Surviving a Workplace Shooting

The recent shooting at Virginia Tech has once again highlighted the threat of an active shooter. This is the second time VT has been the site of bloodshed in four years, which makes it all the more tragic. However, better procedures at the university helped to save lives and prevent an incident from escalating. The events there should serve as a warning to all businesses nation-wide about the acute threat of an active shooter.

So what if a gunman were to enter your place of business? These steps below will provide a solid foundation to help you and your workforce survive such an incident.

1. Become Invisible

Once the shooting starts, or once you see a armed gunman, your first priority is to become invisible. Do your best not to be seen by the gunman, as this is your best change to remain invisible, safe and secure.

Previous events have demonstrated that a gunman will kill anyone who happens to be in their vision, even if they have another, specific target in mind. They may be doing it for a high body count, or may be angry at no one in particular.

Therefore, once an event begins:

• Stay where you are
• Close the door
• Lock it
• Close the shades
• Turn off the lights
• Get underneath a desk/hide behind an object

As soon as you detect gunshots or see someone with a weapon, close and lock your office door. Unless they are already there, don't try to round up other employees into your office.

Hide Quickly

If you work in a warehouse or other open area, do your best to hide behind objects. Stay Invisible! Turn the lights off in your office or in the general area, if it is safe to do so. Close the shades, and hide behind objects that will obscure his view. They are looking for the easy, convenient target. Stay out of their way as much as possible. And if you suspect the gunman is specifically looking for you, make it as difficult as possible to find you.

2. Call 911

It always seems an odd juxtaposition to me that we are more than willing to activate our social media pages with updates on the status of our stomache ache or how our breakfast cereal came out, but not activate 911 when there is a critical situation. Statistics prove time and again that human beings during an emergency are cursed with a psychological assumption that "someone else" will call 911.

When I was training to be an EMT, I knew there might be a time in which I might be off-duty and witness an acute injury or illness that requires an ambulance. So one day, we did a training exercise with this scenario, and I remember when it was my turn. Instinctively, I went up the patient and began doing an assessment of injuries when my instructor stopped me. He told me that before I did anything, I needed to point to one of the bystanders and say the words "Call 911!".

That training came in handy. I witnessed a car accident once on a busy freeway, and I noticed that there were a number of people just standing around. There must have been 20 people there, and not a single one had called for an ambulance. They all figured that someone else would call.

Never make the assumption that "someone else" will do it. Instead, replace it with the better assumption that "no one" will call. Assume that you are the only one who can call, because an active shooter scene will require law enforcement intervention coupled with an ambulance and (possibly) fire suppression.

3. Become Invisible Again

Once you have completed your call with 911, remain completely silent and still.

4. Do NOT Engage the Gunman - Remain Invisible

It still a fact in our culture that we glamourize those in the movies who do reckless and dangerous things during a shooting that put themselves and others at grave risk of injury or death. One of those is attempting to reason with an armed gunman.

Don't do it.

Whatever you do, do NOT try to engage the gunman or try to reason with him. Even if the person is someone you know well, you aren't trained to handle it, and you could even be the target!

5. Become visible again only to law enforcement

It is possible that, during the incident, you may hear screams, yelling, crying, additional gunshots, pleas for help, or other requests for assistance. It may be hard to say, but do nothing until law enforcement comes to get you. There may be multiple gunmen (such as during the Columbine massacre or the 1997 North Hollywood Shootout), or the gunman may be roaming quietly from room to room or floor to floor. Therefore, do not assume the incident is over until law enforcement retrieves you!

When I teach EMTs and paramedics about scene safety after a shooting, I teach them that only the police may authorize them to enter a scene to take care of patients. Even if critically injured individuals are screaming for help, they have to wait because attempting to treat those individuals may result in getting hit by gunfire or other injuries to the medical staff. So instead of having 4 victims, we would have 6 or 8 or 10!

Conclusion

Regardless of your position on gun control or weapon proliferation, the fact remains that an active shooter incident remains a possibility at any workplace, campus, or school. It is important to remember that you, your colleagues, and your co-workers, not objects or equipment, are the most important thing to any company. Don't risk your life during a shooting incident. 

Be invisible, call 911, and wait for the police. It's a strategy that will help you survive a shooter, and once it is over, to Reverse Disaster.

phardy
Twitter: @hytropy
Facebook: Hytropy
http://www.hytropy.com

5 Ways to Handle an “Occupying” Force

The “Occupy” protests have created some difficult situations for business owners and their employees, staff and customers. The unusual organization, coupled with the displacement of public areas by large numbers of demonstrators represents a possible disruption to your business, regardless of politics.

Therefore, you need to take the potential for business disruption seriously. These five points provide a solid foundation for a company response and recovery to such a situation.

