Does anyone have some feedback or thoughts on what to do if a major crisis occurs while you or your spouse is at work? I'm more concerned about my wife who works on the other side of town. Should I tell her to leave work immediately or hunker down and stay at work if a major crisis occurs? I worry that if I tell her to leave work she may get caught in a permanent traffic jam. We both have emergency bags (backpacks) in our cars.
A lot of factors here, but of course, you two should try to meet up, then take one vehicle home or to your bug out location. Traffic jam shouldn't be a worry, as you have emergency bags, so may have to go on foot. Biggest point is to have an established meeting place. Of course, different situations may call for improvisation, but as long as these alternatives are stated ahead of time, you should be good.
Example, my wife works about 15 minutes from me. However, we car pool, and actually live about 50 miles away. So, if something went down, first, I'd drive to pick her up, and then get as far as we could in the truck, on our way home (our bug in location). We live in a rural area, and have a small (about 5 and a half acres) ranch, so it's not a bad location at all.