Developing an Emergency Response Plan
Corporate SecurityIf properly developed an emergency response plan reduces risk. Right away this should make you ask yourself two questions – “How?” and “Does our Plan do this?” To reduce risk you can either increase system effectiveness or reduce consequences. A properly developed Emergency Response Plan is a primary method of decreasing consequences. The purpose of developing an emergency response plan is to mitigate exposures if preventive measures fail.
In developing an emergency response plan, you need to ask yourself four basic questions –
What can happen?
How will we respond?
Who will respond?
What do we need to respond?
Emergency Response Plans –Establishing Your Requirements
Moses-Stele has spent the last two decades identifying, assessing and reducing risk for clients. We have developed a depth of knowledge in the proper response protocols in dealing with security emergencies based on client-specific requirements. While the emergencies may be similar, response protocols differ dependent on a client’s response organization, risk processes, local and other regulatory requirements, etc.
Moses-Stele develops emergency response plans that meet client needs, and the requirements of governmental and regulatory agencies that include Local and State Health Departments, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and others. Moses-Stele’ experience in preparing agency approved plans will save you time and money versus developing plans in-house.
Emergency Response Plans – Process Oriented Plan Development
Moses-Stele uses a technique known as process mapping to develop incident action plans. A properly structured process map accomplishes three objectives.
It establishes critical processes from the time the incident is discovered until the incident is brought under control and recovery actions are initiated.
The process is used to identify who is responsible for accomplishing specific tasks during the course of the emergency.
In the process it reveals the training strategy required for personnel with responsibilities during security emergencies.
Working with your internal teams, we develop a prioritized list of incidents that are specific and prioritized for your site. Through use of our process mapping techniques, we will help you:
Establish a framework and processes to manage all identified emergencies
Establish response procedures
Mitigate single points of failure
Establish a response plan that included required notifications
Focus on man-made threats
Continue focus on natural disasters / events
TABLETOP EXERCISES
Corporate SecurityMoses-Stele facilitates tabletop exercises to validate individual and collective elements of a site’s security posture and response capability. Our tabletop exercises are a realistic rehearsal or simulation of an emergency, in which individuals and organizations within the company demonstrate their knowledge of the tasks that would be expected of them in a real emergency.
At its highest level, our tabletop exercises provide simulations that:
Promote preparedness
Improve the response capability of individuals and organizations
Validate plans, policies, procedures and systems, and
Determine the effectiveness of the command, control and communication functions; and event-scene activities
Relax, it’s just an exercise
Moses-Stele designs each exercise to elicit constructive discussion as participants examine and resolve problems based on existing plans. There is minimal attempt at simulation, no utilization of equipment or deployment of resources, and no time pressures. The success of the exercise is largely determined by group participation in the identification of problem areas. The exercise provides an excellent format to help new emergency response team personnel and security personnel become familiar with established or emerging concepts and/or plans, policies, procedures, systems and facilities.
In a Moses-Stele tabletop exercise simulating an emergency situation you have:
A low-stress environment to stimulate discussion of a simulated, but potentially real, situation. It is not the goal of these exercises to require the team to practice response to some building-wide biochemical disaster, or similar event.
A review and testing of existing planned responses before an actual occurrence, as opposed to the fast-paced, spontaneous decision making typical of actual or simulated emergency conditions. A tabletop review reduces on-the-fly, seat-of-your-pants response decisions.
Practice for every role in a response resulting in increased familiarity with the crisis / emergency response plan.
An opportunity to incorporate lessons learned into your emergency response plans before discovering a misstep during an event.
Professional evaluation of the exercise to identify systemic weaknesses and suggestions for corrective actions that will enhance facility preparedness and response.
BOMB THREATS
Corporate SecurityBomb Threat! The words alone make people nervous. This is a normal reaction largely brought on by a lack of knowledge regarding bomb threats. A bomb threat involves the unknown and people are apprehensive when dealing with the unknown. The lack of knowledge and associated fear are largely due to a lack of proper preparation.
The number of annual bomb threats in the US is unknown as there is no legal requirement to report a bomb threat. Some organizations actually play down bomb threat response to minimize any possible negative publicity regarding the company. This shows a complete lack of preparation and dramatically increases liability for the organization. According to the US Bomb Data Center, there 2772 bomb incidents in 2007, the last year with complete data currently available, resulting in sixty injuries and fifteen fatalities. That number includes actual bombings, attempted bombings, incendiary bombings, stolen explosives and other incident types. This works out to over fifty (50) incidents per week, and that number doesn’t include bomb threats.
Bomb Threat Preparation
Moses-Stele has conducted bomb threat preparation and response planning for entities ranging from educational facilities to private industry to public infrastructure. Moses-Stele utilizes assessment and response considerations covering industry best practices from many government / private security organizations including but not limited to:
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
US Secret Service
United States Postal Inspection Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
United States Marshal Service
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
ASIS International
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)
American Chemistry Council (ACC)
American Petroleum Institute (API)
We will teach you how evaluate the authenticity of a bomb threat – one of the essential challenges to meet when you have received a bomb threat.
Bomb Threat Response
The development of a bomb threat response plan consists of much more than calling 9-1-1. A well thought out response plan takes in to consideration a detailed assessment of the threat and multiple response scenarios. A well thought out and prepared bomb threat response plan should include sufficient information so that any member of the response team could assume incident command if necessary until the proper response organization can assume control.
ACTIVE SHOOTER
Active shooters in or near your building is far and away the worst scenario most people can imagine (be they employers, employees, faculty, students, or visitors). Actions taken during the first few minutes of an active shooter occurrence are critical to the outcome of the incident. Knowing and initiating those first critical response reactions can mean the difference between frightened distraught staff and being in the national news for several days.
Active Shooter Preparation and Response
Working with every level of law enforcement from local to federal, Moses-Stele has developed a detailed active shooter response protocol that has been instituted in municipalities and higher education across America. As with every response process developed for clients by Moses-Stele, our active shooter preparation process is completed working closely with you to ensure a plan prepared with any and all available considerations and / or limitations specific to your site.
Your active shooter response is prepared to include the following considerations -
Shooter inside or outside the building
Notifying law enforcement
Alerting occupants
Sheltering and / or escape
Post-incident actions
Active Shooter Incident and Law Enforcement
When preparing your active shooter response plan Moses-Stele will work with local law enforcement to include information on what your staff can expect when law enforcement responds to the incident. During a high stress situation like an active shooter incident, law enforcement response can seem as scary as the incident itself if personnel are not aware of law enforcement response actions. Knowing what to expect and why, not only helps those in the middle of the active shooter incident, but law enforcement as well.