1. Establish Communication

It is critically important to establish and maintain a clear line of communication with civil authorities. I'm not talking about 911. It should be a sustained communication before, during and after an emergency. It starts with something as simple as contacting the police department through the non-emergency number and identifying yourself as a business owner with an establishment near the protest scene. Not only does it provide a face to an institution, it allows both of you to relay information on safety and updates as a potentially unstable situation evolves.

Hopefully, your business continuity and emergency manager has incorporated this into your disaster program, as these relationships are much easier to establish before an emergency arises.

2. Protect Employees and Customers

Depending on where your business is located in relation to the protest, your business may be subject to an increased risk of property or violent crime. While the “Occupy” protests have been predominantly non-violent, every civil disruption has the potential to attract individuals not associated with the protest who are solely interested in creating mayhem and criminal mischief. This has been the case with organized protests at the G-8 meetings, or with Free Trade protests at WTO gatherings.  

Take extra time to ensure you are protecting your employees and customers. Consider your parking lot, ingress/egress, customer interactions, utilities, etc. Make sure your emergency manager assigned to your business has done a complete threat assessment so as to expose your vulnerabilities and provide tailored strategies.
 
3. Don’t clutter the street

If you have a brick-and-mortar facility with signs, merchandise or objects outside, consider keeping them inside for the duration of the demonstration. Property that is placed outside during any kind of disruption is subject to vandalism or destruction. Worse, these objects could be used as weapons against law enforcement or civil authority if a confrontation occurs.

During celebrations after a college football game in Colorado in the early 1990s, inebriated fans threw bottles and glasses at law enforcement, causing injuries to both sides. The next day, after law and order had been restored, that broken glass caused injuries to students and staff who were simply trying to cross the street to campus.

In response, the city passed an ordinance and required bars to pass out only plastic cups and could not serve bottled beer the day of any game at the stadium. As a result, the next year, the violence was minimal, and there were few injuries.

4. Prepare to Shelter-in-Place

Regardless of what the news media or other sources tell you, keep a watchful eye on the demonstration sites for signs of escalation. Even if everything “seems” fine, events can still get out of control quickly. Talk to neighboring businesses and your contacts at first responder agencies. Ask about recent activity, including suspicious people or an unusual element in the surrounding your business.

If the situation becomes violent or results in a confrontation with law enforcement, you and your staff need to be prepared to shelter-in-place. One of the most dramatic and visible responses is the deployment of RCAs (Riot-Control Agents), which is a chemical counter-measure intended to deescalate a violent situation. At this point, you, your customers and staff are all at risk. So make sure your shelter-in-place plan is updated by your emergency manager, and your staff trained.


5. Execute a Quick Recovery

If the demonstrations threaten to interrupt your company, get your business continuity plan out and prepare your staff and infrastructure. Don’t let the situation take over your day-to-day operations! Your continuity plan will have all the contingencies necessary to keep your operations continuous.

You can’t control what goes on out there, but you can control what your company does about it! If there is a disruption, begin execution of the plan within a few hours. This is the critical timeframe that will determine how your company does long-term.

Conclusion

For our clients, we work very hard on recovery from these types of foreseeable events, because a company can be severely affected if it doesn’t take some basic steps to prepare. So make sure you have a continuity plan written by a professional. It will make all the difference when you Reverse Disaster.

phardy
Twitter: @hytropy
Facebook: Hytropy
http://www.hytropy.com

Why, Who, What, When, and Where of Disaster Training





Next month I am slated to speak to a rather large audience in Florida about disaster plan training. It seems ironic that my talk is in Florida, because Florida businesses and communities are considered some of the best prepared in the US for disasters.

The reason for this is that Florida is on the Southeast edge of the US, and receives major storms and/or hurricanes every year. So individuals who live in Florida (particularly Southern Florida) take preparedness very seriously. And training is one the most critical aspect of their disaster programs, and it should be for any company serious about disaster preparedness.

Without it, your plan that you spent time, money, and resources constructing is essentially worthless. 

Why

One of the ways in which they remain prepared is through workforce training on how to respond to a disaster. Your workforce should be trained methodically and thoroughly on disasters and on their responsibilities to your workplace after a disaster.

Who

Everyone.

From the interns to the CEO, every single individual should be trained. Even those employees you do not plan to work during the disaster, being trained on what not to do is just as important as what they should do. Obviously, the training for each is not going to be the same; it should be tailored for content and format by a Certified Business Continuity Professional.  

For a few years, an ambulance service hired me seasonally to train their EMT’s and paramedics. What I didn’t realize until later was that even the office staff and operating managers were coming to the trainings as well.  This was a company that was clearly committed to 100% employee workforce disaster training.

What

Your employess should receive training on many types of disasters, not simply the ones that are experienced most. They need to learn about hurricanes and terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and operations. Not that they would likely experience all these; but the knowledge of them can go a long way to eliminate confusion and fear.

