Articles

Emergency Management

Have you ever witnessed an emergency where no one seemed to be quite sure what to do? Almost everyone has.

Perhaps someone fell down the stairs or the bathroom has flooded into the offices. These kinds of things don't happen every day, but they do happen.

What would you do?
A child sitting in a fifth grade classroom suddenly drops out of their chair and on to the floor. You rush over to find the child not breathing. Do you know what to do, not just with that child but with the other 29 children who are becoming tense and afraid? What means do you have to call for help? What would you do if there were more than one person in need of help? Do you have a plan?

Managing by Emergency

Does your workplace manage by emergency or do you employ emergency management? What's the difference you ask? If your workplace manages by emergency they are waiting until the incident occurs before developing a plan of action to address the situation. On the other hand, if they employed emergency management there is a prepared and practiced plan of action already in place.

Nine out of ten workplaces cover the basics (as required by law) like checking the fire alarms and extinguishers and running fire drills. Generally the evacuation of a building is planned and practiced. What is usually not addressed are the roles of individuals during other types of emergencies.

Steps to Success - Assessments

Emergency management considers these types of events through a four step process that begins with a professional assessment of the facility and a compilation of probable incidents evaluated and addressed through the emergency planning process.

Planning Policy and Procedure

Based on the results of the assessment the planning step can begin. Developed are the policies and procedures that are derived from the analysis. A professional emergency management planner is most helpful in this area as they can provide the benefit of training and experience which in turn will reduce, as much as possible, the detrimental effects of and emergency.

Practice

Once policies and procedures are in place, it is time to practice, practice and practice some more! This step begins with a bit of education. A meeting or a seminar should be offered to educate participants as to the contents of the new policies and procedures. This type of education also provides the facility with documented proof of training, once again increasing safety while reducing liability. Armed with the knowledge of how and why, participants are now more able to deal with emergencies.

Periodic Evaluations

After completing drills or after an actual incident occurs it is very important to review what went well and what may need some fine tuning. Appropriate changes can then be made and the feed-back loop started once again.