
• * 1 small flashlight with 2 AA batteries
• * 1 list of contents

You could also include an emergency blanket or poncho if you live in an area with extremes of weather or temperature.

For a smaller school or work emergency kit, you could put 1 drink pouch, 1 glow stick, some bandaids, and 1 mask inside a water bottle.

Women should include tampons or maxi-pads in their kits.

Red Cross Deluxe 1-day Emergency Kit

If you wanted to make a really deluxe emergency kit, you could base it on this Red Cross kit. These items fit inside a small backpack.

• 24oz Water - plus locally fillable plastic container
• Flashlight & Batteries
• Shampoo & Deodorant
• Body Wash, Soap & Lotion
• Toothbrush & Toothpaste
• Comb
• Wash cloth
• Razor
• Tissues
• Dust Mask & Goggles
• Work Gloves
• Rain Poncho
• Space Blanket
• ACFAS-approved mini First Aid Kit

ACFAS approved First-Aid Kit Contents:

• Absorbent Compress (5" x 9" dressing)
• Adhesive Bandages (10 in assorted sizes)
• Adhesive Cloth Tape (5 yards x 1")
• Antibiotic Ointment (2 packets, approximately 1 gram each)
• Antiseptic Wipe Packets (2)
• Aspirin (2 packets, 81mg each)
• Non-Latex Gloves (1 pair, size: large)
• Scissors
• 3-inch Roller Bandages (3)
• Sterile Gauze Pad (3" x 3")
• First Aid Instruction Card