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 2×2 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 4×6 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