When the Unthinkable Happens ... (continued)
Brigitte Connors, founder and CEO of
Meeting Industry Experts, Inc. suggests
the following:
Create a plan
Elements of a good plan include clearly
specifying who is in charge. Who is the
incident commander? Who is going to
be charged with operations, safety and
public
affairs?
It may be
the same
person or
multiple
people.
Who is in charge will depend on the
venue. Is it your organization or an
outside event like a block party at a public
place or an event at a hotel? For example,
when planning for an event at a hotel
including management and hotel security
in initial planning is key. What are their
protocols? What types of emergencies
come under their jurisdiction? Which will
you be charged with handling? Know the
protocol before an emergency happens.
Remember that once police, fire and/or
EMS are on site-they are in charge.
If having an off-site event, a plan should
be created to list all key contacts and
designate who will take command for
which type of emergency. The number
one emergency is when attendees are in
danger.
You often
have moments
to respond and need to have
thought out a plan in advance.
Think about and plan for which
areas of the venue are the most
vulnerable and what possible
emergencies could happen. This will
often be based on the location, facility,
demographics of the attendees and the
agenda. Who and what resources will
be needed to respond to each kind of
situation? Who needs to be notified
and in what order? What will be your
mechanism for communicating with your
staff and residents/members/families?
Within your own organization
Know what your responsibilities are to
people in your building. Create a plan
that outlines the procedure and who is
in charge of what aspects. How are they
to be reached? If the people charged
with incident command are not onsite
at the time of an incident, what is the
protocol? Think of these questions in
(Continued)
27
Adviser a publication of LeadingAge New York | Fall 2016