Emergency preparedness for child care programs is important because there is a good chance an emergency will happen at some point. In an emergency, child care providers are on the front lines to keep children and staff safe.
Building an emergency supply kit is an important part of preparedness. This kit ensures that your program has sufficient supplies and food if you and the children need to shelter in place or evacuate in an emergency. SEC recommends having enough supplies and food to last at least 72 hours.
Make sure that all items are up to date and not expired. If you are in a center, consider appointing someone to be responsible for routinely checking expiration dates of the food in your kit. If you are a family child care provider, make a note of the expiration dates and keep them in a visible place in your home. If snacks are about to expire, consider serving them to the children a month before the expiration date and replacing them with new snacks.
Below are items you should consider adding to your childcare go-bags. Be sure to pack listed supplies in a backpack, wheeled bin or wheeled duffle bag.
- Medical releases
- Care plans
- Relocation site agreements & maps
- Emergency information on each child in a small notebook or on cards
- Emergency plan & numbers
- Water (good rule of thumb is 1 gallon of water per person per day)
- Non-perishable food (i.e.: granola bars, crackers, etc.). Consider food allergies of enrolled children.
- Formula or appropriate (pre-labeled) food for infants
- Disposable cups, plates, utensils, bowls, including infant bottles
- Emergency blankets
- Pair of work gloves
- Towels
For more resources on emergency preparedness, please visit https://www.ccrcca.org/providers/emergency-preparedness/