When your dad is a firefighter, he ingrains some things in your memory from an early age.
By the time I was 5, I knew how to disarm a peer playing with matches, I’d practiced stop, drop, and roll until it was a well-choreographed routine, and I could map out a path to escape our home (through two different routes) in the event of the fire.
I never needed most of these skills. But, the day a cooking mishap caused a small fire in our family’s kitchen, I knew how to handle the situation.
While you hope you never need an emergency plan, a facility crisis management plan is critical. The lives of all on campus depend upon a clear course of action.
Emergency procedures also provide peace of mind for tenants. During an incident, a clear course of action keeps panic is kept at bay.
Emergency plans are a daunting undertaking – but one that could save thousands of lives.
By taking a few steps today, you will create security and peace of mind for everyone in your facility.
Create specific plans of action
Every potential situation requires a unique safety protocol. While evacuation is critical in a fire, during a tornado, gathering everyone indoors is necessary. As a result, each potential situation requires a specific protocol.
Begin planning by taking the most likely scenarios into account. Every campus has unique emergency needs. Eliminate any improbable or impossible scenarios from your planning.
If your campus is located in Montana, it’s likely you can skip a hurricane preparedness plan. However, a hurricane plan is critical in Florida.
Key situations include:
Fire
Explosion
Severe weather
Utility failure
Hazardous materials spills/leaks
Terrorism
Civil unrest
As each situation brings its own unique set of challenges. Depending on the natural event threats in your area, you’ll need specific plans for each. The course of action during a tornado differs greatly from protocol during an earthquake.
Each plan should include:
Emergency contact list
Clear step by step instructions
An SOP for each situation
A simple, easy to access checklist for procedures
Assess risks:
Each emergency situation comes with a unique set of risks. By assessing these risks now, you can accurately prepare for the situation.
In their guide for emergency operations, FEMA recommends the following questions:
What is the likelihood of this event?
What is the potential impact of this emergency?
What is the likely extent of the damage?
How much warning will we have before the incident (days, minutes, no warning at all?)
Are there any likely subsequent emergency situations to deal with? (Aftershocks, flooding, downed power lines, etc.)
What is the priority of planning for this particular risk?
Once you’ve evaluated the risks, begin planning with the highest priority risks, then move down your list.
Inform and train staff
Regularly discuss your campus emergency plan with your staff and be sure they know their role in the situation.
Hold tabletop exercises where campus crisis management plans are discussed, and specific courses of action explored.
Assign specific roles to staff members and be sure they’re fully equipped to carry out their role should an emergency arise. When assigning roles, assign tasks that are close to their skill set, as well as their physical location.
During an emergency, you wouldn’t want an admin assistant to run across campus to lock a door a few feet away from the basketball coach’s office. Each staff member should be comfortable in the role assigned them, and able to carry out the task at a moment’s notice.
Informed staff can prepare and fully perform their role, should it become necessary.
Of course, you hope you’ll never need to use your emergency procedures. But, planning now for crises can save hundreds of lives should an event occur.
What emergency processes have you established in your facility? Have you ever had to use one of the processes?
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