After doing a bunch of reading here I have noticed something. I must be the odd guy out on this whole BOB/GHB concept. I may be the only person on this entire forum who has a "get to work bag"

When everyone else is hightailing it for the safety of home I will be fighting the crowds in the opposite direction to get to work, gear up and deploy to assist in whatever emergency just happened so I plan around that scenario not the other way around. (part of my job after all)

I know there are Many EMT/Firefighter/LPO/Military people on here but no one appears to mention the concept of remaining at the scene of a diaster to do their jobs.

(Or I havn't read that far yet)

Does anyone else plan on getting to work after a major emergency ?

When as a emergency response professional would you say "hell with it, to each their own" and leave to look after your own family?

I am not preaching to anyone, just making an observation. (And I am bored at my desk :D) You just don't ever here of anyone talking about being prepared to remain after things go to hell in a handbasket and help with what's going down.

I cannot post pics of my GTW kit right now because I am in the middle of a move, and I guess there isn't really that much difference from a normal GHB except I have added things I need to go the opposite way so to speak (Special ID cards, special job related items etc)It contains water, first aid, tools, all the same old stuff you see listed over and over again.

It is designed to get me from home to my locker at work where my issued gear awaits should my phone ring and I am being told to get my a** to work on the double.

Anyone else here have a get to work plan? Or am I the fool you will be pointing at trying to make it into a diaster when you are trying to make it out?

I lead a CERT. I have a plan to get home, take care of myself, my family, and my neighbors, and then make myself available for callouts.

I don't have a GTW bag, as you call it (nice concept, btw). I have stuff in my truck already as part of my car kit that I suppose would work - water, food, blanket, etc.

I'm in militsry health care. If I'm at the clinic, I assume I'd stay until relieved. If I'm at home, I only go in if I'm called. Historically over the last few years, if there's an incoming storm or something, the clinic gets closed before it hits.

When I was in a hospital, the scheduled staff was expected to stay for up to 72 hours and pack accordingly if a storm was coming. I have yet to hear of extra folks being 'called in' for an event. I suppose it's possible though. Probably more likely in earthquake zones where it's less predictable.

Now, having said all that, I don't think that transportation will be an issue if something happens when you're already home. Chances are good that, if your vehicle is intact, you can get to work easily. Most people will stay off the streets.

As a first responder, our GO states that we are to report to work ASAP, but if that's not possible, report to the nearest agency to assist them. I can tell you though that if my family is not secure, that would be my first priority. There is also a provision where I could bring my family to work with me, but I also know life there would suck for them. "Bug-out-to-my-work?" For my family, I'm glad the option is there as the place is better reinforced (for earthquakes), but I can forsee a bunch of what-ifs. Because of how populated it is here along with its related traffic issues, it would take a LONG time to go 15 miles by vehicle- it might not be worth it to go back to work. Now if I was at work and the incident happened, that's another story and I hope that wouldn't be the case. I would be worried sick. I know there are a lot of stories where first responders left their posts to care for their families and I've thought about it- could you live with your decision to abandon your family for your job? If my wife were 100% on-board with the idea of being prepared, I would have less worry, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Bottom line: I want to retire and get out of here.

Depends on the emergency and where I'm at - if the EQ happens while at work, I'll stay until my co-workers are safe, injuries treated etc. I intend to be available for local response with the skills I have at least in my building at work until that's done with. I have no plans to immediately high tail it the 7 miles home over impassable roads. I may not make it home to wife and kids for 24 hours or so. I have an emergency comm plan to assess the safety of my home, my immediate and extended family (including out of area contacts and means for communication - ham radio, landline, and texting etc). In the wrong EQ, a lot is going to be messed up. Take a breath, and don't forget the disaster right at your front door. If I'm at home when it happens, I'll see to the safety of my family and neighbors, and then turn to my Red Cross duties, checking in with my status.

