Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as personnel changes may need to be reflected in the planning details.
Any significant change in the stability of the situation locally or in the
region in general should provoke the evacuation committee to meet on a
more frequent basis. Prior to each meeting, a test of the employee notifi-
cation system should be conducted. The results should be discussed
during the meeting, and shortcomings should be identified and corrected.
Again, in high-risk areas, the testing must be done on a more frequent
basis.
The plan should identify a secure assembly area where employees can
gather in the event an evacuation is ordered. The assembly area must be
carefully selected for its defensibility as well as its proximity to the airport
or point of embarkation. Particular attention should be given to the
nature of the roadway between the assembly area and the point of depar-
ture. More than one possible route is preferred. The State Department
strongly recommends that evacuees gather at a secure staging area rather
than the point of embarkation to minimize the exposure of the evacuees.
The plan must allow for the possibility that one or more of the planned
routes will be impassible for one reason or another. Transportation of
evacuees to the airport, for example, is done in appropriately sized groups
that can be protected en route and will not overwhelm the ability of the
carriers to transport them. The last thing you want is for your employees
to be forced to wait for hours or even days to get on a flight.
The plan also must identify secondary assembly areas in the event that
a disturbance or natural disaster renders the primary staging area unsafe.
Similarly, secondary points of departure should be identified in the event
the airport or other primary choice is closed. If your company is in con-
stant contact with the embassy and is monitoring the situation closely, it
should be possible to evacuate the staff smoothly via commercial carriers
before the condition reaches a critical level. In the event commercial car-
riers are filled or not available, arrangements for a charter flight can be
made in conjunction with other local companies also ordering an evacu-
ation. Contacts with charter airlines should be made long before the actual
emergency arises. If the situation results in a complete breakdown of all
services and governmental functions, the State Department advises stay-
ing put in a secure area and not attempting to move around the country
in an attempt to get out. Moving around exposes personnel to far greater
danger than does sitting tight and waiting for the conditions to stabilize,
the State Department has found. Once an evacuation is deemed necessary,
no company personnel should unilaterally attempt to leave the country or
