I got promoted to keyholder this week, which means I'm responsible for closing up shop at the end of the day now, and will be working on my own at least three nights a week. (Everyone else wants to go play so Newbie gets the late shifts heading into the summer.) So... I went on a recon of the office tonight. Without rifling through anyone's private stuff, I discovered:

-we have a live voice security system, that I can activate with the push of a button (I'm responsible for arming it when I leave, so I didn't really discover it, I was shown it)
-no first aid kit (to be rectified by me this weekend - suggestions?)
-industrial-sized fire exringuisher (It's in the warehouse but there isn't one in the kitchen. Going to rectify that.)
-3 bic lighters
-about a month's supply of toilet paper, paper towel, kleenex, hand and dishsoap
-about a three month supply of kitchen and batroom cleaning supplies, including two industrial-sized bottles of bleach
-the equivalent of about 2 bags of ice in the freezer
-2 X 1.5 ltr bottles of water and 5 single-serve bottles of juice in the frige
-food in the fridge could last one person about 3-4 days
-other than ice, the freezer is empty so lots of room for my stuff (icepacks are first on the list. Water in the summer? Suggestions?)
-microwave is broken
-2 electric kettles
-1 electric toaster
-2 boxes of tea (green and orange pekoe)
-lots of plates, cups, cutlery, including 2 steak knives and 1 chef's knife
-2 boxes of birthday candles and 0 through 9 of those number candles
-about 50 feet of paracord
-about 50 feet of braided nylon cord (waterski tow rope type)
-an unopened container of "100 assorted zipties"
-garden hose
-a generator (it's in behind a bunch of stuff so I couldn't read any names or numbers. It's yellow and about 4 ft square)
-3 jerry cans full of gasoline
-1 ATV
-2 dirtbikes
-1 vespa
-4 adult sized motorcycle helmets (2 mx style, 2 with full face shield)
-1 heavy duty looking snowblower
-propane bbq with empty tank
-2 snow shovels
-1 gardening shovel
-a few brooms
-approximately 8,002 different tools, including hand and power ;)* (techies!)
-about 72,000 pounds of paper and cardboard marketing materials ;)*
-maybe 12 miles of wiring of differing types ;)*
-lots of great spaces to hide supplies, especially a large storage cabinet in the men's washroom that's camoflauged by cleaning supplies that they clearly haven't thought about using in there
-the CEO is an RC airplane addict who drives a big 'ol truck and likes toys and gadgets. I suspect there may be useful stuff in his office but won't go in uninvited unless it's an emergency

*;) = over-estimation but there is A LOT

With respect to first aid kits, I found out, back when I was responsible for these things in my office, that it paid to keep a box of bandaids and a bottle of aspirin right next to the FAK. This minimized random rummaging and disruption of the more serious contents within. I suspect that about 99% of the situations involving the typical FAK, especially in a typical office, can be handled with a bandaid or aspirin.

Make sure you do indeed have sturdier stuff inside the main kit. Would you perchance have any sort of accident history in this office? Be sure you can handle a fracture. We had one in ours during my tenure. Needed a bit more than a bandaid.

Thanks hikermor.

Good idea to minimize rummaging with seperate bandaids and asprin.

It's a pretty sendentry low-risk place, which probably explains the lack of a FAK (forethought?) Only 5 us work there full-time right now (doing desk work), with about 10 techs coming and going through the day. I've done a little research and there are no major allegies.

I'm thinking asprin, tylenol, ibuprofen, saline, polysporin, bandaids, gauze pads, pressure pads, triangualars, a SAM splint or two, CPR mask, gloves, tweezers, nail clippers, a blanket and water will be a good start to cover most of our needs.

Do you have any outsiders visiting - clients or customers? That can add to the risk profile, although it sounds like you have a pretty mellow place.

I think you are doing good to have a FAK - you just never know...

No clients coming to the office Hikermor. It's pretty quiet. We are in an industrial zone though, so I could get called into action helping out in a local accident.

I worry a little more about health issues like heart attack, than I do injuries. (We're all over 40 and half of us are over 50.) The other major concern would be a tech cutting themselves while prepping for a job, someone getting clipped in the parking lot, or the CEO hurting himself with one of his toys out back. The snowblower is hopefully done for the season, but the bbq will come into play now the summer is on the way.

if you have a PBX phone system, does dialing 911 require an additional "9" to get an outside line?... might want a sign if so, and having the exact address printed on a stick on label helps prevent brain fade...as a teacher I was spoiled as we had 2 full time RN's in the building, with epi-pen, sting kit,diabetic meds, and an AED in the building

No 9 required, Les, and every phone has the address and phone number printed beside it. We've also got 2 portable phones in the office that link directly to our security company, which is voice response.

A nurse or AED would be nice but it looks like I'm it! Upside is that I can get them to pay for my re-certs, which will free up our Scout group $$$ for my wilderness training.

I'm not sure I can get them to spring for it but it's worth a try Izzy. There are several larger companies around and I think I might do so sniffing around to see what they have.

You're right that we've got regs like that here too. AED seems limited to places like community centres, arenas and health centres though. We slide under a lot of radars because we are so small. I'm trying not to rock the boat, but make sure we've got our bases covered without coming off as a nutter.

I would suspect that your office is small enough that it wouldn't really make a lot of sense to require an AED there -just start the staff running at noon and doing calisthenics in the parking lot. You will need a whistle and a clipboard....