How to Build a Better Work Emergency Kit

Over the years, I have found myself thinking about how much time I spend at work and how that relates to a variety of emergency scenarios.  Fortunately for me, I work for an organization that provides after school and summer camp programs for kids, which means we have to be prepared for emergency situations.  In the event of an emergency, I would be responsible for the welfare of every child in our custody until their families could come pick them up, which is a lot of responsibility.  We have a Plan A and a Plan B and when you look at a list like this or this, we pretty much have all of the bases covered.

However, despite this organizational level of preparedness for myself, my co-workers and all of the children and families that might be around in the event of an emergency situation and my personal preparedness in the forms of my EDC and EDC Bag, there was one thing I was missing as part of my work emergency kit: Shoes!

Yes, as simple as it may sound, shoes are often overlooked when preparing for a SHTF situation.  Now, if you are a woman and you work in an office, you might wear high heels to work every day.  You might also wear flats, sandals or flip flops, depending on your work environment (I wear flips flops often in the warm months).  However, if something were to happen and you are forced to evacuate your current location on foot, high heels, flats and flip flops will get you out the door, but they are not going to serve you well for very long.

The original article I read about having an emergency work kit was published in some women’s magazine years ago and, the truth is, with the exception of our evacuation plan (which is organizational, not mine personally) I hadn’t done anything with the information until just a few of weeks ago.  It’s a good thing nothing has happened, right?!  The original article also suggested using a shoe box to store your emergency items, but I have decided to use a bag instead for the simple ease of being able to grab it and run with it!

Because I have my EDC Bag with me at all times and I am responsible for grabbing items that are pertinent to my job in order to keep our kids and families safe, my work kit is pretty minimal:

• Shoes (comfortable tennies)
• Water (yes, more water than what is already in my EDC Bag)
• Food (a few more granola bars than are in my EDC Bag)
• Flashlight (not shown in the picture above)

However, if you do not already have a EDC Bag put together and with you at work, here is the bare minimum you should have in your work kit:

• Comfortable shoes
• Shelter (jackets, hats, socks, blankets…)
• Flashlight
• Evacuation plans (your employers and/or your own)
• Water
• Food (Protein bars, nuts, dried fruit, beef jerky…)

What’s in your Work Emergency Kit?  What else do you think I should add to mine? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!