As noted above, the vast majority of companies will need to have a Certified Business Continuity Professional and emergency manager who wrote their plan (or an outside consultant) to construct their training. There are hundreds of delivery types, and those individuals can help find the right fit.

When

This will depend on your industry. Some are highly regulated, and have specific dates when training must be conducted (depending on the calendar year), and others have no standards at all.



One critical element of a successful program is training



Generally, training should be conducted after the plan is written. This is why we conduct training with our clients immediately after we finish their plan.  Our delivery method is a live training with an emergency manager who walks the leadership through the plan, and then we renew that training annually. 

Where



Many companies choose to show videos to demonstrate how to operate in a disaster. These delivery methods never work, and almost always are a terrific remedy for insomnia. Therefore, training should be interactive and hands-on. The actual location will depend on what that indivdual will be expected to do during the disaster.



For example, a food service professional working in a hotel who, in a disaster, will be mostly assisting with logistics and moving supplies, should not be trained in the kitchen. That employee should be shown the docking bay and proper lifting techniques.

 Conclusion

These few items make up the core elements of training. Of course, this is not plenary; there are nuances to effective disaster training that can make the difference between an effective presentation and not. But either way, planning without training makes no sense, which is why I have made sure our company provides effective and thorough training available for all our clients. After all, it is one critical step to successfully Reversing Disaster.

phardy
http://www.hytropy.com



The 5 Essentials for Every Business Disaster Plan

The completion of a disaster plan is a critical step in your company's overall emergency management program. It provides the operational framework and overall strategy for any response to a disaster or business interruption.

How do you know if your disaster plan is sufficient? There are quite a few elements to an effective plan, but I can identify 5 elements that have proven time and again as being the most important.

1. Impact Analysis

A Business Impact Analysis essentially answers the "What if" question in a disaster plan. It examines vulnerabilities, and establishes the running assumptions upon which a company's response will be based. It will give the general overview of a company's operations and the implications of certain threats if they were to strike.  

The creation of the impact analysis is a critical step, and yet I have found that it is so often ignored. This is an invitation for disaster (so to speak) because it is the foundation for the entire disaster program. This is the reason it should be constructed by a Certified Business Continuity Planner, and updated annually.  

2. Training Schedule

Any plan, no matter how well written, is worthless without training. I see this time and again with institutions that have the "Rolls Royce" of disaster plans, but either inadequate or absent training plans. Put simply, neglecting to train essentially dooms the plan to failure.

So make sure every employee is trained! From the CEO to the interns, everyone should know the plan, and be aware of your company's expectations. Of course, not everyone should be trained on the same topics, and not everyone needs to know every page of the plan. So tailor it to your workforce size and your industry so that you receive sufficient coverage.  





3. Testing Schedule

Once your company has a solid plan in place with saturated training, the plan must be tested to examine weaknesses and strengths. All response agencies (fire, police, EMS) go through dozens of hours of exercises every year. Outside of a disaster or an acute, company-wide emergency, there is no way to test the plan except through the crucible of an well-organized exercise!

The test doesn't have to be an all-day marathon of your entire workforce running around and pretending the building is on fire; there are many options available. Some can be department specific; others can be a discussion with the major stakeholders sitting around a table with a moderator running a scenario.

4. Communication Plan

If your employees and leadership don't know what's going on during a disaster, you have the genesis of a very serious problem. It significantly affects your response, and makes recovery of an operation nearly impossible.

I was once hired to run a multi-state response program for a large engineering firm with roughly 20 sites along the Gulf Coast during hurricane season, with employees performing a myriad of jobs. First thing I did after I got contracted was write the communication plan. Second thing I did was get in my car and drive to each site, and explained the communication plan to every eyeball and ear in that operation. I showed them the phone numbers (primary and alternate), and made sure every cell phone had them programmed. Then I explained the backup system and how it would work. And sure enough, we got through the season with very few problems.

5. Improvement Schedule

One of the funniest experiences I ever had as an emergency manager was when I was contracted by a company to audit their disaster plan. They told me that the plan was pretty old, and they felt as though it was time to get it updated. So, the first thing I did was that I called all the numbers on the emergency contact list. Within an hour I discovered that all 14 people listed were already retired! Then, I later discovered the person who had written the document had passed away 4 years earlier!

Every plan should have a complete annual audit and monthly improvement schedule so that everything from the Impact Analysis to the Training, Testing and Communications Plan is examined thoroughly. This will continue to ensure your plan is doing what it was meant to do!

Conclusion

These five elements at least provide a baseline standard to which you can judge your company’s disaster plan. While there are, of course, other necessary elements, if it doesn’t have at least these 5, I am almost certain that during a disaster, the plan will not work to your company’s expectations.

phardy
http://www.hytropy.com/