Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
staging area should be assessed again for its defensibility, and routes to
the airport or other departure points should be scouted and assessed for
safe passage.
Under certain conditions, staying put and “hunkering down” may be
determined to be a safer choice than evacuating. Employees and their
family members would be instructed to remain in their homes or report
to alternate secure assembly points. Families should have prepared stocks
of food, water, and medicine in case this becomes a necessity. The deci-
sion as to where to “hunker down” will be made by management in con-
junction with the RSO.
Before we address some of the specifics that must be included in an
emergency plan, we must emphasize that merely having a plan is not
enough. For the plan to be effective, it must be thoroughly and regularly
drilled. At first the drills must be frequent. Once personnel become famil-
iar with the plan, unscheduled drills should be conducted on a quarterly
basis at the very least. Ideally the plan should be drilled each time criti-
cal personnel are changed. More frequent drilling is indicated in high-risk
locations or if the nature of the business is inherently dangerous or a high-
profile target.
In military operations and tactical law enforcement, there is a concept
known as a postoperational brief back. This is nothing more than a criti-
cal review, conducted by the participants, of the operation. The purpose
of this review is to provide the necessary feedback required to make sub-
sequent operations even more successful. Similarly, postdrill reviews must
be held after any run-through of the emergency plan. Representatives of
each of the departments must attend these reviews for the reviews to be
effective in eliminating plan weaknesses.
In addition, for the plan to be effective, it must be coordinated with
the appropriate departments or agencies with the local government. Rep-
resentatives from the local police and fire departments as well as any of
the emergency management agencies should be consulted. Unless there
is some security reason to prevent it, these governmental contacts should
be consulted in the planning stage and also should be invited to sit in
on operational meetings. If the agency representatives are willing, they
should become involved in drilling the plan once it is in place as well as
in any “tabletop” exercises designed to prepare management to imple-
ment the plan in an emergency and evaluate performance during a mock
crisis.
