Do 1 Thing: Work, School, and Community

By Cate Shockey

This blog is part of a series, covering a preparedness topic each month from the Do 1 Thing Program. Join us this month as we discuss preparedness at work, school, and in your community.

No matter where you are, you need to know how to make sure you and your loved ones are safe in an emergency. If you’re not at home during an emergency, do you know what the plan is for your work, child’s school, or community?

In our office, we practice shelter-in-place and building evacuations quite often. We have signs posted in the hallways and have mandatory safety training every year. What we do not practice, however, is earthquake drills. To make it fun and engaging, we held an earthquake drill in our break room and called it the Harlem ShakeOut. In just a few minutes, everyone learned what to do in an earthquake in a room surrounded by glass.

My mom’s second graders really got into the earthquake drills back in March, and jumped on the chance to practice another drill this month! With storm season in full swing, the class practiced tornado drills in the hallway. The students lined up along the interior wall, huddled on the ground with their knees up under them, and used their hands to cover the back of their heads.

Here are a few things you can do this month to make sure the people who count on you are prepared for an emergency:

• Make sure emergency procedures are in place at your workplace or child’s school. Are evacuation routes and tornado shelter locations clearly marked? How will you be provided emergency and warning information?
• Hold emergency training and drills for different situations (earthquake, tornado, fire drill, etc.).
• Know where fire extinguishers and automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) are located in the building.
• Give emergency kits to people who count on you (elderly parents and neighbors, college students, etc.)
• Find out if your community has designated evacuation routes or shelter locations.

Check out Do 1 Thing for more tips and information, and start putting your plans in place for unexpected events. Are YOU ready?

Leave a Comment:

Tell us how your work place stays prepared for the unexpected or what your child’s school does to keep parents informed. If you are part of a community group that would help in a disaster, we want to hear about it!