Thanks for sharing. I don't have much time right now, but I thought I'd throw out a few things, in no particular order:

- Don't count on the PIM/text communications working. Certainly as many alternatives as possible are good, but they may not work.

- Talk to the daycare about their willingness to give you your child in these cases. Perhaps you know all the staff, but consider if there is a disaster if they are going to hand over a kid to someone who says they are his parent and if they are going to want to take the time to verify that you are the parent, etc.

- Keep in mind you may not always be near your office so your bag may or may not be easily accessable, even if you remember it. I have a bag in my office, but I consider there to be a reasonable chance that I won't be able to get it. (I also have a kit in my car, but I figure there is a good chance I wouldn't be able to reach it either as in an earthquake, it's likely to be flattened. But the more kits the more likely you'll be able to use one of them.)

- Consider having the bag in your office being a backpack. Much easier to grab and go and you can re-shuffle your gear once you get out of the immediate danger area.

- It isn't clear to me that someone should have pulled the fire alarm. The building itself in this case was not unsafe. Forcing the issue w/o actual information about the situation might be doing more harm than good.

- I would actually consider the fact that your child is in the building a huge plus. Better to have him where you can get him and take charge of his safety than have him miles away from you and have to deal with how you would get him.

- While some might think it excessive, I think a hardhat, crowbar, masks, some gloves and a headlamp to be good office emergency items in case the building is damaged.

- Good call on your interaction with your friend regarding the stairs. Sometimes we condition ourselves in unhelpful ways and you acted very rationally.

- I agree we want better information, but I suspect the level of information given in the announcment is probably fairly typical (if not better) of what we can expect in an emergency. It was good that you kept trying to analyse the nature of the threat. A digital trunking scanner probably would probably be helpful.

- Good call on the comment about having a way to carry your son.

- I'd have a good FAK in your kit.

- While others have mentioned minor issues, I'd say the only real mistake you made was not grabbing your gear. I'd say if you only make one mistake you did really well. And next time you are probably much less likely to forget.

Good job and thanks again for sharing.

-john