Free Special Education Emergency Bag List

I’m so excited to share with you my free special education emergency bag list today.

One of the things that I found the most stressful at the start of my career was having emergency drills. I used to find it so overwhelming.

How were we going to get everyone out?

Who do we take with us?

What if they won’t get out?

How will I know who we have? Or don’t have!

What if there’s a medical emergency while we evacuate?

And what if I’m not there? Or my assistant(s) are out and I have subs who don’t know the plan?

Can you see I’m a bit of a stresser? That’s when I created the emergency bag. And this took away sooo much of my stress! And in this blog post today I’m sharing exactly what’s in my bag along with a free download so you can make your own emergency bag.

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What’s an Emergency Bag?

An emergency bag is literally as it sounds. It’s a bag that you grab in an emergency – for fire drills etc. So it needs to be easily accessible and something that you can grab. It’s also something that needs to be small and light enough so you can take it with you.. For example if you all go to a different room in the school for something, I take it with me.

What’s Inside an Emergency Bag?

Inside my emergency bag I have;

Student checklist
Staff checklist
Dry-wipe pen
Information page on each student
Medical information
Small first aid kit
Small umbrella
Shoe covers (read below for why.)
Fold away blanket
Whistle
Anything else your students may need.

Then on the wall of the classroom I have an emergency evacuation procedure list. And that’s also shared in this free download for you.

Student and Staff Checklist

I actually join together my student and staff checklist because there are only 12 of us in total so everyone fits onto one sheet. This is because it makes it easier for me to quickly see who we have – or don’t have. I use the dry-wipe pen to tick off which staff/students are present. This makes it easy for me to see if anyone is missing.

Student Information Page

For this one, I have a small page on each student. It includes their name, date of birth, address, allergies, medication they take, diagnosis, and 3 emergency contact numbers. I also have information on what doctor surgery they are registered with.

Medical Information

If you have students with medical needs that need their own separate page, I also include that. This makes it easier for me to give to first responders if they need it. It will include what they medical needs are, medication, allergies, what to do i.e. if they have a fit.

Small First Aid Kit

This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, I just find that having a mini first aid kit can come in real handy. It’s small enough and light enough to not take up too much room in the bag. But it can be really helpful.

Small Umbrella

So, I live in an area that rains a lot. And I have been caught outside in the rain far too many times than I would like to admit. I have students who don’t mind the rain.. But I also have students who hate the rain. So I find having a little umbrella in the bag really helpful just incase.

Shoe Covers

When I say shoe covers, people look at me like I have 5 heads. But here’s the thing. When there’s an emergency evacuation, you have to just get outside. That doesn’t always mean there’s time to grab socks, shoes, coats etc. if you don’t already have them on you. There’s been a couple of times when I’ve ended up outside with students or staff with no shoes on for different reasons. It doesn’t make sense to keep spare shoes or anything in the bag because they take up so much room. But these shoe covers provide some covering and fold up super small.

Fold Away Blanket

There’s also been times when I have had students or staff outside in clothing that’s not quite right for the weather and they’re cold. So I try to keep a fold away blanket – or two – inside the emergency bag. These are great for pulling out and giving some warmth to students/staff if needed.

Whistle

I keep a whistle on me so that I can ensure I get attention when I need it. This could be if I need help with something.. Or to get attention.

Anything else your students may need..

If you have students who will need something specific in an emergency evacuation, keep doubles in the bag too. This includes things like noise-cancelling headphones, hats… I had a student who would not go outside without a hat. So it was important for me to keep a spare hat inside the bag just incase we were somewhere without one for him. This meant that I was able to keep him calm during the evacuation and not stressed because he didn’t have his hat.

Emergency Evacuation Procedure List

And finally, I have an emergency evacuation procedure list. I actually have them stored in a plastic pocket on the wallet and I have about 15 copies printed inside. This is because I want to always make sure there’s copies there incase anything happens.

On this procedure list I have;

What to do if there is an emergency.
Staff specific roles.
Where our emergency evacuation point is.
Information for what substitutes need to do.

Shopping List

First, it’s time to get everything you need together. Now you can use just what I do, or you can add more/less. So long as you make it where you have everything you and your students/staff need then that’s all that matters. This is just a guide for what I have learned works best over the years.

For the bag that I use, I like to have a backpack style that has a USB charger. I then keep a USB lead inside the backpack for my phone. This is because I may need to use my phone to contact families/guardians/emergency services. I always try to keep my phone on my person when we are in school just so that I have it should there be an emergency and I need to get in touch with anyone.

Also, I lock the emergency bag away every night and I pull it out each morning and leave it by the classroom door so it’s easy for us to reach. This is because I want to keep student’s details safe and private. I put it up a hook out of reach of students. But to be honest, my students were never really too bothered about trying to get hold of it, so I could potentially have put it down lower. But you can use whatever bag you want / think will be easiest for you.

USA Shopping List

UK Shopping List

Free Download

And now it’s time to get your free download! Just click here to get and get your free special education emergency bag list and get set up today to make emergency evacuations run more smoothly for you.

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Nikki