WHAT TO TAKE WHEN YOU EVACUATE

When an evacuation takes place at work, employees often don’t know what to take with them and what to leave behind. You’ve heard the terms before: "Bug Out Bag", "Go Bag", "Grab Bag" and more. These are all terms to describe quick access emergency kits that hold all your important tools and possessions in a single, easy to reach location.

In order to make your recovery as smooth as possible, we encourage you to educate your employees on the items they may want to bring with them in the event of an evacuation. To help you with this process, we have created the following checklist of suggested items. Keep in mind, these are just suggestions. This is not a complete list, nor are we suggesting that you plan to carry all of these items. Some may be unnecessary or not applicable in your personal situation. Remember, above all, your own safety and the safety of others should be your primary goal.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when planning for an evacuation.

- The items you would like to include in your "go bag" should be close by, at all times. Time wasted collecting items before evacuating could be a serious, even deadly mistake.

- The items you plan to take with you should be easily accessible and easy to carry – hence the suggested use of a bag to contain them all in one place.

- This collection of tools and possessions should be the bare minimum you would need in the event of a crisis taking place in your office or business.