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By Steven Kuhr
Recently there has been an increasing trend in media
activity regarding emergency management and personal preparedness.
America was changed on September 11, 2001. Now with people becoming
more conscious of the possibility for more terrorist activity, the
"war on terrorism", and the ongoing potential war in the Middle
East and elsewhere, citizens' concerns regarding national security
are on the rise. These logical concerns pose an opportunity for
emergency managers- the opportunity to educate the masses in simple
precautionary steps they can take in order to regain a critical
sense of control in their lives: personally, at home, in their communities
and in the workplace for terrorism as well as natural hazards and
other emergencies. The opportunity for emergency managers to finally
be heard on a grand scale in educating people in the process of
preparing for, mitigating, responding to and recovering from emergencies
is here. We now have an increased responsibility to spread the message
of preparedness, at the same time extracting the fact from the fear.
The more people become aware of the processes they can take to become
prepared, the more control they will feel over their environment
and their lives.
The key element in emergency preparedness is education.
Without education, the best-conceived plans would not work. Luckily,
there are resources available in order to facilitate this process.
Emergency management is a dynamic process that not only involves
planning, but also training, conducting drills and exercises, testing
equipment and coordinating activities within and between government
and private organizations as well as the community.
Personal, family and community
emergency preparedness
The use of community, volunteer, private sector and government resources
is instrumental in establishing mitigation, preparedness, and response
and recovery programs. Communities need to learn to organize themselves
during the first 72 hours, a community preparedness standard which has its roots in earthquake and hurricane prone regions. Through
proper emergency planning, people can become aware of and identify
hazards that could affect their communities. Community residents
and business owners alike should learn how to prepare disaster supply
kits, conduct emergency planning for residents, employees, and people
with disabilities, learn how to locate and evacuate to a shelter
or shelter in-place, and conduct contingency planning for their
families including pets. In addition, people can become active in
safeguarding their neighborhoods and communities through FEMA's
Citizen Corps and community emergency response team (CERT) training
programs.
A neighbor-to-neighbor self-help program should provide
the primary link between citizens and public safety personnel. When individuals and their neighborhoods are prepared to mutually assist
each other during and after a disaster, lives can be saved, property
can be spared and emergency services can focus on responding to
the most devastated areas.
An all-hazards community response program (one which
includes earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, snowstorms,
terrorism, power outages and major fires) provides the capability
for stabilization and recovery within the first 72 hours of a disaster-when
governmental services may be unable to respond to all requests for
assistance. Drawing the link between terrorism preparedness and
all-hazard preparedness is critical. For example, once a family
has taken steps to prepare for a natural disaster, by developing
a family emergency plan, creating 72-hour stationary and mobile
disaster kits, practicing communications plans, and by knowing local
emergency management strategies, they are well on the way to being
prepared for any eventuality, including terrorism.
Community programs should place a great deal of emphasis
on organization, team operations and information gathering. These
details are necessary because emergency response procedures are
unfamiliar to most people, and only occasionally practiced. Once
a community program is in place, it should be linked to the local
overall emergency management architecture. This will allow for an
unimpeded two-way flow of information, critical to both the community
for receiving assistance, and, critical for the emergency management
agency, in need of information and intelligence. The community can
serve as the local eyes-and-ears of the emergency management team.
Emergency planning in the
workplace
Preparing for a crisis is critical whether a person, family, organization
or company is directly or indirectly affected. Emergency planning
in the workplace is important for several reasons. First, preparedness
in the workplace enhances a company's or organization's credibility
and image with employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
It may also facilitate compliance with federal, state and local
regulatory requirements. It enhances the organization's ability
to recover from a disaster and may have a direct impact on recovering
from loss of market share as well as preventing regulatory fines
and financial losses resulting from business interruptions. Most
importantly, however, it fulfills the moral responsibility of the
company to protect its employees.
A successful approach to emergency preparedness in
the workplace involves a few steps. The first thing an organization
should do is identify a planning team with concrete leadership.
Company leadership should recognize that by involving their employees
in the planning process, crisis/emergency plans are then created
with a sense of ownership. It is critical to foster a sense of control
and involvement company-wide. This "buy-in" will hopefully result
in employee cooperation, and more importantly, overall coordination,
during an actual emergency. Corporate leaders are responsible for
making sure that all of the necessary organizational support is
in place; leaders and employees at all levels should have development
opportunities and access to training.
The next steps are the review of existing internal
plans and policies (such as fire and life safety, security and business
continuity plans), establishing a budget, and meeting with outside
groups such as government agencies, community organizations, consultants
and utilities in order to analyze the organization's capabilities
and potential hazards. By developing a crisis/emergency plan, and
addressing the organizations needs in the areas of direction and
control, communications, life safety, property protection, community
outreach and finally recovery and restoration, management is better
equipped to protect personnel, equipment and property, and is in
a better position to quickly resume operations.
By acting on recommendations made during a risk assessment/vulnerability
analysis, the very first step in any planning process, the company
or organization can then take steps towards implementing the plans,
by integrating them into company operations and training employees,
and subsequently establishing safety as part of their corporate
culture.
Finally, in the aftermath of a traumatic event, organizations
and corporations should be aware of ways to move forward in its
wake. An organization wants to do the best it can to prepare its
employees physically and emotionally for traumatic situations, and
there are resources available to facilitate this process. Things
such as stress reduction programs, workplace violence training,
disaster preparedness training for employees, managers and supervisors,
all aid in taking steps towards recovery. Ideally, the organization's
emergency and crisis planning team will have identified trained
mental health professionals within their respective Employee Assistance
programs or even within their communities who would be able to respond
in the event of a traumatic occurrence. These professionals meet
with management and employees, and may offer services such as de-briefings
and informal counseling. Finally, by enlisting pre-identified trauma
response teams or professional counselors to guide people through
all of the normal responses to trauma, the organization as a whole
gains strength- and employees are better prepared to function as
individuals and within their communities.
As individuals, our personal protection and that of
our families, friends and neighbors are our number one priority.
As emergency managers we are responsible for educating people how
to extend that sphere of preparedness into our communities, workplaces,
homes, and schools. Citizens should make a commitment to not only
protect their families but to become civically involved, thus creating
neighborhoods and communities where citizens are active by contributing
to the preparedness process. Once this message is spread, people
will realize that everyone benefits in increased awareness and preparedness
for any type of emergency, and subsequently can regain a sense of
security in these uncertain times.
About the Author
Steven Kuhr is Senior Vice President of Kroll
Inc. (Nasdaq: KROL). As a senior vice president he serves as practice
leader of the Kroll Emergency Management Group. Mr. Kuhr is a veteran
emergency manager who joined Kroll in January 2001. Prior to that
he served as a Deputy Commissioner of the City of New York Office
of Emergency Management. For more information go to www.krollworldwide.com,
email at skuhr@krollworldwide.com
or you may call Steven at (212) 593-1000.
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