When I get home, my next duty is to the Red Cross - while we don't expect to deploy immediately, its part of my volunteer job to rally available volunteers county wide to open shelters, provide mobile feeding and feeding stations, bulk distribution etc etc, working with county OEM and the rest of the Red Cross to determine mass care priorities and our capabilities to answer them. That will start up within 72 hours, and if the disaster gods willing some of it will come sooner than that. If the bridges survive I'll go to the RC EOC in Seattle and live there for a while; if not, I'll work remote as much as I can - we have some preliminary plans to deploy locally if there is a need, so I may not have to reach the chapter in Seattle in order to know where I can go to be of help to the response. It all depends on how much of the comms network survives the disaster.

I have no plan to return to my daytime workplace, at least as long as the Red Cross needs me - I have no duties or responsibilities that would require me to be at work in such a disaster.

I doubt it makes a whole lot of difference what I think but history suggests orders to report to work in an emergency results in a relatively low level of compliance, often for quite some time.

Some of it is just logistical in nature. People do not sit at home waiting for a chance to get called to work. They are out doing their normal activities. If you are out somewhere with your kids, you can't just ditch them and head to work. And really, no one expects that you do that.

There is also the issue of whether you can even get there or not. An earthquake may make roads impassable. A flood may cut you off, or make it imperative that for your own safety you head in another direction.

In other cases, emergency personnel just decide "the heck with it", and go with the idea that their own safety and that of their family is more important then their job. And history suggests that the consequences for not showing up for duty in such a case are very limited, especially early on.

The reality is that for the most part the people that are actually on duty when some kind of fast presenting situation such as an earthquake or tornado presents itself are the guys that are going to have to deal with it. I would not expect to get much in the way of help for four to eight hours.

In winter I am often the first one here because I drive so much further than everyone else. (Which means I leave early when blizzards are expected which means the crashes haven't started yet which means I just drive to work at slower speeds. Everyone else gets stuck in stupidity-caused traffic jams only 5 miles away.)

For work I do the TPS reports.

If the place burned down or washed away, no one would miss me from work.

If the place burned down or washed away, I wouldn't miss work all that much.

I'm prepared to bug home since that's the direction I care about more.

Back in the day, I drove forty miles through a 27 inch snowfall to get to the rural er In which I worked...or to avoid being housebound for three days with four adolescents...road closures kept me at the hospital for 3 days. Lots of outdoor gear in the truck, but nothing unusual for the time and place. Motivation is always suspect.

If your job isn't a first responder then I don't think anyone would think less of you for taking care of your family first. It isn't your job to assist with evacuations, cordons, rescue services etc.(it's mine) So if I bail to go home or refuse to go to work when crunch time comes it puts me in a different boat than you.

The taxpayers pay my salary and expect that I will be there when s*** goes south after all. If I can't make peace with that it's time to find gainful employment somewhere else. That is the reason I have a "get to work bag" instead of a "get home bag"
Of course I have never really had to put that theory to the test, and I pray I never will. I have deployed to floods and forest fires and the like but I have had reasonable warning of those. If I hear a loud explosion while I am laying in bed at home, and my phone rings saying there was a (insert bad event here) and I need to get to work right away I am faced with leaving my family behind and going to where that event took place. I wouldn't want to, but I am paid to. If the same thing happens while I am at work I guess it means I will not be arriving home for a while.

Since I live in my fire district, as long as I have comms I am "at work" at home.and can respond directly or to the closest fire house. Rural mountain area, no traffic jams. So as long as roads are passible with 4x4 we are in business.
During past weather disasters we have used 4x4 ambulances and fire trucks to get doctors, nurses and other critical personel to work.
If you hve a critical job then your employer bears some responsibility in getting you to work in a disaster, and in providing for (or allowing you time to provide for) your family. Most agencies have a written disaster plan. I suggest people review that plan. Find out if it provides for getting you to work. You may have access to government fuel for your vehicle or government transportation by military or public safety vehicle.
The choice of taking care of family vs getting to work is one we all struggle with. During the begining of the on-going High Park fire here in Colorado the local volunteer fire fighters stayed on the fire while their fire station and some of their homes burned to the ground. They were saving other people's homes while theirs burned. During Katrina we saw a lot of the reverse.
My family knows what to expect from me.
leo